Commure and Athelas sign deal to acquire Augmedix (NASDAQ: AUGX), creating the largest artificial intelligence software provider in healthcare

‍What did you major in?

Allison Park, 2014 (Course 1 & 14) Chief of Staff/Head of FDE: I majored in Civil Engineering and Economics because I was excited about building real-world applications. Economics gave me a foundation in concepts widely used in business, while my Master’s in Water Quality Engineering deepened my understanding of environmental remediation and sustainability. That focus on making a social and environmental impact is what ultimately drew me to healthcare later in my career.

Natasha Gunther, 2016 (Course 2A) Director, Product Growth and Deployment: I majored in Mechanical Engineering, with a sub-focus on Product Development. I loved how Mechanical Engineering touched both the physical and real world - you can watch a ball roll down a hill and model the forces on it. It made sense to me. The Product Development focus was because it gave me added flexibility to be able to study whatever I was most curious about that semester.

Lily Keung, 2010 (Course 10B) Senior Operations Manager: I majored in Chemical Biological Engineering. I actually wasn’t sure what I wanted to major in because I like to know a little bit about everything, but my dad was a Chemical Engineering major, so I decided to choose that. I later added in the biology aspect because I had more interest in healthcare. It was exciting to be able to work with stem cells and mouse models while at MIT!

‍Dhruv Parthasarathy, 2013 (Course 6-2 & 18) Chief Technology Officer: I originally planned to major in Economics and Math, but switched to Computer Science and Math in my sophomore year. I see engineering as a form of applied economics — you can create the economic system you want with the right technological leverage. I also just enjoy Math and constantly find myself thinking, “How did people come up with this incredibly detailed way of perceiving the world?” That whole body of knowledge is fascinating to me.

You likely had several options — why did you choose Commure?

Allison: I was looking to work with motivated team members and continue to grow and learn from peers and mentors, while making an environmental or social impact. There is an incredible amount of opportunity for improvement within healthcare. I was not only drawn to the team here at Commure, but also excited about how technology and custom solutions could positively improve patient outcomes. The values at Commure also excited me. I loved the ownership mentality and the idea that you are encouraged to bring a concept to life in a space that really needs it.

Natasha: At this point in my career, I know what I care about - impact and people. If I’m working with incredibly intelligent, kind, and motivated people on problems that matter in the grand scheme of things, I know my work will be very gratifying. Commure was a unique situation where it was aligned on all of these fronts. Having come from healthcare operations, consulting, and investing, I knew exactly how game-changing it would have been if I could’ve leveraged the exact tools Commure is building. Commure being unafraid to tackle the most challenging pieces of healthcare signaled to me that this team would be able to actually drive meaningful improvement in this space.

Lily: My background was in billing operations, specifically surrounding healthcare billing. I knew I wanted to stay in healthcare and operations, but the company culture and my manager was also important to me. When I was interviewing, I knew I would love working for this company and this team. Commure has a great combination of employees who want to make a positive impact on the world and seek constant new challenges to overcome. We tackle lots of tough issues, but everyone is willing to work hard to make things better for our customers.

Dhruv: I’m in engineering because the act of constructing something impactful is important to me. There is no field more meaningful to me than healthcare. Healthcare is one of the fundamental bottlenecks in everyday people being able to thrive in America. It’s too expensive, confusing, and poorly designed. Commure helps me work on something beneficial every day, there's no price you can put on that.

‍How did MIT prepare you for working at Commure?‍

Allison: MIT taught me key problem-solving skills that I utilize today. It also taught me how to work well in a team and collaborate with others to find a solution to some really tough problems. MIT also taught me grit and to never give up. At Commure, we’re constantly learning and working with each other to develop the best solutions for health systems. We need to be resilient to changing landscapes and regulations, as well as constantly innovate.

Natasha: MIT is such an incredible place, which again I attribute to the people it attracts. Everyone there is passionate about their niche interest, with a work ethic like you’ve never seen. Commure feels very similar, the people here are always ready to be helpful, they’re kind, intelligent, and incredibly motivated to do whatever it takes to deliver improvements to our customers.

Lily: One of the most important things I learned at MIT is that there’s a lot I don’t know and that I can always learn something from each person. This gave me a good mindset when I entered the real world. Another thing it taught me was dedication, getting through school while playing on the softball team and having multiple jobs and work studies was by far the toughest obstacle I had to overcome.

Dhruv: MIT gave me the confidence in my ability to learn quickly. Every quarter was a new, even more difficult challenge. We were thrown into really esoteric topics with limited support and had to just figure it out. Beyond that, MIT was all about collaboration. The way we got through it was leaning on each other and working together. Those are fundamental skills for succeeding in startups. At Commure we have to learn super quickly, there’s no manual on the intricacies of healthcare, and you have to work together.

