Nvidia collaborates with hippocratic AI to pioneer AI healthcare ‘agents’ surpassing nurse efficiency at reduced costs
In an ambitious move to revolutionise healthcare delivery, Nvidia, renowned for its advanced chip technology, has joined forces with the artificial intelligence healthcare innovator, Hippocratic AI, to introduce cutting-edge generative AI “agents.” These agents, designed to offer empathetic healthcare interactions, significantly outstrip the capabilities of human nurses in video call engagements while being markedly more economical.
Announced recently, this partnership focuses on the creation of “empathetic healthcare agents” that leverage Nvidia’s robust computing power, combined with training from Hippocratic’s specialised healthcare-focused large language models (LLMs). These agents are engineered to establish a deeper human connection with patients through highly responsive, super-low latency conversational dynamics.
The efficacy of Hippocratic’s AI agents has been rigorously evaluated through tests involving over 1,000 registered nurses and 100 licensed physicians across the United States. Additionally, numerous healthcare providers are currently experimenting with these AI bots for a variety of non-diagnostic tasks within their operations.
The results from these evaluations are compelling, demonstrating the AI’s superior performance not only against leading AI rivals, such as OpenAI’s GPT-4 and the LLaMA 2 70B Chat, but also surpassing human nurses in every tested category. The AI’s Constellation model demonstrated remarkable proficiency, outperforming human nurses by significant margins in several key areas. These include identifying the effects of medications on lab values (79% versus 63%), pinpointing condition-specific contraindications for over-the-counter medications (88% to 45%), accurately comparing lab values against reference ranges (96% to 93%), and detecting toxic dosages of over-the-counter drugs (81% to 57%).
This collaboration between Nvidia and Hippocratic AI is presented as a strategic solution to alleviate the pressing shortage of healthcare workers in the U.S. Munjal Shah, co-founder and CEO of Hippocratic AI, emphasised the dual objectives of refining their technology to address staffing shortages while simultaneously improving access, equity, and patient outcomes in healthcare.
Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of healthcare, highlighted the transformative potential of voice-based digital agents powered by generative AI, positing that such technology can herald a new era of abundance in healthcare, provided it can interact with patients with human-like responsiveness.
An added advantage of these AI-powered agents is their cost-effectiveness. Operating at a mere $9 per hour, these agents represent a fraction of the cost associated with employing human nurses, who, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, commanded a median hourly wage of $39.05 in 2022. This cost efficiency, coupled with their superior performance, positions Nvidia and Hippocratic AI’s generative AI agents as a promising advancement in the field of healthcare.
