As Zoom Readies Workplace for Clinicians, It Invests in Suki
As part of its effort to develop a “Workplace for Clinicians” offering, Zoom’s venture arm has invested in Suki, a company that provides AI voice solutions for healthcare. Zoom plans to use Suki’s AI engine, Suki Platform, to generate clinical notes and incorporate AI capabilities into its solution.
Zoom has said that clinical notes will be a key feature included with Zoom Workplace for Clinicians. The company said there is a need in both telehealth and in-person settings for capturing patient interactions within a specific format, such as SOAP, based on specialty for seamless entry into the EHR. The company said that Zoom clinical notes will include visit transcription as well as AI-generated clinical notes.
Last fall, the company said that Zoom Workplace for Healthcare will be available in Q4 FY25; Zoom Workplace for Clinicians, and a custom AI Companion for Healthcare add-on in the first half of 2025. The Custom AI Companion for Healthcare add-on will provide healthcare-specific AI customizations, including a healthcare dictionary for meeting summaries and in-meeting questions, extended information across trusted data sources (e.g. EHR), and personal coaching, improving the effectiveness of healthcare workers.
In 2023, Redwood City, Calif.-based Suki announced the integration of its AI-powered voice assistant with Oracle Cerner and Epic EHR software. The company said its Suki Assistant helps clinicians complete time-consuming administrative tasks by voice and announced the ability to generate clinical notes from ambiently listening to a patient-clinician conversation.
The investment from Zoom builds on Suki’s $70 million series D announced last October. The company has now raised $168 million to date.
"In 2024, Suki experienced remarkable growth, expanding 4x in only 12 months. This next phase is driven by our latest investments and the expanding opportunities within our addressable market, with technology leaders like Zoom seeking new ways of collaborating with us. Our shared values and goals have enabled us to revolutionize the healthcare experience for clinicians and patients nationwide with AI," said Punit Soni, CEO and founder of Suki, in a statement. "This new capital allows us to scale our technology, offering new capabilities to our customers, and we're grateful for the opportunity to expand the strong team we've built over the last seven years. It's truly a testament to the impact Suki Assistant and Suki Platform have on the health systems and technology companies we partner with."
Last September, Julie Demaree, executive director of clinical innovation and transformation at St. Mary’s Hospital in upstate New York, spoke with Healthcare Innovation about the implementation there of Suki’s AI Assistant integrated with the hospital’s Meditech EHR.