‍How have you grown?‍

Allison: I have been faced with many ambiguous problems that naturally exist within healthcare. I’ve grown by learning how to navigate through challenging environments with constant roadblocks. I believe these are skills that are extremely transferrable to any workplace.

Lily: When I was growing up, I had a lot of fear and anxiety when it came to speaking to strangers. I was known as the quiet kid, who only spoke when she had to. I have met many amazing people throughout my life who have helped me grow and overcome that fear so much so that I was able to build and manage a dynamic multi-level team. I even discovered that I love helping people grow and learn!

Dhruv: I’ve had to essentially question and change all my core beliefs every year. In particular, when I graduated I knew nothing about design, product quality, and real-world engineering. I now live and breathe these domains. MIT doesn’t teach you how to make products, it teaches you how to learn technical concepts and reason quickly. I’ve also had to learn how to lead, help others grow, and be a mentor. That’s something you only experience in a small environment with rapid growth.

‍What would you tell another MIT student considering Commure today?‍

Allison: Commure is an amazing place if you’re looking to work with really smart and hardworking people in a space where you can see your work come to life and be used in real-world applications.

Lily: I would tell another MIT student that Commure is a place that’s great for people who enjoy working hard to make a positive impact in the world. This is a place where everyone collaborates to build products that allow healthcare providers to focus on providing great patient care, which this country desperately needs more of. You will be constantly challenged with new problems to solve since the healthcare world is constantly changing. You will learn a lot, but also be rewarded and recognized for your hard work and accomplishments.

Dhruv: I would tell them there are very few places where you can do valuable, meaningful work that you’ll be able to look back on with pride. I think Commure is one of those places. Hopefully you will be able to tell your friends and family that you’ve made hugely significant contributions to the state of healthcare in the country. Beyond that, it’s a fun, exciting place, and it’s brimming with creativity and passion. Come join!

Ready to take the next step and start transforming healthcare? We’d love to learn about your background and share more about Commure.
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Explore Career Opportunities

Artificial intelligence in healthcare is rapidly evolving beyond basic automation tasks like scheduling reminders or sending notifications. In a recent webinar, "Beyond Automation: How Agentic AI is Redefining Healthcare Workflows," Bryan Nairn, VP of Marketing at Commure led a discussion with Ujjwal Ratan, Leader, ML and Data Science, Healthcare and Life Sciences at Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Prachi Shah, Head of Product at Commure, exploring how proactive, adaptive, and dynamic AI agents—known as Agentic AI—are fundamentally transforming clinical and administrative processes. Watch the full on-demand webinar here.

What is Agentic AI?

Agentic AI represents the next stage in the evolution of artificial intelligence, moving past traditional automation by proactively orchestrating tasks and dynamically adapting to real-time conditions.

According to Ujjwal Ratan from AWS, “Agents is a concept that actually has three different components combined with a large language model...First is the data. We are not reliant on the large language model’s fundamental training dataset—we're actually reliant on more of the external datasets that are provided to the large language model at runtime...Second is memory. Memory is a very important concept in agents because it allows you to retain conversational elements in whatever the agent is trying to do. It also remembers context, which is extremely important...And finally, there are tools. Tools are what the large language model uses to access external information. It basically has a dictionary of tools that it can go fetch information from.”

Ujjwal further distinguished workflows managed by Agentic AI as deterministic (structured, predictable processes) and non-deterministic (requiring flexible, adaptive reasoning), noting agents are particularly beneficial in the latter scenario due to their inherent adaptability.

Together, these components make Agentic AI uniquely suited to power more intuitive, responsive, and high-impact healthcare workflows that mirror the complexities and pace of real-world clinical and administrative environments.

Key Benefits of Agentic AI in Healthcare

One of the main advantages highlighted in the webinar is the significant reduction of cognitive load on healthcare workers. Agents automate routine and repetitive tasks, freeing clinicians and administrative staff to focus on more human, patient-facing responsibilities. Commure’s Head of Product, Prachi Shah, highlighted this saying, “If a human can do it and it's relatively repeatable, an agent can likely do it as well.”

Another major benefit is improved patient experiences. By employing agents for patient interactions, such as scheduling, follow-ups, and reminders, healthcare providers ensure consistency and reliability, enhancing patient satisfaction.

Cost reduction is also a key outcome of adopting Agentic AI. Prachi emphasized, "These agents are essentially doing these repetitive or complex tasks that humans are doing, but at one one-hundredth of the cost and effort that's required to get that done."

Another factor driving these benefits is that Commure’s agents are not standalone tools. As Prachi explained, "Agents are fully embedded in your workflow. They are not standalone. They're fully embedded in the day-to-day workflows of your providers." This level of integration ensures that agents can work alongside staff seamlessly, driving measurable efficiency gains without disrupting existing systems or routines.

