New startup aims to build generative AI for healthcare armed with $50M from General Catalyst, A16z

The startup is focused on using language models to massively increase healthcare access, reduce costs and close the healthcare skills gap left behind by the global pandemic.

As the world is buzzing with the latest advancements in generative AI, a group of physicians, hospital administrators and tech experts banded together to build out large language models specifically for healthcare.

Healthcare and Interoperability - Industry-Wide Perspectives

Hippocratic AI launched out of stealth armed with $50 million to build out what it refers to as the first LLM for healthcare with an initial focus on non-diagnostic, patient-facing applications. Hippocratic AI is backed by General Catalyst and Andreessen Horowitz.

The startup is focused on using language models to massively increase healthcare access, reduce costs and close the healthcare skills gap left behind by the global pandemic. "The thing I'm really excited about is what I call 'healthcare maximalism', which is this idea that right now the healthcare staffing is to a certain level of service. But if the cost of healthcare could be brought even lower, we could provide an even higher level of service. And what would that do to outcomes? What happens to health care outcomes if every person in the country has their own free dietitian? We just realized that there's some really big potential here, not just to close the gap, but to bring a whole different level of healthcare to the country. The healthcare industry is facing a critical workforce staffing crisis, said Meenesh Bhimani M.D., Hippocratic AI co-founder and chief medical officer.

"We now have this incredible opportunity to really augment our workforce, reduce fatigue, reduce burnout, and get healthcare workers back to the frontline and back to the bedside. Workers can now reach out to patients and connect with patients in ways that we've just never had the ability to do before," said Bhimani, who also serves as chief operating officer at El Camino Health.

Hippocratic AI focused on testing its model on a wide variety

of 114 healthcare certifications and roles with a goal of not just getting a passing score but outperforming existing language models such as GPT-4 and other commercially available models, executives said. The company was able to outperform GPT-4 on 105 of the 114 tests and certifications, outperform by 5% or more on 74 of the certifications, and outperform by 10% or more on 43 of their certifications. 

Hippocratic AI also is using a technique called Reinforcement Learning with Human Feedback (RLHF) by using healthcare professionals to help guide and train the LLM by rating its responses. Many believe this technique is what led to the remarkable performance of ChatGPT compared to that of prior versions of OpenAI’s language models.  

Some of the roles and tasks the company is exploring include patient navigator, dietician, genetic counselor, enrollment specialist, and medication reminder.

ChatGPT and other LLMs will be optimized for health care by RLHF and vetted by users for accuracy.