Microsoft has chosen three finalists for an AI challenge to improve referral routing at rural health systems.
The tech giant selected startups Afya Global, Bauhealth and Switchboard Health for its Rural Health AI Lab. The winner will be crowned by a panel of rural hospital leaders Feb. 10 at the American Hospital Association’s Rural Health Leadership Conference.
The contest, a collaboration with innovation startup ScaleHealth, solicited “AI-enabled, low-code/no-code solutions that strengthen rural care access by rethinking how patients are matched with clinicians, how referrals are communicated, and how navigation and scheduling challenges are addressed,” according to a Feb. 2 news release.
The initiative is part of Microsoft’s Rural Health Resiliency Program that brings discounted tech tools, including free cybersecurity services in partnership with the AHA, to rural healthcare providers.