While this may seem like a mystical sci-fi movie, these benefits aren’t just theoretical—they’re already driving results across real-world healthcare environments.

Where Agents Are Already Making a Difference

Below are some real-world applications highlighted by Commure in the webinar to demonstrate the practicality and effectiveness of Agentic AI. Watch the on-demand webinar to see these agents in action for yourself.

• Voice-based scheduling agents streamline patient scheduling processes by dynamically integrating with EMRs. Prachi showcased a scenario where the agent seamlessly managed scheduling complexities and real-time insurance verification.
  
  
• Outbound agents for patient follow-ups proactively manage recovery check-ins, medication adherence, and other touchpoints along the care journey, promptly escalating concerns to human clinicians when necessary.
  
  
• Text-based patient intake agents automate pre-appointment preparations, gathering essential patient information through interactive texting workflows.
  
  
• Web-based agents autonomously navigate payer portals to obtain documents such as Explanation of Benefits (EOB) forms, significantly streamlining revenue cycle operations.
  
  
• Voice-based payer interaction agents reduce lengthy human wait times by autonomously managing phone calls with insurance providers, resolving issues quickly and efficiently.
  
  
• Denials co-pilot agents help resolve claim denials at scale by analyzing denial details, identifying the best course of action, and auto-generating appeals letters. Prachi explained how these agents allow health systems to resubmit over half of denied claims automatically, significantly improving revenue recovery.

Commure’s Approach to Innovative AI Agents

Agentic AI is a very powerful tool for health systems, but without proper implementation, it can be very difficult to realize the benefits and utilize it to its fullest potential. Bryan Nairn, VP of Marketing at Commure, highlighted the strategic advantage of Commure’s forward-deployed engineering model: "We embed engineers with customers to integrate our product into their existing workflows and to fine-tune those integrations."

This model enables Commure to deeply understand specific customer workflows by embedding engineers directly within provider organizations. As Bryan described, this allows engineers to "work in a customer's environment," collaborating closely with IT and operations teams to observe real-world processes, uncover latent needs, and apply first principles thinking to arrive at high-impact outcomes for customers. 

This isn't just about feature requests or support tickets—it's about co-developing practical solutions that fit seamlessly into existing environments. For example, embedded engineers have helped fine-tune patient engagement workflows, leading to substantial reductions in no-shows and improved compliance adherance. The insights gained from these collaborations are then rolled into improvements that benefit all customers, creating a flywheel of continuous innovation grounded in real-world experience.

Ready to Transform Healthcare?

The transformative impact of Commure’s Agentic AI on healthcare workflows is clear and significant. By reducing burdens, enhancing patient interactions, and cutting costs dramatically, Commure is setting a new standard for healthcare innovation.

View the full on-demand webinar to see all of the real-world applications in action and hear more technical details from AWS on what the future of Agentic AI will look like.

Watch the Webinar

Peterson Health, based in the heart of Kerrville, Texas, has earned national recognition as a 2025 Chartis Top 100 Rural and Community Hospital and one of Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work for its 1,600 employees and medical professionals. Many factors contribute to Peterson Health’s excellent reputation among staff and patients–its commitment to safety is one of them.

Healthcare workers face 5 times more workplace violence than those in the private sector. Peterson Health makes staff safety its cornerstone, ensuring that every employee feels secure and supported, with commitment at every level of the organization.

Dan Warner, SVP and General Manager at Commure, sat down with three key leaders from Peterson Health to learn how Peterson’s safety initiatives, and the addition of Commure Strongline, have positively impacted its staff and patient communities:

• Joe Piszczor, Chief Operating Officer
  
  
• Kevin Lagrone, Director of Facility and Security
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• Mia Monterastelli, Patient Care Technician on the Medical/Surgical Unit
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How Peterson Health Uses Commure Strongline to Help Prevent Workplace Violence
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Dan Warner: Joe, let’s start with the big picture—why did Peterson Health make staff safety a strategic priority?
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Joe Piszczor: Our team is the heart of who we are and their safety aligns across several of our strategic priorities. Healthcare has been the target of many unimaginable attacks over the past few years and the need for a more robust employee safety solution became obvious. As we evaluated our options, the Commure Strongline platform was a great fit for our needs.

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Dan Warner: Kevin, when evaluating safety tools, what made Strongline stand out?

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Kevin Lagrone: Strongline hit the mark on several fronts. The discreet duress button lets staff call for help instantly without escalating a situation. It provides real-time location tracking during alerts, so our team knows exactly where to respond. The proximity alerts mean nearby colleagues can intervene to de-escalate right away, even before security arrives. 
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It also integrated well with our existing infrastructure—including outdoor areas—and the 24/7 support from the Commure team has been a true level of partnership.

