'First-of-its kind' relationship: Highmark Health, Abridge announce unique collaboration to scale and deploy AI technologies across an entire payer-provider ecosystem

AHN will use Abridge's AI-powered ambient clinical intelligence platform to enhance system-wide patient-clinician interactions; Highmark Health is working with Abridge to facilitate real-time prior authorization at the point of conversation using AI

PITTSBURGH, Aug. 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Highmark Health announced today the launch of an enterprise-wide collaboration with Abridge to deploy its ambient clinical documentation platform, collaborate on a paradigm-shifting prior authorization solution at the point of conversation, and invest in other innovative tools that integrate Abridge's AI technology.

Highmark Health is a Pittsburgh-based organization that includes a multi-state insurance services division (Highmark Inc.) and a 14-hospital care provider (Allegheny Health Network). Abridge, also based in Pittsburgh, is a pioneer in developing AI technologies to improve patient outcomes and reduce clinician burdens.

The first phase of the collaboration involves implementing Abridge's ambient clinical intelligence platform at AHN office locations and hospitals. The AI technology assists in clinical documentation so that providers can focus on patient care, rather than note-taking.

"Providing patients with exceptional, personalized care is our highest priority, and that starts with empowering clinicians to be their best," said Mark Sevco, president of AHN. "Abridge's technology allows clinicians to spend more time listening to and engaging with their patients, leading to a much better overall experience for both parties."

Real-time clinical notes from patient-clinician conversations

Abridge securely transforms patient-clinician conversations into clinical notes. With the patient's consent, the conversation is documented through a secure smartphone app or laptop/desktop with web recording. The clinical note is presented in real-time within the clinician's existing workflow, allowing the clinician to review and edit the resulting note as needed. Once the clinician reviews and submits the notes, they are directly integrated into the patient's electronic health record (EHR).

Automating what otherwise would have been a manual effort, the platform frees clinicians to focus more fully on delivering face-to-face patient care — rather than facing away from a patient and typing notes into a computer. In its own tests of ambient scribe technologies over the last year, AHN reported that 92% of its patients felt their providers were more attentive during their visits when ambient scribe technology was being utilized.

The platform also reduces the after-work hours — known in the industry as "pajama time" — that doctors commonly spend editing their notes, reviewing EHRs and documenting after-care summaries. AHN clinicians who piloted the technologies reported dramatic improvements in documentation and workflow efficiency.

"Limiting documentation burden can help to solve for burnout and workforce shortages in the health care industry," said Bethany Casagranda, DO, MBA, president of AHN's physician organization and Chief Medical Officer for AHN. "Many of our physicians have described the technology as 'life-changing' because they are able to leave work with an empty inbox, and spend more evenings and weekend time with family, friends, and other activities that contribute to their wellbeing."

While the implementation of the ambient technology will begin at outpatient locations, AHN and Abridge plan to eventually deploy the technology across the entire health system footprint, enabling its use across all hospital locations and practices by physicians, advanced practice providers, and nurses.

"Abridge's platform will help us close care gaps by generating clinically useful and compliant documentation at various interaction points," Dr. Casagranda said. "Our roadmap includes utilization in our emergency departments, hospitalist programs, home care environments, and any other area where we believe it can make a difference."

Pioneering solution for real-time prior authorization at the point of conversation

Beyond the adoption of clinical documentation technology, Highmark Health and Abridge are also collaborating on a new prior-authorization technology that builds upon Highmark's advanced product and is aimed at facilitating near-instantaneous approvals at the point of conversation.

Prior authorization is the process by which a health insurance plan approves a medical service or medication before it's provided to a patient, to ensure coverage. The review process can sometimes cause delays in the provision of care or coverage; when delays occur, it's often because of missing clinical documentation – not necessarily because the insurer doesn't cover the procedure.

Historically, most attempts at solving the challenges of prior authorization have focused on streamlining the approval process post-encounter. Highmark Health, however, has spent years refining its prior authorization programs and documentation technologies, so that approvals can happen at the point of submission.

"Highmark Health has long been focused on simplifying the prior authorization process, and recently we joined many other U.S. health plans in redoubling our commitment to connecting patients more quickly to the care they need while also reducing administrative burdens on the clinicians who provide that care," said Tony Farah, MD, EVP, Chief Medical and Clinical Transformation Officer for Highmark Health.

