Anthropic and OpenEvidence Team to Expand Reach of Medical AI

Anthropic has reportedly launched a partnership with artificial intelligence (AI)-powered medical search engine provider OpenEvidence.

This collaboration is designed to bring AI-driven clinical decisioning help to doctors in places that can’t access the technology, the companies told Reuters Tuesday (Sept. 22).

“Access to medical knowledge shouldn’t depend on geography,” OpenEvidence founder Daniel Nadler said.

OpenEvidence answers physicians’ queries using information from peer-reviewed medical research and treatment guidelines, the Reuters report said, adding that the platform is free to clinicians in the U.S. and Europe.

This latest initiative is a specialized version open to healthcare providers for free in dozens of low and middle-income countries, where lack of access to medical literature, specialist expertise and ongoing medical education can hinder patient care, the report added.

The program is being launched in around 100 countries, including Angola, Haiti, Mongolia, Sudan and Uganda, Reuters said, citing a list provided by OpenEvidence.

The report notes that healthcare systems throughout the world are exploring the use of AI to address physician/specialist shortages. 

While proponents contend these tools can help clinicians quickly comb through large amounts of medical information, critics warn that systems trained primarily on data from wealthier countries may not align with “local practice conditions,” Reuters said.

This comes after a Reuters report last week that Anthropic had constructed a lab to perform physical biology work focused on using AI for drug development. 

The Wall Street Journal had reported in August that the company believes its healthcare and biology-focused AI efforts will boost public sentiment about the technology. It is one of the strategies Anthropic has shared with potential investors as it prepares to go public.

Research by PYMNTS Intelligence has shown that AI adoption in the healthcare field is not as extensive as in sectors like financial services.

But as covered here in May, this “narrower footprint does not mean healthcare is standing still,” but rather that the sector is employing AI first in places suffering the most strain.

Healthcare companies are using AI to handle things like logistics, customer service demand, workforce planning, and model development.

“Those are not abstract use cases. They are the kinds of operational pressure points that can affect patients, employees and costs at the same time,” that report said.

“The pattern suggests a practical form of AI adoption. Healthcare executives appear less focused on broad enterprise transformation than on targeted relief. In a sector known for fragmented systems, heavy regulation and labor constraints, that may be the more realistic starting point.”