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Dan Warner: How has Strongline changed the way Peterson Health responds to workplace violence or safety incidents?
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Kevin Lagrone: It’s been a game changer. With Strongline Pro, our staff can discreetly call for help with just a button press—so we’re able to intervene much faster when something escalates. With enhanced location tracking which helps our security team respond exactly where they’re needed.
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Another big improvement is Proximity Alerts. Nearby staff get notified right away, which means help can arrive even before security gets there. That immediate support can often de-escalate situations before they get worse.

We also use Strongline’s reporting tools to track incidents and identify trends. That data helps us improve our protocols and training. And because we involved frontline staff in the rollout, the system reflects their needs—it’s practical, trusted, and widely used.
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All of this together has made our workplace safer and more responsive. Our teams feel more confident knowing support is always within reach.

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Dan Warner: Beyond the tech, how does this system fit into your culture and culture of safety?

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Joe Piszczor: Our organizational culture focused on our team. They are what make up Peterson Health. We empower them to put our patients first and we place a strong emphasis on workplace safety. For our workforce, knowing you are physically and psychologically safe is key to fostering a strong culture. The personal duress buttons we deployed allow our team to focus completely on the patients and families we serve.

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Dan Warner: Mia, from the front lines, what difference has Strongline made in daily work for you and your coworkers?
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Mia Monterastelli: It’s been a big relief in terms of my overall sense of safety. As a PCT working 12-hour shifts, and having up to 12 patients at a time, each and every room I go in is different from the next. There are times when patient care puts me in vulnerable, potentially unsafe situations.
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Since we implemented Strongline, I’ve experienced less stress and anxiety at work, while giving me the opportunity to help others feel safe as well. I hear a lot of positive feedback from coworkers—many say Strongline has helped de-escalate dangerous situations and even prevented serious injuries.

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Dan Warner: If you’re open to sharing, can you recall a specific moment where Strongline made the difference?
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Kevin Lagrone: There was one situation in our surgical unit where a nurse encountered an agitated patient who became threatening. She discreetly activated her badge, and nearby staff and security were notified immediately. Thanks to the precise location tracking and instant notifications, help was on the scene in seconds. It didn’t escalate because we were able to intervene quickly. 

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Dan Warner: Joe, from an organizational perspective, what have you seen since implementing Strongline?
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Joe Piszczor: Peterson Health’s vacancy rate and overall turnover rate are below the national average, and these statistics have continued to improve over the past year since implementing Strongline. When people feel safe and supported, they stay. Strongline, along with our other 24/7 security and safety measures, has made a big impact there. It shows our employees that Peterson Health is strongly committed to keeping them safe.

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Dan Warner: Final thoughts for other health systems looking to address workplace violence—what’s the takeaway from Peterson Health’s approach?
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Joe Piszczor: Addressing workplace violence is about creating a proactive, system-wide culture of safety. For us, that meant investing in the right tools, like Strongline, and backing them with leadership commitment and staff involvement. When your team knows you have their back, it transforms morale, retention, and the overall care environment. 

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Learn more about how Commure Strongline can help your organization prevent workplace violence and protect your staff.

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Agentic AI is already changing the way we live and work. In fact, by 2025, 85% of enterprises plan to implement AI agents into their business operations. From helping people schedule events to answering live customer questions, they are quickly becoming indispensable.

But when it comes to healthcare, the stakes are higher—and so is the opportunity. AI healthcare agents are poised to transform how health systems operate, engage with patients, and deliver care.
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What Is Healthcare Agentic AI?

Healthcare Agentic AI refers to intelligent software tools purpose-built to autonomously perform complex tasks across a health system, in coordination with humans and each other. Unlike traditional AI assistants that follow scripts or handle narrow tasks, AI agents operate with greater autonomy, contextual understanding, and adaptability.

These agents are embedded into clinical and operational workflows—not bolted on—enabling them to not only provide information but also take meaningful actions. In healthcare, this means they can proactively streamline patient intake, manage claims, resolve billing issues, generate personalized discharge instructions, coordinate care across departments, and much more.

Commure’s Agentic AI platform is designed specifically for the complexities of healthcare, equipping health systems with scalable, secure, and collaborative agents that continuously learn and improve over time.
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How Agentic AI Differs from Legacy AI

Legacy healthcare AI systems often rely on rigid rule sets, scripted responses, and limited interoperability. They may work in isolated use cases but quickly break down when faced with the vast scale of modern health systems.

Modern AI healthcare agents, like those powered by Commure, represent a new generation of AI solutions. These agents are proactive, adaptable, and deeply embedded in the tools healthcare teams already use. They can:

• Understand and act on patient data, gaining context from the EHR and documentation from prior visits.
  
  
• Integrate with RCM software, documentation tools, EHRs, and other core hospital systems.
  
  
• Learn over time, improving responses and automating increasingly complex tasks.
  
