What You Should Know:
– AssistIQ, an AI company utilizing computer vision to revolutionize how hospitals manage surgical and procedural supply chains secures $11.5M in Series A funding round led by Battery Ventures, with participation from return investor Tamarind Hill. With this funding, Battery Ventures Principal Brandon Gleklen will join AssistIQ’s Board of Directors.
– The company’s platform is gaining traction across academic and community hospitals, capturing every item used in operating and procedural rooms. This helps healthcare facilities recover revenue, streamline clinical operations, and enhance staff satisfaction.
Tackling Hospitals’ Costly Blind Spots in Supply Management
U.S. medical and surgical supply expenses have seen a significant rise, averaging a 6.5% annual increase since 2017 and reaching $57 billion in 2023. Factors contributing to these escalating costs include unnecessary variability in the use of similar products and the waste of unused surgical items. A major issue further diminishing hospitals’ return on investment is missed charges for billable supplies that are not accurately tracked and associated with patient cases in billing systems, leading to substantial revenue leakage.
AI-Powered Computer Vision: How AssistIQ Works
AssistIQ aims to close these costly gaps by providing hospitals with real-time, automated visibility into what is actually used during surgeries and other high-cost procedures. Its AI-powered platform replaces outdated barcode scanning and manual paper logs with sophisticated computer vision technology. This system captures every implant and supply item linked to a procedure instantly and accurately, seamlessly integrating into the clinical workflow.
By automating supply capture and surfacing previously unavailable data and insights, AssistIQ drives down surgical costs and allows clinicians to focus more on providing patient care. This enables hospitals to recover missed revenue, reduce operational costs, and standardize how supplies are tracked and utilized. The platform integrates directly with leading Electronic Health Records (EHRs) like Epic and GE, as well as major enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, embedding into hospital infrastructure to automate manual processes and gain control over complex cost centers.
Growing Adoption and Key Health System Partnerships
Northwell Health, New York State’s largest healthcare provider, is currently rolling out AssistIQ across all operating rooms at North Shore University Hospital and the Dorothy & Alvin Schwartz Ambulatory Surgery Center in Manhasset, N.Y.. As a design partner, Northwell has been instrumental in shaping the clinical and supply chain integration of AssistIQ’s flagship product, AIQ Capture. Northwell teams will continue to inform product development while using the platform to optimize charge capture and improve efficiencies.
Earlier this year, Owensboro Health Regional Hospital in Owensboro, Kentucky, became the first U.S. hospital to integrate AIQ Capture with Epic. This integration reduces manual steps, streamlining clinical workflows and enhancing usability for frontline teams, while also making real-time supply and implant capture data accessible within existing hospital systems. AssistIQ has several additional health system Epic integrations planned in the coming months.
AssistIQ is delivering significant, measurable outcomes for its clients, including:
- Charge capture rates of 98% or higher.
- Actionable insights suggesting supply savings of up to 25%.
- Significant reductions in clinical and billing documentation time.
“Our mission is to build trust in data and empower health systems with AI-driven insights that improve margins, drive sustainability and ultimately enhance patient care,” said AssistIQ CEO Lisa Israelovitch. “We’re thrilled by the market’s response to our product and deeply grateful to our health system partners, whose collaboration helps us innovate and deliver solutions that create value across clinical and operational workflows. We’re also excited to welcome Brandon and the Battery team to the AssistIQ journey as we accelerate our growth and expand our impact in the market”.
