We are able to turn around 98% of authorizations within 24 hours, and close to 85% within one minute.
AI fatigue: It seems every day there’s a fresh batch of hyper-niche application-layer AI solutions raising massive rounds of funding, or announcing strategic partnerships with the largest Enterprises. But as AI proliferates across every sector and industry, it’s hard to ignore the stark divide in the level of intensity and weight of importance these services offer.
The threat of commoditization: Sure, AI-assisted content editing and agentic SDRs are clever and newsworthy - but it’s hard to ignore the uneasy feeling that these tools are producing solutions that will become commoditized over time, and accelerate a race to the bottom.
But beyond hype and marketing, there’s an entirely different class emerging - one that drives immediate ROI, dramatically outpaces legacy systems and processes, and (most importantly) actually improves lives at a scale that was otherwise previously impossible to reach.
Accelerating outcomes: Cohere Health is a healthcare technology company focused on streamlining and improving the prior authorization process with healthcare insurers. It aligns physicians and health plans on evidence-based care paths to enhance healthcare outcomes.
"We are able to turn around 98% of authorizations within 24 hours, and close to 85% within one minute," says Cohere Health CEO and Co-Founder Siva Namasivayam.
We are branded as one of the 'safe users' of AI because of how we remove PII. We don't use the patient's information to develop our models. We report it directly to the MDs, and strip the PII out of the training data.
Balancing speed and security: While speed is vital, Cohere also prioritizes healthcare privacy and compliance by excluding patient information from their AI model development. "We are branded as one of the 'safe users' of AI because of how we remove PII. We don't use the patient's information to develop our models. We report it directly to the MDs, and strip [the PII] out [of the training data]," says Namasivayam.
"And it is actually the MD that is making the final call on whether a procedure should be approved or denied, not a machine. So it's always 'Human in the Loop'."
A recipe for a lasting business: Another benefit of a lasting business model over the commoditized applications is people currency. LinkedIn recently featured Cohere Health in the #3 slot in its Top 50 Startups of 2024 list - a recognition that Namasivayam chalks up to his company's mission-driven environment and community impact.
Speaking about building his team of roughly 800, Namasivayam says, "From day one onwards, we were a mission-driven company. [Healthcare] affects you, your family, and the community at large. In everything that we do, we are making a small impact to the community, and that is actually a great motivation for a lot of people."