  
• Operate across departments to coordinate tasks like patient intake, follow-ups, and billing without handoffs or dropped threads.
  
  
• Surface relevant information proactively, reducing the time spent searching through EHRs or waiting on callbacks.
  
  
• Adapt to changing workflows, policies, and clinical environments without needing reprogramming or retraining from scratch.

This leap from one-off AI tools to collaborative agents will reshape how providers work and care for patients.
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Where Agentic AI Has the Greatest Impact in Healthcare

AI agents in healthcare bring tangible value across a wide range of operational and clinical domains:

Patient Access & Engagement

• Proactively reduce no-shows and same-day cancellations.
• Automate appointment scheduling, confirmations, and follow-ups.
• Respond instantly to patient inquiries, improving satisfaction and trust.

Clinical & Operational Efficiency

• Automate intake, documentation, and routine communication.
• Coordinate care more effectively by connecting staff with real-time data.
• Reduce clinician burnout by taking repetitive work off their plates.
• Improve staff safety by integrating real-time location-aware duress alerts with coordinated incident response protocols

Revenue Cycle & Billing

• Handle billing questions automatically.
• Help patients understand and resolve balances.
• Submit, track, and reconcile insurance claims, identifying inefficiencies and suggesting improvements.

Commure’s Agentic AI offerings are designed to optimize all these areas by deploying tailored solutions across the entire health system.
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Choosing the Right AI Partner for Healthcare

As AI adoption accelerates, health systems must be strategic about choosing partners. Not all AI agents are built to handle the complexity of healthcare.

Here’s what to look for:

• Focused on healthcare: Deep domain expertise matters. General agentic AI solutions often miss critical nuances.
  
  
• Systemic integration: Agents must work within your existing ecosystem—EHRs, call centers, RCM tools, and beyond.
  
  
• Forward-deployed engineering: Successful AI deployments require the right configuration from the start. Look for a partner that provides forward-deployed engineers to configure, optimize, and support your deployment from day one.
  
  
• Compliance and trust: HIPAA compliance, data security, and patient privacy must be built into the core of the platform.

Choosing the right partner ensures that your AI strategy evolves with your organization’s needs—not around them.
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The Future Is Agentic

AI agents in healthcare are no longer experimental. They’re solving real problems by increasing access to care, reducing burdens on providers, and accelerating revenue.

Commure’s Agentic AI platform represents a new era of healthcare innovation: one where intelligent AI acts as a collaborative teammate across the entire health system.

Ready to see it in action? View the on-demand webianr with Commure for a deep dive into what sets agentic AI apart, key insights on future-proofing healthcare operations, and a live demo showcasing real-world agentic AI applications.

View Webinar

Healthcare documentation has long been a necessary but burdensome task, historically eased by medical dictation software or hiring a human scribe. But even with these tools at their disposal, 62% of physicians still report "excessive documentation" as their leading cause of burnout, according to Athenahealth.

Traditional medical dictation software can no longer effectively keep up with the requirements of modern healthcare due to increasing complexity in clinical workflows (increased documentation demands from insurers, ever-increasing complexity in coding requirements, siloed tech tools throughout health systems, staffing shortages, etc.) and the critical need for accurate, timely patient records.

Smarter, AI-powered solutions that integrate directly with EHRs surfacing patient information and offering clinical insights before, during, and after the visit are a necessity to bring healthcare into the modern age.

The Problem with Medical Dictation Software?

Medical dictation software is a tool that captures spoken clinical notes and converts them into text in the EHR, helping providers document patient encounters more efficiently than typing.

While legacy dictation tools aim to make physicians more present, many still end up back at their desks hours later, trying to reconstruct conversations from memory or clean up disjointed notes captured mid-visit. The result is added cognitive load, inconsistent documentation fraught with errors, and a process that still pulls focus away from patient care.

The healthcare industry must shift towards smarter solutions that don’t just transcribe but truly understand and support the clinician’s workflow in real time. That's where Ambient AI comes in.

How Ambient AI Is Transforming Medical Dictation Software

Ambient AI is redefining clinical documentation by addressing the root causes of inefficiency in traditional dictation software. Instead of requiring clinicians to dictate notes after the fact, it passively listens to patient encounters, extracts key medical details, and generates structured, accurate notes in real time.

Here’s how it works:

• Passive listening: Ambient AI captures natural conversations between clinicians and patients as the visit happens.
  
  
• Contextual understanding: It identifies clinically relevant details, filters out small talk, and interprets the intent behind what’s said. Ambient AI also supports multi-party conversations and is able to differentiate between speakers.
  
  
• Real-time clinical insights: During the visit, it pulls in relevant EHR data (like labs or medication history) to support decision-making without interruption. This also optimizes charge capture buy helping guide clinical decision making with differential diagnoses and alternative care plans.
  
