AWS launches AI agent platform for healthcare providers

Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced Thursday the launch of Amazon Connect Health, an AI agent-powered platform for healthcare organizations. The software is the company’s first major product offering AI agents—software that completes complex tasks on behalf of a human—within a regulatory compliant platform. To operate within the regulated medical sector, Amazon Connect Health is HIPAA-eligible, meaning it meets the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the U.S. regulatory standard for health data privacy. The platform connects with electronic health record (EHR) software to help automate repetitive administrative tasks, including appointment scheduling, documentation, and patient verification.

The software costs $99 a month per user for up to 600 encounters a month. AWS said most primary care physicians have up to 300 encounters a month. The platform currently offers patient verification and ambient documentation, while appointment scheduling and patient insights are in preview.

The launch comes as AWS is increasingly looking to grow its footprint in the $5 trillion U.S. healthcare industry. The company previously launched Amazon Comprehend Medical in 2018, Amazon HealthLake in 2021, and HealthOmics in 2022. Outside of its cloud business, Amazon has made several large moves into the healthcare space, purchasing online pharmacy PillPack in 2018 for around $1 billion and primary care company One Medical in 2022 for $3.9 billion.

Using AI to reduce administrative burdens is a focus for both startups and larger AI companies. Startups like Regard and Notable, both founded in 2017, use AI to automate clinical notes, intake, and scheduling. More recently, larger AI companies have moved into the space. In January, OpenAI released ChatGPT Health, followed shortly by Anthropic’s Claude for Healthcare. However, there is a clear distinction in target audience and compliance:

• Amazon Connect Health: An enterprise-focused, HIPAA-eligible platform built to manage the administrative workflow of providers.
• ChatGPT Health: A consumer-facing chatbot designed to answer health questions, which the companies report is not HIPAA-compliant.
• Claude for Healthcare: A tool that gives medical advice to consumers but also includes tools for medical professionals, built to work with HIPAA-compliant products.

Why it matters

This is AWS’s first major product offering AI agents within a regulatory compliant platform, marking a significant step in the company’s effort to expand its footprint in the $5 trillion U.S. healthcare industry.