Sutter Health Partners with Hyro to Deploy AI-Powered Patient Communication

The collaboration will integrate Hyro’s platform to handle routine interactions through chat, voice, and SMS.

California-based Sutter Health has partnered with New York-based conversational AI provider Hyro to introduce automated patient communication tools across its system.

The collaboration will integrate Hyro’s platform to handle routine interactions through chat, voice, and SMS.

Hyro, formerly known as Airbud, provides AI-enabled call centers for healthcare providers. Its platform supports automated conversations, real-time analytics, and insights from patient interactions. The system also includes a GPT-powered assistant, Spot, designed to provide explainability around AI outputs.

Sutter Health said the move is aimed at freeing up staff to focus on more complex support needs. Patients will gain access to 24/7 self-service options for routine queries.

"With the addition of an AI-powered voice and chat communications platform, Sutter will continue to transform touchpoints for our patients and our people, helping drive better patient engagement, streamline operations for our teams and deliver data-driven insights that can help us better serve their needs now and in the future," said Jennifer Bollinger, chief consumer and brand officer at Sutter Health.

Broader AI Strategy

The partnership follows Sutter Health’s continued expansion into AI-driven healthcare. Earlier this year, the health system participated in a $150 million investment round in Aidoc, alongside General Catalyst and other health providers, and partnered with Aidoc to integrate aiOS for faster identification of critical findings.

In 2024, Hyro closed an extension of its Series B funding, bringing the round’s total to $35 million and its overall funding to $50 million. The company had earlier secured $20 million in 2023 and announced a collaboration with Artera to launch Artera Care Assist, an AI-based virtual assistant for provider websites.

Sutter Health has also worked with generative AI firm Abridge to embed note-taking automation directly into its Epic electronic medical record system.

Stay tuned for more such updates on Digital Health News