How this Ohio Startup is Leveraging AI to Automate Repetitive Healthcare Tasks

Formerly known as CrossChx, the startup is based in Columbus, Ohio. There are currently about 160 employees, half of whom work on the technical side.

Its key product is a tool called Olive, which the company bills as a digital employee. It harnesses artificial intelligence to automate repetitive and error-prone healthcare administrative tasks, such as insurance eligibility checks, code matching and data migrations.

Upon implementation at an organization, Olive gets a username, password and credentials. The solution, which is system agnostic, can take on tasks and report to a manager regarding updates. “But it’s happening in the cloud,” Lane noted.

The company sells its offering to small and large health systems alike, including OhioHealth and Mercy in St. Louis. It also works with healthcare companies that do office work in support of payers and providers.

Lane said his company calls its business model “AI as a service,” though it operates as a SaaS model does. Clients pay a yearly cost for Olive, and the fee varies depending on the entity’s size and the complexity of its tasks.

Since its inception, the Ohio startup has raised a little over $60 million, Lane said. That includes a $32.8 million Series D round last summer, which was led by Oak HC/FT and Ascension Ventures. Existing investors also participated. The latest investment went toward hiring additional staff to scale the company’s solution.

Looking ahead, Lane said the company is looking at other segments in healthcare beyond health systems, as its “goal is to reduce costs across the entire industry.” It’s also evolving its platform to be more comprehensive and support a digital workforce.