Microsoft is top provider of healthcare AI, report finds

A new report looking at artificial intelligence in healthcare has found that Microsoft comes top in terms of perceived strength of their AI solutions, ahead of IBM, Amazon and Google. 

The report by healthcare data company KLAS Research, examined the recent AI purchase decisions of 47 organisations to determine which vendors are being considered and chosen, which are being replaced, and why. 

Half of respondents who shared perceptions of Microsoft said they have a strong healthcare AI offering. Highlighting Microsoft’s healthcare partnerships (e.g., Microsoft Azure is leveraged by Epic, Health Catalyst, Jvion, and KenSci), organisations feel Microsoft has more healthcare expertise than the other cross-industry vendors.

Azure’s AI infrastructure and platform are integrated with other highly adopted Microsoft products, such as Office 365 and Teams, and respondents note that Microsoft seems to have better security and a strong data-protection guarantee. 

Google is noted for advanced capabilities that allow customers to create algorithms capable of impacting patient outcomes, but they are not viewed as having a strong platform. Meanwhile Amazon is on the rise, while IBM is seen as some to over-promise and yield unsatisfactory results. 

The report also highlights the importance of AI and ML for imaging, highlighting three purpose-built, FDA-approved imaging AI vendors who are emerging as early leaders: Aidoc, Viz.ai, and Zebra Medical Vision.

Current users of ClosedLoop.ai, DataRobot, Epic, Health Catalyst, Jvion, and KenSci shared their customer satisfaction levels for the survey, with KenSci client satisfaction remaining high while it has decreased for Health Catalyst and DataRobot.