Inpatient AI, Payor Win-Wins, and Token Costs (with Dr. Shiv Rao, co-founder and CEO of Abridge)
Hospitalogy’s Blake Madden sits down with Dr. Shiv Rao, CEO and co-founder of Abridge, two hours before Rao was going on call at the hospital.
They talk about how Abridge has taken its playbook from ambulatory to the ER and now inpatient, and what’s different about engineering for that setting, why AI should rethink the claims process rather than be sprinkled on it, and how Abridge is working to help health systems avoid unpredictable token costs.
Also in this episode:
- What happens to a claim after a doctor types “shortness of breath” into a note? Rao says the whole loop adds up to roughly $300 billion of waste.
- What separates real products from “party trick” prototypes? A University of Vermont case shows the value-add of context engineering, guardrails, and knowing what good looks like.
- One payor told Abridge it approves well over 90% of the prior auths it initially denies and would welcome automation. Rao says scale earned Abridge a seat with payors, and he wants to avoid a future of “agents fighting agents.”
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