Linking the Exam Room to the Balance Sheet with AI

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Commure Team
 | 
October 21, 2025

The crowded healthcare AI market is reaching its next phase: survival of the most connected. Point solutions that can’t link patient care to payment will be replaced by unified platforms that do. On a recent HIMSS podcast, Commure’s SVP of Commercial Operations, Pat Winter, discussed why health systems must move past fragmented point tools toward unified platforms that connect intake, documentation, and RCM to see truly transformative outcomes. You can listen to the full podcast here.

From Point Solutions to Platforms


Solution sprawl makes it harder to run a health system (the average health system now relies on more than 150 solutions). As Winter explained, “It’s hard to have an integrated platform when you have disconnected software. We believe that these point solutions should be removed, and a platform like Commure is the future.”

The risk of point solutions is straightforward: if intake and eligibility aren’t connected to documentation and billing, preventable errors show up as denials and inaccurate patient bills. “Everything that we do at Commure starts at the beginning of the patient and goes all the way through claim submission,” Winter noted, so teams can manage outcomes instead of managing vendors.

Ambient + RCM for Measurable ROI


When looking at the ROI of Ambient AI, health systems are looking beyond just time-savings and looking at financial metrics. Describing a recent deployment, Winter said: “A lot of our deployments are focused on demonstrating hard ROI. In one instance, we saw pre-bill denials reduced by 16%, the error rate reduced by 35%, and the billing omission error rate reduced by 32%.  Holistically, we see our role as how do you get the most value from your ambient solution and how do you have a measurable impact on revenue cycle outcomes.”

Those gains come from treating ambient AI as a revenue system, not just a note-taker: billing rules are embedded in the workflow, documentation captures what payers require the first time, and the output flows cleanly into claim submission. Winter reported a ~97% first-pass rate and sub-2% denials when organizations take this prevention-first approach, which shortens days to  Accounts Receivable (AR) and lets teams concentrate on the smaller set of more complex claims.

Patient Access and Loyalty as Revenue Levers


Operational burden at the front desk erodes experience and throughput (at least 50% of patients experience operational friction, including long hold times, difficulty getting an appointment, or accessing follow-up information). Winter framed a more human model: “What if we could remove that burden with agentic workflows so that front office staff doesn’t have to do the scheduling, doesn’t have to answer the phone. When you come in for your appointment, you can be looked in the eye and they can really assist you.”

When agentic workflows handle scheduling and incoming calls, front desk staff can focus on people. That clarity supports leaner staffing models with fewer overtime spikes and less reliance on agency coverage, since call volume and check-in tasks are absorbed by the system. Fewer reschedules and fewer documentation gaps reduce rework for clinical and billing teams, which lowers downstream costs from avoidable denials, repeat outreach, and idle room time. The result is a smoother day that protects margins while keeping patients on track.

Building Intelligent, Human-Centered Systems


As the hope and hype of AI reaches new heights, health systems must find ways to drive measurable ROI from these solutions. To transform AI solutions from simple time-savers into true operating advantages, leading health systems are taking a platform-based approach, connecting adjacent workflows from documentation to RCM, and automating administrative tasks so clinicians can focus on people.

Want to hear more on driving ROI with AI tools? Listen to the full podcast here.

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