Executives at UPMC Enterprises, the innovation, commercialization, and venture capital arm of Pittsburgh-based UPMC, are gearing up to make a significant impact on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare at ViVE 2025, a health technology summit in Nashville, Tennessee. Their latest development, a virtual environment called Ahavi, has been designed to evaluate and refine AI models using real-world data insights from UPMC’s extensive patient population. This unveiling promises to bring about revolutionary changes in the way AI technologies are integrated into healthcare settings, ensuring the efficacy of these models before their real-world application.
UPMC Enterprises is taking a strategic approach to ensure the effective integration of AI technologies into healthcare. Ahavi, which executives describe as revolutionary, will undergo a soft launch at ViVE 2025. Jeff Jones, Senior Vice President of Product Development at UPMC Enterprises, emphasizes that this platform allows UPMC to assess and validate AI model efficacy against their patient population before deployment. This safeguard ensures that new AI models can enhance patient care without unforeseen negative impacts, providing a controlled environment to test and perfect the technologies.
Introducing Ahavi: A Revolutionary Virtual Environment
Ahavi provides primary-source-verifiable, de-identified healthcare data to researchers, developers, and other stakeholders. This platform is intended for users including pharma companies, clinical trial partners, AI developers, academic researchers, and hospital systems. It encompasses third-party certified data pipelines alongside comprehensive, structured, and unstructured patient data, linkable from 2019 and 2012, respectively. The collection includes information from 5 million patients across 24 hospitals, presenting a wealth of data for AI model training and refinement.
The secure environment offered by Ahavi ensures that AI models can be meticulously tested and fine-tuned before being applied in broader real-world contexts. This approach prioritizes patient safety and ethical model deployment, minimizing potential biases that could otherwise compromise the integrity of AI applications in healthcare. According to Jones, the interactive nature of Ahavi enables UPMC and its partners to accelerate research and development efforts, reducing timelines from years to mere months. This heightened speed in bringing safe, effective AI solutions to market represents a substantial leap forward in healthcare innovation.
The Importance of Real-World Data in AI Development
The growing adoption of AI in healthcare highlights the need for secure environments to validate and enhance these models. Jones stresses the critical importance of a controlled, separate assessment space for identifying any biases in AI models based on their informed data. This necessity is increasingly pivotal for AI governance within healthcare systems, ensuring that AI applications are safe, reliable, and ethically sound. By providing a comprehensive, controlled testing environment, Ahavi addresses an essential component in the responsible development and deployment of AI in healthcare.
The practical need for real-world data in advancing AI models cannot be overstated. Jones notes that data-driven decisions are essential for the informed application of these technologies. The use of real-world data ensures that the insights derived are robust and applicable to actual healthcare settings. This approach not only enhances the reliability of AI models but also ensures that their application can genuinely improve patient outcomes in tangible and measurable ways. By leveraging extensive patient data, Ahavi facilitates the development of AI models that are both accurate and applicable to real-world clinical environments.
UPMC Enterprises’ Expansive Healthcare System
UPMC’s extensive healthcare system includes over 40 hospitals, an insurance arm, an international arm, and its relationship with the University of Pittsburgh. This robust infrastructure has empowered UPMC Enterprises to cultivate a diverse portfolio of over 40 companies at various development stages. In the first three weeks of the current year, UPMC Enterprises added three more companies to this already extensive portfolio, demonstrating their commitment to innovation and the advancement of healthcare through strategic partnerships and investments.
UPMC Enterprises’ presence at ViVE 2025 is also about networking and evaluation. Executives aim to explore new digital and AI innovations while sharing their own advancements. The goal is to remain at the forefront of healthcare and technology, taking advantage of UPMC’s integrated delivery system and academic medical center setup. They leverage access to clinicians, insurance specialists, and researchers to identify and solve practical problems faced within the UPMC system. This collaborative approach fosters an environment where cutting-edge technologies can be evaluated and integrated into the healthcare system effectively, enhancing patient care and operational efficiency.
AI Technologies at the Forefront of UPMC Enterprises
In recent years, AI technologies have become a focal point for UPMC Enterprises. By collaborating with subject matter experts, the organization seeks to identify companies whose solutions align with their needs. Enhancing patient access and care quality, improving care coordination, and advancing medical innovations are key areas of interest. These collaborations are instrumental in driving the development and implementation of AI technologies that can address critical challenges in healthcare, from patient management to clinical documentation and beyond.
A significant AI application within UPMC Enterprises is Abridge, a portfolio company that offers ambient AI technology for capturing medical notes during doctor visits. This technology substantially alleviates the documentation burden on clinicians, allowing them to focus more on patient care. Such AI-driven solutions are gaining traction for their ability to streamline clinical operations and improve efficiency. By reducing administrative tasks, Abridge enables clinicians to dedicate more time to patient interactions, enhancing the overall quality of care provided.
The Need for Comprehensive Digital Health Solutions
Health system executives favor comprehensive digital health and AI solutions that offer substantial return on investment. The evolving nature of these technologies demands continuous monitoring and enhancement to ensure they meet organizational expectations. UPMC’s approach reflects a trend towards broader AI platforms rather than isolated point solutions, driven by the need for cohesive systems that support extensive and varied patient care needs. This holistic approach ensures that AI technologies can be seamlessly integrated into the healthcare system, providing consistent and reliable support across different patient care scenarios.
ViVE 2025 also serves as a platform for UPMC Enterprises executives to connect with their peers in other health systems, exchange ideas, and refine their strategic partnerships. Kathryn Heffernan, Senior Director at UPMC Enterprises, emphasizes the importance of collaboration with venture firms to share focus areas and build relationships that enhance their evaluative processes. These interactions provide valuable opportunities for UPMC Enterprises to stay abreast of the latest advancements in digital health and AI, ensuring that their portfolio remains at the cutting edge of innovation.
Strategic Partnerships and Future Collaborations
Executives at UPMC Enterprises, the innovation, commercialization, and venture capital division of Pittsburgh-based UPMC, are preparing to make a major impact on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare at ViVE 2025, a health technology summit in Nashville, Tennessee. Their latest innovation, a virtual environment named Ahavi, is set to evaluate and improve AI models using real-world data insights from UPMC’s vast patient population. This launch is expected to revolutionize how AI technologies are integrated into healthcare, ensuring their efficacy before real-world application.
UPMC Enterprises is adopting a strategic approach for effectively integrating AI technologies into healthcare systems. The virtual platform, Ahavi, which executives tout as revolutionary, will have its soft launch at ViVE 2025. Jeff Jones, Senior Vice President of Product Development at UPMC Enterprises, highlights that Ahavi allows UPMC to test and validate the performance of AI models against their patient population before they are deployed. This measure ensures that new AI models can enhance patient care without unexpected negative consequences, providing a controlled environment to test and perfect these technologies.
