AI-powered care facility automation platform care.ai announced an enterprise-wide partnership with New Jersey-based not-for-profit hybrid care provider Virtua Health, where Virtua will leverage care.ai's virtual care offerings, including its Smart Care Facility Platform and Always-Aware ambient sensors.

care.ai's Smart Care Facility Platform includes a network of sensors spread through a care facility that monitors patients using AI, allowing the facility to collect real-time behavior data for clinical and operational insights. 

The Florida-based company's AI-powered offerings will initially be utilized at Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Camden, New Jersey, then eventually implemented in all of Virtua Health's acute care settings. 

The announcement comes approximately two months after the partners launched a pilot Virtual Nurse program in a medical-surgical unit that allows remote and bedside nurses to work in tandem. 

Patients could also communicate with a nurse via a two-way optical camera, and their family members could participate in the calls remotely. 

"Our focus is not just on integrating cutting-edge technologies but on enhancing the human aspects of healthcare. By swiftly adopting optical cameras and ambient sensors, we're poised to markedly enhance the patient and care team experience, ensuring a safer, more efficient, and empathically connected healthcare experience," Michael Capriotti, senior vice president of integration and strategic operations at Virtua Health, said in a statement. 

THE LARGER TREND

In 2022, care.ai scored $27 million in funding led by multi-asset investment firm Crescent Cove Advisors.

Last year, the company announced it was partnering with Colorado-based remote patient monitoring company BioIntelliSense to integrate BioIntelliSense's BioButton wearable – a product used for continuous vital-sign monitoring for 60 days that captures temperature, respiratory rate and heart rate at rest – into its Smart Care Facility Platform. 

care.ai also announced a partnership with the Texas Hospital Association to create statewide adoption of AI-powered patient monitoring and a partnership with patient engagement platform Get Well, which allows patients to connect with care teams via the interactive TV platform already present in patient rooms. 

In June, care.ai announced it was partnering with multinational electronics company Samsung to integrate its Smart Care Facility Platform into the tech giant's displays for use by health systems. The partnership allows for AI-powered patient monitoring. 

Clinical care teams could also attend virtual visits over care.ai devices that are paired with Samsung's displays.