WellSky, with a portfolio that includes many senior living and care software tools, will be partnering with Google to access its cloud technologies, including artificial intelligence data analysis, the companies announced Thursday.
One in three home- and community-based post-acute care providers use WellSky’s software tools, according to the company’s website; WellSky serves more 20,000 client sites overall.
Google Cloud includes the platform Vertex AI, which offers customizable AI tools.
The partnership will allow WellSky to automate portions of the Outcome and Assessment Information Set, or OASIS, evaluations that are used within Medicare home health, the company said.
WellSky also cited several well-known applications of AI as the reason for the partnership, including building risk profiles and automating rote or repetitive clinical tasks. Long-term care clinicians and caregivers often cite the latter as adding excessive work burdens and preventing them from giving adequate time to residents in their charge.
The company also addressed more recent concerns about AI’s use in healthcare. In part due to an uptick in AI-enabled cyber scams, many healthcare leaders are concerned about how transparent AI models are and what they are doing with data they collect.
“We understand AI has an important role to play in healthcare innovation, but we also understand that we bear a considerable responsibility for how we implement AI in a secure and ethical way,” WellSky CEO Bill Miller said in a statement. “We resolve to use AI in a manner that is aligned with our mission, is responsible and provides value to our clients and the patients they serve.”
Earlier this week, WellSky and accountable care organization Vytalize Health announced a partnership, which the companies said would allow for better communication between different points of care, such as post-acute and long-term care facilities and hospitals.