  
• Structured documentation: Extracted information is organized into accurate, compliant notes—reducing the need for manual edits or rework.
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• EHR Integration: Ambient AI connects directly to existing EHR systems, ensuring documentation flows seamlessly into the medical record without disrupting existing workflows.

Benefits of Ambient AI

Ambient AI doesn't just reduce documentation time—it transforms the entire clinical workflow. 

Here’s how:

• Reduced clinician burnout: By automatically generating real-time notes during the visit, Ambient AI drastically reduces the need for after-hours charting. This gives clinicians more time to recharge and spend time with their families after hours.
  
  
• More face time with patients: Ambient AI captures and structures documentation in the background, allowing providers to engage more meaningfully during visits—no more frantically typing out notes or running to their office after a visit to dictate.
  
  
• Improved accuracy and compliance: By understanding medical terminology, context, and clinical nuances, Ambient AI creates consistently structured notes that meet documentation standards and reduce the risk of omissions or errors.
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• Reduced system complexity: Effective Ambient AI tools integrate directly with EHRs and existing workflows, eliminating the need for disparate point solutions and added IT support.

Leading Health Systems Are Moving Beyond Dictation

Innovative health systems are recognizing the limitations of traditional medical dictation software and actively investing in more holistic Ambient AI solutions that transform workflows.

North East Medical Services (NEMS), one of the largest community health centers in the U.S., adopted Ambient AI to alleviate the administrative burden on its clinicians. By automating documentation and embedding it directly into clinical workflows, NEMS saw an average of 5.2 minutes saved per patient encounter—a 30% improvement in efficiency. Furthermore, 94% of providers expressed a desire to continue using Ambient AI after the pilot program. As NEMS prepares for an enterprise-wide rollout, overall satisfaction remains high, with clinicians reporting they feel more present during patient encounters and less overwhelmed by paperwork.

Dignity Health, the fifth-largest hospital system in the U.S. and the largest not-for-profit hospital provider in California, turned to Ambient AI to reduce documentation time and reclaim time for patient care. After implementation, Dr. Neel Palakurthy, an internal medicine specialist based in Santa Cruz, cut charting time by 41%—saving an estimated 350 hours annually. The result: more time with patients, less after-hours work, and a more sustainable pace of care.

As these forward-looking health systems show, Ambient AI isn’t just a replacement for medical dictation software—it’s a smarter, integrated approach to clinical documentation.

Ready to take the next step? Explore why leading health systems like HCA and Tenet are switching to Commure Ambient AI and how your organization modernize documentation without adding complexity.

Discover Commure Ambient AI

Welcome to Commure Up Close! In this employee spotlight series, we sit down with team members from across Commure to learn about their backgrounds, perspectives on our company culture, and lives beyond work. Through these stories, we aim to provide a deeper look into why talented individuals choose Commure and how we work together to transform and simplify healthcare with cutting-edge technologies.

In this issue, we’re excited to highlight Vidit (Vik) Mehra, Commure's VP, Deputy General Counsel, who joined Commure in 2023.

Tell us a little bit about yourself, what do you like to do outside of work?

I’m the VP and Deputy General Counsel at Commure. I grew up in India, then relocated to Australia in my late teens, where I studied engineering and law before starting my career as a corporate attorney. Since then, I’ve worked in Singapore, Hong Kong, New York, and San Francisco—primarily advising on corporate and investment strategy, mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships. Before joining Commure, I spent two years at a Silicon Valley firm, advising startups on everything from day-to-day legal needs to investments and M&A strategy.

Outside of work, I love skiing, traveling, and spending time with my husband.

As a kid what did you want to be when you grew up?

When I was young, I had two dream jobs: neurosurgeon or software engineer. I’m relieved I didn’t go into neurosurgery because my hand-eye coordination might have been a bit risky for patients! I came close to becoming a software engineer (I even got an engineering degree), but found that being a lawyer can be just as exciting—especially when you get to work alongside the world’s smartest engineers.

‍Describe a day in the life of your role.

My role is twofold: I manage our legal team on a daily basis, and I also lead corporate development and strategic initiatives. On any given day, you might find me collaborating with my team on go-to-market strategy, unblocking deals to ensure healthcare systems get the best solutions, advising the executive team on strategic matters, or negotiating partnerships for mutually beneficial outcomes. For instance, I led negotiations for our strategic partnership with AWS and co-led our acquisition of Augmedix.

‍What made you decide to join Commure?

I was drawn to Commure by its mission and by the people I met during the interview process. Everyone here is incredibly smart and driven to tackle one of the toughest challenges: transforming healthcare through software and AI. It’s a privilege to be part of a team that’s not just talking about change, but actively making it happen.‍

How would you describe the Commure company culture?

