Stop Waiting for Interoperability: PocketHealth's Agentic AI Automates Operations Across Systems
Healthcare organizations have spent billions of dollars attempting to force disparate systems to communicate with each other through custom APIs and shared data standards. Despite these efforts, administrative staff continue to spend their days manually copying data across disjointed software screens. This raises the question: what if solving interoperability doesn’t require complex data integration at all?
PocketHealth’s CEO, Rishi Nayyar, sat down with Healthcare IT Today to discuss how agentic AI is transforming health system operations. The company has pioneered a fresh approach to operational automation with its new agentic operations platform, Conductor, which tackles longitudinal workflows across disconnected systems.
Agentic AI offers a direct workaround to traditional interoperability bottlenecks. Rather than waiting for universal standards or API adoption, intelligent agents can work across the entire system at the interface layer, not just the parts a vendor exposes through an API. This approach bypasses the need for complex data integration and allows organizations to automate cross-platform workflows immediately.
EHRs are built for data consistency, not dynamic process orchestration. Electronic health records excel at serving as systems of record, but managing complex, longitudinal operational workflows that span service lines and systems requires a dedicated automation layer. Organizations rely on human staff members to serve as makeshift bridges between systems that don’t talk to each other.
Nayyar pointed out that intelligent software can replicate these exact human workflows across graphical user interfaces. ‘Agentic AI can do the interoperability work that humans are doing now,’ Nayyar explained. ‘Right now, if you have two systems that don’t speak to each other, a human plays that role [the bridge]. I look at a work list, then I open up MEDITECH or Cerner, and then I do X, Y, Z task based on the work list.’
Agentic AI can navigate software screens, input data, and execute tasks across disparate systems just as a human staff member would. This allows health systems to automate cross-platform workflows immediately without waiting for underlying software architectures to unify. By leveraging this technology, organizations can streamline operations and improve patient satisfaction.
Nayyar believes that EHRs should stick with what they excel at: preserving ground-truth clinical data at specific points in time. They lack the architectural flexibility required to orchestrate complex, multi-step workflows that span across different service lines, third-party systems, and patient communication channels. Using purpose-built automation layers on top of the EHR allows each system to perform its primary function effectively.
The need for separate and dedicated coordination layer to automate cross-departmental workflows while using the EHR’s data stores is crucial. This approach enables organizations to manage complex care journeys across departments without relying solely on human staff members. By automating these tasks, health systems can reduce manual labor from front-desk staff and improve patient satisfaction.
For Nayyar, hesitating to automate administrative tasks carries measurable risk for health systems. Patient expectations have shifted dramatically toward instant access and digital convenience. Staying attached to legacy operational methods will slowly erode patient and staff confidence which leads to organizational decline.
Nayyar went further and shared his opinion that patient retention and referral patterns will reflect this operational divide sooner than many executives think. ‘We are moving into a world where these things will very quickly become table stakes,’ Nayyar cautioned. ‘Patients will expect to call and be able to talk to someone immediately, not stay on hold or print off and then fax a form in order to get a referral.’
Health IT leaders cannot afford to wait for total data standardization before streamlining operations. By deploying agentic AI to handle cross-system tasks, organizations can immediately remove manual labor from front-desk staff while improving patient satisfaction. PocketHealth demonstrates that the path forward lies in pairing trusted systems of record with smart automation tools built specifically for process orchestration.
Agentic AI addresses health system interoperability by interacting with software through graphical user interfaces rather than relying solely on custom APIs or shared data standards. This approach allows organizations to automate cross-platform workflows immediately without waiting for underlying software architectures to unify. By leveraging this technology, health systems can improve patient satisfaction and reduce manual labor from front-desk staff.
The operational risks of postponing administrative automation are severe. Delaying operational automation exposes health systems to degradation in patient experience, lower retention rates, and reduced referral volumes. Today’s patients expect immediate response times and digital self-service options. Organizations that maintain manual phone lines, paper forms, and slow scheduling processes will rapidly lose market share to competitors offering frictionless access.
Nayyar emphasized the importance of adopting agentic AI technology to automate administrative tasks. ‘We are moving into a world where these things will very quickly become table stakes,’ Nayyar cautioned. ‘Patients will expect to call and be able to talk to someone immediately, not stay on hold or print off and then fax a form in order to get a referral.’
Health IT leaders must recognize the benefits of agentic AI technology in automating cross-system tasks. By streamlining operations and improving patient satisfaction, organizations can reduce manual labor from front-desk staff and improve overall efficiency.