Understanding AI Agents in Healthcare

Artificial intelligence agents are computer programs that can make decisions and take actions on their own, without a person telling them exactly what to do each time. Think of them like helpful robots that learn from information and can solve problems. In healthcare, agentic AI systems are beginning to handle many important tasks. Unlike simple tools that do one specific thing, these AI agents can understand complex situations, make decisions, and coordinate multiple steps to help patients get better care.

Agentic AI Companies Receive Major Funding

This week brought exciting news about the growth of agentic AI in healthcare. Hippocratic AI, a company based in the United States that specializes in care management and provider operations, announced it raised $126 million in Series C funding on November 3rd. This brings the company's total funding to $404 million. The money was led by Avenir Growth, a major investment company. Hippocratic AI uses intelligent AI agents to handle tasks that usually require many healthcare workers. These agents call patients with their test results, schedule follow-up doctor appointments, remind patients to take their medications, and help coordinate care when patients need to see multiple doctors.

AI Agents Revolutionizing Patient Engagement

Hospitals are rapidly deploying AI agents to help patients get care more easily. Northwell Health, a large hospital system in New York, announced a joint venture with K Health to bring an AI primary care platform to their patients. This platform allows patients to have conversations with a personalized medical AI that learns about their health history. The AI can answer health questions, help patients decide if they need to see a doctor, and even schedule same-day appointments. This represents a major transformation where AI agents are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to help patients, even in the middle of the night.

Other healthcare organizations are using similar AI agents for patient care. Platforms like Hippocratic AI, Ferry Health, and Aidify now handle what experts call the "dead zone between clinical encounters". This means these AI agents stay in contact with patients between doctor visits, calling them with results, scheduling follow-ups, and coordinating care transitions. This keeps patients engaged and ensures nothing falls through the cracks.

Explosive Growth in Insurance and Administrative AI

One of the fastest-growing areas of agentic AI is prior authorization – the process where doctors must get permission from insurance companies before providing treatments. This market has grown dramatically. Spending increased from just $10 million in 2024 to $100 million in 2025, which is a 10-fold increase in one year. AI companies like Latent Health, Tandem, Mandolin, and Squad Health now have AI agents that automatically read patient medical records and fill out insurance approval forms. Doctors can submit claims instantly instead of waiting hours or days for paperwork approval. This saves doctors enormous amounts of time and helps patients get treatments faster.

Hospitals Using AI Agents for Life-Saving Diagnostics

Some of the most impressive applications of AI agents are in hospital settings. Cleveland Clinic, a major hospital system in the United States, deployed a Bayesian Health platform – an AI algorithm that acts as an intelligent agent to detect sepsis, a life-threatening infection, early in patients. The results have been remarkable. The AI system achieved a 46% increase in identified sepsis cases compared to previous methods. Even more importantly, the system sent seven times more alerts before antibiotics were given, meaning patients received treatment much earlier when it's most effective. This early detection likely saves lives.

Another hospital system, Naples Comprehensive Health in Florida, became the first hospital in the country to use Caristo Diagnostics' AI imaging platforms called CaRi-Plaque and CaRi-Heart. These AI agents analyze medical images to predict heart disease and heart attack risk up to 10 years before patients show symptoms. This gives doctors time to help patients prevent serious heart problems.

Integration of AI Agents into Medical Records

Major healthcare technology companies are embedding AI agents directly into the electronic health records (EHR) systems that doctors use daily. Athenahealth, one of the largest EHR companies, launched an "AI-native" electronic health record platform in August 2025. This new system includes an AI scribe called athenaAmbient that listens to conversations between doctors and patients and automatically creates medical notes. The platform also includes AI agents for other tasks like intelligent clinical summaries and improving how medical information is shared between different hospitals. Athenahealth serves 160,000+ provider endpoints, meaning these AI agents will instantly become available to hundreds of thousands of doctors.

Growing Adoption Across Healthcare Practices

AI adoption in healthcare is accelerating rapidly. Recent surveys show that 50% of ambulatory care practices – the smaller clinics and doctor's offices where most Americans get care – are now using at least one AI tool. In hospitals, 72% of employed doctors report using AI tools. These adoption rates show that AI agents are moving from large research hospitals into everyday community medicine. A major reason for this growth is that healthcare workers face serious burnout from paperwork and administrative tasks. AI agents promise to handle these tedious tasks so doctors can spend more time with patients.

Government Support for AI Research in Healthcare

Government leaders are also supporting the development of AI in healthcare. The White House issued an executive order on November 24th launching the Genesis Mission, an artificial intelligence initiative focused on scientific research. The program will focus on national security, economic growth, and health security. This government support signals that AI development in healthcare will receive resources and attention at the highest levels.

Looking Forward

The healthcare industry is entering a period of rapid transformation driven by agentic AI. These intelligent systems are handling patient engagement, insurance paperwork, diagnostics, and clinical documentation. With 50% of healthcare practices already using AI tools and investment continuing to grow, most healthcare workers believe AI will transform healthcare efficiency and improve patient outcomes. As these AI agents become more common, the healthcare system will look very different – doctors will have more time for patients, paperwork will be handled automatically, and patients will have access to medical advice and scheduling 24 hours a day.