Robust Solution Increases Access to Care in Rural Communities with Limited Resources and Connectivity.
Andor Health is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with Ballad Health to deploy an AI-first virtual care platform aimed at revolutionizing healthcare access in rural communities. This collaboration focuses on enhancing healthcare delivery across 29 counties in the Appalachian Highlands, covering Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, Northwest North Carolina, and Southeast Kentucky. Ballad Health, an integrated community health improvement organization, operates 20 hospitals, post-acute care, behavioral health services, and a multi-specialty group physician practice. By leveraging advanced AI technology, this partnership seeks to empower nearly one million residents in these areas, ensuring they receive timely and efficient care despite geographic barriers to care.
Motivated by Ballad Health’s need to unify virtual care and its North Star goal of serving as a national model for care delivery in rural communities, this enterprise deployment with advanced automation and AI (Artificial Intelligence) capabilities aims to harness ThinkAndor® to optimize and scale Ballad Health’s virtual care services, reducing disparate technologies while extending access to care in the rural communities Ballad Health serves.
ThinkAndor® is a pioneering virtual care platform that adopts an innovative AI-first strategy. It integrates generative AI, machine learning, ambient in-room listening, and large language models to unify the five key aspects of virtual health: Virtual Visits, Virtual Hospital, Virtual Patient Monitoring, Virtual Team Collaboration, and Virtual Community Collaboration. This platform, which will be integrated with Ballad Health’s electronic health record (EHR), EPIC, is designed to improve the access to and delivery of care for patients and providers.
Dr. Clay Runnels, Chief Medical Officer at Ballad Health, emphasized the importance of the partnership with Andor Health in advancing their mission to enhance community health and well-being. He stated, “This collaboration marks a crucial advancement in broadening access to high-quality care. By utilizing innovative virtual health solutions, Ballad Health aims to better tackle the unique healthcare challenges faced by healthcare providers serving patients in difficult to reach and sparsely populated areas.”
Innovative health systems like Ballad Health are leveraging ThinkAndor® to decentralize care delivery and increase access to care. “Ballad Health’s mission is to honor those we serve with the best possible care,” said Penni Kyte, digital care strategy officer at Ballad Health. “To better meet the needs of our communities, we sought a strategic partner to join us on this journey, ushering in the next generation of virtual care. We envision a world where clinical care can be delivered in any environment, all while balancing and optimizing the workflows of our clinical resources. Andor Health is our partner to help us accomplish this vision.”
“We, at Andor Health, are at the forefront of revolutionizing virtual care by optimizing how care is delivered. This partnership with Ballad Health is a testament to our commitment to an AI-first approach to care delivery. This approach, which prioritizes the use of AI in care delivery, will extend access to care while alleviating strain on the health system,” explained Raj Toleti, chairman & CEO of Andor Health.
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