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Healthcare AI startup Suki has announced an expanded collaboration with Google Cloud to improve its assistive technology offerings for clinicians.
The collaboration leverages Google Cloud’s Vertex AI platform, allowing Suki to develop new patient summary and Q&A features. These additions aim to provide more comprehensive support to healthcare professionals during patient care.
Suki’s core product, Suki Assistant, automates the conversion of patient visit recordings into clinical notes, significantly reducing the manual documentation burden for physicians. The new features developed with Google Cloud will further expand Suki’s capabilities as an all-round clinical assistant.
“We were never really building a clinical documentation tool only, it was supposed to be an assistant. An assistant can help you with documentation, but it can also start doing other things,” said Punit Soni, Suki’s founder and CEO.
The enhanced platform will allow doctors to quickly access relevant patient information and medical history. A new summary feature will provide instant access to key patient data, potentially saving clinicians 15 to 30 minutes per patient. Additionally, a Q&A function will enable clinicians to make specific queries about patient information.
Suki plans to roll out these new features gradually, with the patient summarisation feature available to select clinicians immediately and general availability expected early next year. The Q&A feature is also slated for general release early next year, at no additional cost to existing customers.
Furthermore, Suki has seen significant growth, tripling its client base this year and now serving 350 health systems and clinics across the U.S. This expansion comes at a crucial time, as administrative burdens continue to be a major contributor to healthcare worker burnout.
A recent Google Cloud study revealed that clinicians spend nearly 28 hours weekly on administrative tasks, including almost nine hours on documentation alone.
The growing demand for administrative workload reduction has led to increased competition in the healthcare AI market. Suki secured $70 million in funding in October, while competitor Abridge raised $150 million in February. Microsoft’s Nuance Communications also offers a popular AI documentation tool for doctors.