Ochsner Health and Paradigm Health expand access to clinical trials across the Gulf South

The AI-native solution increased screening capacity for Ochsner patients by 41%

NEW ORLEANS and COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Ochsner Health, the Gulf South's leading nonprofit academic healthcare system, and Paradigm Health, an AI-native clinical trial company, today announced the results of a system-wide partnership designed to expand access to clinical trials among Ochsner's patient population. Paradigm Health's AI-driven recruitment platform reviews and identifies potential trial patients across 47 Ochsner hospitals and 370 health centers, expanding Ochsner patients' access to trials by 41%.

Clinical trials can offer patients important treatment options and renewed hope. With multiple trial sites throughout Louisiana, Ochsner had a strong foundation to expand participation across its network and connect more patients to research opportunities closer to home. To support that growth, Paradigm Health introduced an efficient way to assess patient eligibility across a large population by assisting research staff in the review process.

Ochsner implemented Paradigm Health's AI-powered patient recruitment platform, which integrates within electronic health records and other clinical data sources to continuously evaluate a patient's medical record against clinical trial eligibility criteria. By using AI to efficiently and accurately evaluate a patient's eligibility, Ochsner can continuously reassess a broad group of patients as they progress through their care journey and incorporate trial recruitment into routine patient visits, making it easier for patients to learn about trials and consider enrollment as part of their hands-on care with clinicians.

Deployment of this LLM-based platform has yielded meaningful results for both Ochsner's patients and clinical research staff:

• 41% increase in screening capacity: By extending the reach of Ochsner's clinical research team, the platform expanded the number of patients clinically considered for trial participation, helping ensure eligible patients were not overlooked.
• 3.6x increase in patients identified for future trial eligibility: By continuously reviewing patient data, the platform identified patients who were not yet eligible for a clinical trial but could become eligible as they progress through their care journey. This enabled research teams to reassess eligibility in near real time without additional administrative burden.
• 75% reduction in manual effort: AI-powered patient identification and continuous eligibility screening reduced the substantial manual effort required by clinical research coordinators to identify and review potentially eligible patients. The LLM-native eligibility assessment allowed clinical staff to review eligibility of the most likely candidates only and spend more time directly engaging and supporting patients with trial enrollment.

"This partnership has helped us implement a more comprehensive, integrated perspective of our patients' eligibility for trials that extends past individual clinics or specific healthcare encounters," said Nneka Ifejika, MD, chief scientific officer at Ochsner Health. "By pinpointing eligible patients sooner in their treatment path and tracking changing eligibility status, we are making our clinical trial infrastructure more efficient and expanding the reach of Ochsner's research team to consider and enroll more patients in need of trials as a care option."

"Our partnership with Paradigm Health marks a fundamental shift in how we approach clinical research," said Wendy Chriss, PhD, director of clinical research at Ochsner Health. "By automating the incredibly complex, manual screening process, we are making clinical trials an inclusive, realistic care option for more patients across the Gulf South. This isn't just an operational victory; it is a major step forward in our region."

"The traditional clinical trial model leaves out the vast majority of Americans who receive care in community settings, and we have built AI-enabled infrastructure to address this challenge," said Kent Thoelke, founder and CEO of Paradigm Health. "Through our work with Ochsner, we are proving that when we embed intelligent infrastructure directly into a provider's existing workflow, we can scale trial access rapidly, alleviate coordinator burnout, and ultimately accelerate the delivery of life-saving treatments to market."

About Ochsner Health

The Gulf South's premier nonprofit academic healthcare system, Ochsner Health, provides specialized medical services via a network of 47 hospitals and over 370 clinics and urgent care facilities. Nationally recognized for its commitment to clinical excellence and digital innovation, Ochsner served 1.6 million individuals from across the globe in 2025, supported by a dedicated team of 40,000 employees and 5,000 physicians. For additional details on Ochsner's mission to improve community health, visit www.ochsner.org.

About Paradigm Health

Paradigm Health has engineered an AI-powered platform to make clinical trials more accessible and efficient, so that patients, researchers, and study sponsors can maximize the impact of clinical research. Incubated by ARCH Venture Partners and backed by leading healthcare and life sciences investors, Paradigm Health aims to break down barriers across the trial ecosystem through one seamless infrastructure implemented at healthcare provider organizations, bringing potentially life-saving therapies to patients faster. For more information about how Paradigm Health is expanding clinical trial access in rural America, visit www.paradigmhealth.ai or read the comprehensive case study at https://www.paradigmhealth.ai/ochsner-case-study.

In April 2026, Paradigm Health announced a landmark research collaboration with the FDA focused on advancing a new model to accelerate clinical trial execution and regulatory review. The model uses Paradigm Health's technology-enabled Study Conduct platform to allow real-time review by the FDA, by automating data collection and analysis, and streamlining the reporting of key safety and efficacy signals to trial sponsors and the FDA.

SOURCE Paradigm Health, Inc.