Healthcare AI company, Heidi has raised $16.6m in its latest round of funding, to help with the development of their AI scribe, said to automate time-consuming note taking and document generation.
Early this year, the company announced its ambient AI tech is to be introduced to 53 GP practices, following an agreement with the Modality Partnership, a GP super-partnership.
Group CEO and partner at Modality Partnership, Vincent Sai, highlighted their mission to modernise primary care, stating how the “partnership with Heidi Health is a major step forward” with an aim to “free up valuable time for our GPs”.
The company launched the AI scribe in February 2024, to automate note-taking and document generation, in which Heidi states since then its users “now rely on Heidi in over 1 million consults every week”. The new round of funding is said to allow Heidi to build on these capabilities, including the addition of automating pre-chart summaries, accessing clinical guidelines for treatment and care pathways and assisting with patient engagement outside of the clinic.
Dr Thomas Kelly, CEO and co-founder of Heidi, shared his thoughts on the benefits of using the AI scribe, commenting: “Despite clinicians’ passion for patient care and significant investment in their medical education, they are overwhelmed by an unsustainable administrative workload that drags them away from their clinical responsibilities. This destroys their wellbeing and drains away job satisfaction, resulting in an exodus of talented clinicians from the workforce – further reducing the capacity of our already frail healthcare systems. That’s why I founded Heidi – to free doctors from non-clinical work so they can focus on their patients and enjoy fulfilling careers in medicine.”
Heidi’s latest round of investment was led by venture capital firm, Headline, with involvement from LocalGlobe and Anthology, as well as existing investors Blackbird, HESTA, Possible Ventures and Archangel Ventures.
Digital transformation initiatives in healthcare
For HTN Now we were joined by experts from across the primary care sector to debate how general practice, PCNs, and ICBs can utilise data and leverage technology to support operational efficiencies and improvements across primary care. Panellists included Kathryn Salt, assistant director of primary & community care, data and analytics for the Transformation Directorate, NHS England; Dr Shanker Vijayadeva, GP lead, digital transformation for the London region at NHS England; Dr Sheikh Mateen Ellahi, GP and practice partner at ELM Tree Surgery and South Stockton Primary Care Network; and Max Gattlin, digital consultant at X-on Health.
An expert panel including Deborah El-Sayed, director of transformation and CDIO at Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB; Dan Bunstone, clinical director at Warrington ICB; Stephen Bromhall, interim chief officer for digitaland data at South East Coast Ambulance Service; and Laura Thompson, director of marketing at The Access Group, joined us late last year to talk about approaches to tackling challenges from an ICS perspective; new models of care and pathway transformation; the role of technology in supporting the move from reactive to proactive care; and how a system approach can accelerate preventative care.
British Heart Foundation awarded nearly £230k to University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, for their Appitrator app. According to the trust, the funding will help to further develop an algorithm they have created, which records “key patient data” such as blood pressure, heart rate, weight, and potential side effects and then uses that information to generate personalised medication recommendations.
NHS Frimley ICB recently awarded a £89,718.72 contract to Pungo Ltd for its social prescribing digital solution, Joy, to support the “social needs” of patients across four Slough PCNs and other secondary care partners. The procurement of the solution aims to improve connections between residents and local services within the region, including adult social care, outpatients, and the voluntary community sector.