"This collaboration with Abridge marks another important milestone in our journey to bring prior-auth decision-making to the point of care, building upon Highmark Health's unique Gold Carding program, and ensuring that there are no unnecessary delays in covered treatments and that our members receive care that is timely and evidence-based."

Highmark Health Plan is already processing a significant percentage of prior authorizations electronically, at the point of submission, through the physician Gold Carding program — which pre-approves doctors based on their historical practice patterns — and other electronic systems.

The collaboration with Abridge aims to accelerate that approval process further. Abridge's technology will work by comparing, in real time, Highmark's medical authorization requirements to the information that is being collected during the physician-patient visit. If any pieces of required documentation are missing, Abridge will prompt the physician to gather what's needed.

By advancing the prior authorization review process to the point of conversation between patient and physician, the physician and the insurer will be on the same page from the start, accelerating approvals and supporting reduced denials for missing documentation. Clinicians remain at the helm of the process, reviewing all AI-generated recommendations before anything is submitted.

"Prior authorization is one of the biggest challenges facing healthcare today, and the costs of waiting for approval can be enormously significant for patients," said Dr. Shiv Rao, Abridge CEO and Co-Founder. "Our technology opens a powerful path to dramatically reduce the burden of this process at the point of conversation — by helping clinicians ask the right questions and automatically generate documentation that's both complete and compliant. That transforms a traditionally weeks-long process into one that can take just minutes. We're excited to refine this new solution with the experts at Highmark Health, who see the real-world impact of these delays every day. Ultimately, it's about giving clinicians back their time and ensuring patients get the timely care and focus they deserve."

The collaboration between Highmark Health and Abridge also reaffirms the companies' joint commitment to further cementing Western Pennsylvania as a hub for developing and investing in next-generation technology advancements that will create more connected health experiences. Various teams at Highmark Health, including the enterprise's health-tech subsidiary, enGen, are playing key roles in enabling and scaling these technologies.

"AI innovation is a critical component of our organization's Living Health model and its focus on transforming health and wellness through more effective, efficient, and affordable solutions for the diverse health needs of those we serve," said Richard Clarke, PhD, SVP, Chief Analytics Officer, Highmark Health. "By leveraging next-frontier technologies and Abridge's powerful AI platforms, we have a unique opportunity at Highmark Health and AHN to help redefine the patient, member, and clinician experience in our industry."

About Abridge

Abridge was founded in 2018 to power deeper understanding in healthcare. The enterprise-grade AI platform transforms medical conversations into clinically useful and billable documentation at the point of care, reducing administrative burden and clinician burnout while improving patient experience. With deep EHR integration, support for 28+ languages, and 50+ specialties, Abridge is used across a wide range of care settings, including outpatient, emergency department, and inpatient.

Abridge's enterprise-grade AI platform is purpose-built for healthcare. Supported by Linked Evidence, Abridge is the only solution that maps AI-generated summaries to source data, helping clinicians quickly trust and verify the output. As a pioneer in generative AI for healthcare, Abridge is setting the industry standard for the responsible deployment of AI across health systems.

Abridge was awarded Best in KLAS 2025 for Ambient AI in addition to other accolades, including Forbes 2025 AI 50 List, TIME Best Inventions of 2024, and Fortune's 2024 AI 50 Innovators.

About Highmark Health

Highmark Health, a Pittsburgh, PA-based enterprise that employs more than 44,000 people who serve millions of Americans across the country, is the parent company of Highmark Inc., Allegheny Health Network, and enGen. Highmark Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates provide health insurance to more than 7 million members in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, and New York, as well as dental insurance, and related health products through a national network of diversified businesses. Allegheny Health Network is an integrated delivery network in western Pennsylvania composed of 14 hospitals, more than 2,500 affiliated physicians, ambulatory surgery centers, an employed physician organization, home and community-based health services, a research institute, a group purchasing organization, and health and wellness pavilions. enGen is a wholly owned subsidiary of Highmark Health whose dynamic ecosystem of smart automation and technology supports and streamlines complex operations for health plans and their provider partners. To learn more, visit www.highmarkhealth.org.

SOURCE Highmark Health