Our company culture is intense and deeply mission-driven. We are trying to transform an entire industry, and going from zero to one is never easy. What keeps it rewarding is staying focused on the broader mission and working with talented colleagues and customers who share that same passion.‍

What advice would you give someone on their first day at Commure?

Take it one step at a time. There’s a lot to do and a lot of complex problems to solve, so it’s important to be thoughtful and intentional—prioritize the most pressing issue, solve it well, and then move on to the next. Avoid thrashing—jumping between too many tasks without making real progress. Focus and follow-through are key. At Commure, we care deeply about operational excellence, which means aiming for high-quality outcomes, not just speed. Be decisive, stay curious, and always keep our mission at the center of your work.

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Explore Career Opportunities

When a healthcare worker feels unsafe, response time is critical. Strongline now gives hospital security teams a powerful new advantage: instant video visibility during active duress events.

With new video management system integration, Strongline delivers a live camera feed alongside every alert — helping responders see what’s happening, assess threats immediately, and take action with confidence.

How it Works

Whether your hospital uses a legacy system like Panasonic or a cloud-based video platform, Strongline connects through a flexible API integration. Once enabled, the experience is seamless:

1. A staff member presses the discreet button on their Strongline badge.
   
   
2. The alert is instantly routed to the appropriate responders.
   
   
3. A live video feed from the nearest camera appears alongside the alert.
   
   
4. Security teams get real-time context and respond faster and more effectively.
   

This integration works with the systems you already have — no rip-and-replace required.

Built for Any Hospital Video Setup

Whether you’re looking to extend the value of your existing camera system or add duress protection to a current video network, Strongline is designed to adapt to your environment.

• Have a camera system? Now you can pair it with real-time duress alerts.
  
  
• Have Strongline? Now you can enhance it with visual awareness during emergencies.
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• Using cloud or on-prem video infrastructure? Strongline works with both.

Clarity and Coordination in Critical Moments

Strongline standardizes emergency response workflows across your health system. Now, with live video, everyone — from frontline teams to command centers — sees the same information in real time.

This shared visibility removes confusion, supports rapid decision-making, and helps prevent incidents from escalating.

Why It Matters:
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• See the situation as it unfolds with real-time video
  
  
• Connect with existing cloud or legacy video systems
  
  
• Coordinate faster using standardized workflows
  
  
• Respond more accurately with live visual confirmation
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• Protect staff with smarter, earlier intervention

Take Safety to the Next Level

Strongline’s new video integration brings powerful situational awareness to every duress alert — all while building on the infrastructure you already use.

Ready to see it in action? Learn how video-integrated duress alerts can improve safety in your hospital.

Schedule a Demo

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About Strongline
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Strongline safeguards hundreds of thousands of healthcare workers across 50+ major U.S. healthcare systems. Powered by Commure, Strongline combines wearable duress badges with AI-driven software to provide reliable, scalable safety solutions for modern healthcare environments.

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HIMSS 2025 was a glimpse into the future of healthcare, where innovation is moving faster than ever. This year’s event highlighted not only new technologies but how they are being implemented at scale to drive real impact for health systems.

From AI governance and forward-deployed engineering to enterprise visibility and seamless EHR integrations, the discussions at HIMSS reinforced a common theme: technology alone isn’t enough—success depends on execution, integration, and adaptability. Here are five key takeaways that stood out from the event.

1. AI Agents: The Next Frontier for Digital Transformation

Impossible to miss on the showfloor at HIMSS25: the mention of AI healthcare agents was everywhere, signaling a shift beyond traditional automation. Healthcare organizations are turning to AI-powered assistants to automate patient intake, solve revenue cycle challenges, streamline documentation, and more. Unlike traditional automation, these agents adapt over time, continuously improving and learning.

Commure is at the forefront of AI healthcare agents and was one of the key players at HIMSS 2025 for agentic AI, showcasing the many use cases in production. From managing patient scheduling and prior authorizations to streamlining claims processing and follow-ups, these AI-driven assistants free up staff to focus on higher-value tasks. Deep EHR integrations ensure that these agents don’t just operate in isolation but actively enhance existing workflows without disruption.

It was clear from all of our conversations at HIMSS 2025 that AI agents are top of mind for leading health systems and aren’t just another buzzword—they’re the future of healthcare operations.
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2. AI Governance: Process Before Technology

At HIMSS 2025, a key theme emerged: AI isn’t just about automation—it’s about leadership, governance, and execution. In a panel titled "Lead Your AI, or It Will Be Leading You," Commure CEO, Tanay Tandon, joined industry leaders to break down how healthcare organizations of any size can readily adopt high-quality AI solutions.

The panel highlighted where AI is already transforming clinical and administrative workflows—from helping to identify influenza cases faster to reducing documentation bottlenecks. With AI’s rapid expansion, all providers—including those in rural communities—must have access to its benefits to prevent widening the digital divide. Tanay highlighted this, saying, “Some of the best AI tools out there are free and accessible online. We’ve seen physicians all over the world in rural clinics get access to ambient documentation.” The best deployments focus on seamless integration, continuous training, and ensuring AI serves both clinicians and patients.

