| Health tech companies have been racing to grow AI scribing tools into software that health systems can use more broadly. Some are leaning into medical billing. Others are serving specific medical specialties. |
| An Australian startup called Heidi is betting that its health system customers want to go for what’s safest to use in patient care, rather than what's fastest to market, CEO and co-founder Thomas Kelly told me. |
| Heidi, which started out as an ambient scribe, wants to build AI agents that can take clinical actions. Like some other startups, it already has AI tools that can help doctors draft referral letters and answer medical questions. And last month, on the heels of raising $340 million in new funding from entities including General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund, it announced AI agents that can automatically take care of administrative tasks. |
| But it wants to go further. It’s looking to pursue regulatory approval for more advanced tasks, like using AI to prescribe medication and order tests for patients. For Kelly, getting that approval could give Heidi an advantage that can’t be easily replicated. |
| “I just don't know how you maintain your competitive edge in a world where any software can be reverse engineered by AI and rebuilt,” he said. “You're basically selling being 10% better at coding or revenue cycle than the built-in solution.” |
| Heidi, which is regulated as a low-risk medical device in the UK, is planning to go after FDA approval in the US for more complex patient-facing tasks. Kelly said the company plans to make announcements about its regulatory work through 2027, with more advanced applications potentially clearing between 2028 and 2030. It’s aiming to start with narrower uses, Kelly said, citing another startup’s pilot in Utah that used AI to scan patients' faces for acne and prescribe them medication. |
| In the long term, Kelly said he envisions other health tech startups or medical record systems building on top of what Heidi would then already be approved for, since they wouldn’t have the time or resources to bother getting FDA approval for something like prescribing. |
| - Ngai |
| P.S. - We’re a few weeks away from our in-person Health Tech Happy Hour! Join us virtually during some daytime sessions, then at Draught 55 in Midtown for a conversation with Morgan Health’s Dan Mendelson (more speakers to be announced soon!). |
