Stay up to date on the latest in health tech, digital health and health AI news with this weekly brief. Read below for news from the week of Sept. 14 to 18.
Vitality, Google expand partnership
Vitality announced an expanded partnership with Google to extend its Vitality AI platform into the U.S. market.
Vitality AI is built on Google Cloud and Gemini Enterprise and delivers personalized recommendations, coaching and incentives to engage users into long-term healthier behaviors. The platform is built on more than 2,800 unique health and behavioral dimensions and delivers recommendations at a 99.2% accuracy rate, executives say.
Customers report a 4% reduction in healthcare claims costs on average through the platform, which the company claims is a 120% return on investment (ROI). Moreover, the platform recovers an average of 4.4 productive days per employee annually, which equates to $1,047 in annual savings per employee.
“Through our partnership with Google, we've shown that AI's impact on health care is no longer a promise – but a proven differentiator,” said Emile Stipp, Vitality AI CEO, in a statement. “We've seen members take screenings they would have skipped, build and sustain healthy habits, and reduce costs. Extending Vitality AI into the U.S. brings that proof to millions more.”
Rutgers University, RWJBarnabas Health, AWS partner on innovation hub
Rutgers University and RWJBarnabas Health announced Tuesday the launch of a collaborative innovation hub powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS).
The Rutgers/RWJBarnabas Health Innovation Hub will provide opportunities for students to work with clinicians, researchers and technology experts. The systems say the long-term goal of the hub is to create a self-sustaining innovation model.
Rutgers students—from undergraduate to doctoral students—will be able to participate in four- to 10-week rapid prototyping projects. The hub’s inaugural cohort is expected to include up to five interdisciplinary teams with potential areas of focus including tools to support clinical decision-making, student health and wellness and more.
“As we build the future Rutgers School of Medicine, we have an unprecedented opportunity to embed innovation into the foundation of how we educate and deliver care,” said Amy Murtha, founding dean of the future Rutgers School of Medicine, in a statement. “This collaboration with RWJBarnabas Health and AWS means our students won't just learn about the future of health care – they'll build solutions that can reach real patients in real communities across New Jersey.”
Luma Health launches new agentic outreach workflows
Operational healthcare AI platform Luma Health announced Tuesday an expansion of its agentic outreach workflows through its navigator agent.
New capabilities within the Navigator agent include:
- Rebooking missed appointments
- Closing care gaps
- Connecting to other tools in tech stacks
Another planned capability for the agent is referral scheduling, though the release did not indicate when it would become available.
Customers using the navigator agent have saved more than 130,000 hours in 2026 alone, the company says.
“Traditional patient outreach relies on staff, with even the best automation stopping at a message,” said Marcelo Oliveira, Luma chief product and technology officer, in a statement. “We created workflows that fit real life, where patients and staff are busy but care still needs to happen. Luma's agents reach the patient in their preferred channel and make sure the visit gets scheduled.”
Additionally, executives say Luma's Operational AI platform will expand with “long-running, complex agentic jobs” to guide patients through surgical preparation, post-discharge recovery and more.
Hello Patient acquires Converse Health
Agentic AI company Hello Patient announced Tuesday the acquisition of AI workflow automation company Converse Health.
Through the acquisition, Converse Health will expand Hello Patient’s front-office capabilities through its AI agents that can handle referral and fax intakes, authorization paperwork, records and registration.
“Operations leaders are being forced to bolt AI onto existing systems and buy solutions one task at a time, which is unmanageable. Practices want to redesign their workflows and decision-making around AI agents,” said Alex Cohen, Hello Patient founder and CEO, in a statement. “Our AI agents carry real conversations so every call gets answered and patients' needs are handled from start to finish. Converse Health brings the same automation to the back office, and the busywork stops landing on staff so they can focus on care instead of administrative tasks.”
Latent Health expands AI platform
Pharmacy intelligence platform Latent Health announced Tuesday its platform is live at 60 leading health systems across the nation.
The newly added health systems serve about 70 million patients and include Cleveland Clinic, AdventHealth, UNC Health and WVU Medicine, according to the Sept. 15 announcement.
The platform also announced a suite of autonomous clinical agents designed to accelerate access to high-demand drugs, like GLP-1s, and complex specialty therapies.
Executives say Latent is on track to process more than 5.8 million patient medication journeys in the next 12 months.
“Advancements in medicine are outpacing the infrastructure built to get new therapies to patients,” said Sri Somasundaram, Latent co-founder, in a statement. “A treatment can exist, work, and still never reach the person who needs it because access is mired by complex coverage rules. We’re giving health systems the ability to extend the capacity of their pharmacy teams and get patients into the right treatment, without an unnecessary wait.”