While AI has the power to streamline workflows, reduce administrative friction, and enhance decision-making, it must be deployed intentionally. This means ensuring high-quality data, and establishing governance and processes such as structured implementation roadmaps, continuous feedback loops, and clinician training programs. Without these critical elements, AI risks becoming yet another layer of complexity, disrupting workflows instead of augmenting them.
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3. Forward-Deployed Engineering: The Key to Last-Mile Deployment Execution

Continuous feedback is an essential process mechanism for successfully deploying AI in healthcare, but what does that look like in practice? The difference between a promising AI tool and one that actually transforms care is how well it’s deployed and how fast it’s able to be iterated on.

At HIMSS 2025, Max Krueger led a compelling discussion on forward-deployed engineering (FDE), a model where engineers directly embed themselves onsite with their end-users to ensure last-mile deployment execution. The key takeaway being that speed and adaptability are paramount in helping health systems bridge the gap between AI’s potential and its practical impact.

In a recent webinar with HCA Healthcare, their VP of Care Innovation, Vikesh Tahilani, spoke about Commure’s FDE abilities, “Their engineers were on site with our physicians and the providers would see a patient, come back, sit with the engineers, and say, ‘My note looks really good, but I would love these two tweaks to be made’, by the time they got back from their next patient, those tweaks were already made.”‍

Instead of slow, multi-year implementations, forward-deployed engineering brings AI into healthcare environments in weeks, not years, ensuring seamless integration into last-mile workflows. Commure implements this approach by working with customers to co-develop solutions, providing a level of integration and functionality that works for their unique environment and addresses their specific needs.
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4. Enterprise Visibility: The Missing Piece in Healthcare AI

AI is making its way into every facet of health systems' digital workflows, but the delivery of healthcare still mostly happens in the physical world. One of the most overlooked challenges in healthcare remains real-time enterprise visibility. Without it, health systems face challenges such as misplaced or underutilized equipment, delayed response times, and fragmented care coordination, all of which AI alone cannot resolve. At HIMSS 2025, Commure’s SVP and GM, Dan Warner, took to the stage to break down why modern enterprise visibility is the foundation for AI-driven healthcare. 

• Enterprise visibility and AI must work together. AI-powered automation only works if the underlying data is accurate and actionable. With RTLS technology and machine learning, health systems can now monitor assets, automate duress alerts, and optimize resource allocation in real time. Commure’s Enterprise Visibility Platform, Strongline, enables this via lightweight, cable-free implementations with real-time integrations into EHRs, computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS), and BI tools.
  
  
• Precision at the room level is no longer a dream; it’s here. Historically, achieving room-level accuracy required hardwiring and costly integrations. Commure Strongline eliminates this friction, providing precise, real-time insights via wireless BLE (bluetooth low energy) devices that integrate directly with all other devices.
  
  
• Agentic AI is transforming how hospitals manage critical tasks. By integrating duress and RTLS badges with agentic AI, voice agents can automate dispatch alerts, coordinate emergency response, and streamline asset management in real time—reducing delays and improving operational efficiency.

Health systems leveraging modern enterprise visibility technology have seen rental costs drop by up to 50%, faster incident response times, and better resource allocation at scale. If health systems want AI to drive real operational efficiency, enterprise visibility and real-time data about physical assets must be a key component.
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5. Seamless EHR Integration: The Cornerstone of Effective Healthcare Technology

There was no shortage of innovations showcased at HIMSS 2025, but even the most advanced tools risk becoming obsolete without effective EHR integrations, as disconnected systems lead to inefficiencies, data silos, and increased administrative burdens.

Commure's recent partnership with MEDITECH exemplifies this approach. By joining the MEDITECH Alliance, Commure has integrated its Ambient AI clinical documentation solutions with the MEDITECH Expanse platform.

The benefits of this integration are multifaceted. Clinicians experience reduced administrative workloads through ambient AI documentation, AI-assisted coding, and streamlined patient interactions, freeing them to spend more time on direct care. Healthcare organizations see improved efficiency as AI reduces errors, speeds up administrative processes, and ensures more accurate, real-time data capture for better decision-making and financial performance.  Patients benefit from more engaged providers spending more time with patients, delivering more focused care.

As healthcare technology continues to evolve, the success of innovations will increasingly depend on their ability to integrate seamlessly with EHR systems, reinforcing the need for collaborative solutions like the Commure-MEDITECH partnership.​

‍Ready to experience the next generation of healthcare powered by AI? We’d love to hear what challenges are most pressing at your organization and discuss how Commure’s suite of products can help.
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