In a high-tech, complicated world, consumers want answers instantaneously. But when it comes to their health, they not only want guidance quickly — they crave a higher-value, more compassionate approach, too.
That’s precisely why we created Catherine™, an AI Conversational Engagement Platform that helps people navigate the dementia caregiver journey with more empathy and confidence. Due in large part to Catherine’s success, we’re expanding into additional journeys — starting with orthopedics.
Bridging the Healthcare Communication Gap
According to the CDC’s latest National Health Interview Survey, nearly 60 percent of adults head to the internet to search for medical information. Around 7% of Google’s daily search queries are related to health. This equates to 70,000 searches per minute and more than 1 billion per day*. But is the information they find accurate? And is it delivered with care?
Guided by our proprietary journey research approach, we recognized a major gap in healthcare communication. Consumers seek better health help, but they’re not finding it when, where, or how they want to. Eventually, doubt and frustration become barriers to getting the care they want and need.
To bridge that gap, we teamed up with Accrete Health Partners to launch Catherine, the first iteration of our Conversational Engagement Platform. Ever since, we’ve seen our vision to facilitate more meaningful conversations in healthcare and foster life-long patient relationships become a reality.
Our Journey to Orthopedics
Equipped with insight from the platform launch in October 2023, we set out to expand to other faster-moving service lines in need of trusted information and empathetic guidance. Our first stop: orthopedics.
For the 1.71 billion people across the globe living with musculoskeletal conditions — which affect bones, muscles, joints, and/or connective tissues — short- and long-term pain and mobility limitations can significantly impact their quality of life. If left untreated, musculoskeletal impairments can worsen joint and muscle function and increase the likelihood of developing additional physical and mental health issues.
That’s a lot of people living with pain and disruption to their home, work, and school lives. And as we continue to mine the search landscape in this space, one fact remains abundantly clear: Orthopedic care is vast. It spans all ages, encompasses a wide range of conditions and treatments, and includes care journeys that last weeks, months, and years.
“We want our platform to help patients navigate a very complicated healthcare system,” says Bob Cuneo, Chief Insight Officer at Brado. “Through every stage of their journey, patients have a multitude of questions. It is extremely difficult for providers to answer all those questions and manage patient expectations.”
Navigating the Uncertainties of Pain and Injury
This next version of Brado and Mercy Health’s AI-powered platform, launching in Cincinnati in Q4, will provide orthopedic patients with tailored support and curated information to help them connect to appropriate, cost-effective care earlier.
“It provides 24/7 access to the thousands of questions that everyone has but no single provider has time to answer,” Cuneo says. “It gets them access healthcare faster so they can start healing sooner.”
While research shows fatigue, anxiety, sadness, and a reduction in quality of life often accompany the orthopedic pain journey, AI-powered personalized engagement and thoughtful, educational answers can improve patient outcomes and help patients feel more supported when making decisions about their care.
By combining our insight-first approach and Accrete’s commitment to digital transformation in healthcare, this ongoing partnership is uniquely positioned to offer data-driven, empathetic guidance throughout the orthopedic care journey.
Engaging Patients on Their Terms
“We’re excited about expanding into the orthopedics service line in the Cincinnati market of Accrete’s parent company, Bon Secours Mercy Health (BSMH), particularly given the scale and impact of orthopedic services in the lives of our patients and our communities,” says Mark Townsend, MD, MHCM, and Chief Clinical Innovation Officer at BSMH and Accrete Health Partners.
After our initial orthopedic roll-out in Cincinnati this fall, we have our sights set on launches in other core markets and along additional BSMH service lines in the future. According to Dr. Townsend, we look forward to exploring the neuroscience, and heart & vascular care journeys next.
With these expansions, we believe our mission to enhance healthcare with generative AI will continue to change the way patients engage with their health and connect people to the care they need faster.
* Local SEO For Doctors During The Modern Patient Journey – Forbes
