How Ada's AI digital triage platform supports patients and clinicians at Portugal's largest healthcare network.
increase in patients choosing primary care
reduction in patient uncertainty
of patients schedule further care
Says Dr Micaela Seemann Monteiro, CUF's Chief Medical Officer for Digital Transformation.
As part of CUF’s end-to-end digital patient experience, Ada’s AI symptom assessment and care navigation technology offer a clinically validated building block in patient pathways to improve care, patient experience, clinician experience, and efficiency.
Empowers patient access and autonomy
Improves operational efficiency
Facilitates better patient-doctor conversations and clinician experiences
Ada helps patients to access the highest-quality care according to their clinical needs. "It smooths the whole journey to care by guiding the patients to take the right steps,” Monteiro highlights.
Informed patient decisions increase patient confidence. After using Ada, 66% of patients are more certain of what care to seek, 40% report reduced anxiety, and 80% feel more prepared for their consultation, leading to better patient engagement and informed discussions.
Patients are supported outside normal clinic hours, with 53% of assessments undertaken when conventional services are less available, and twice as many patients choose to manage their symptoms at home after using Ada.
Dr Pedro Flores, Physician and ESSENCE Study Principal Investigator at CUF, notes that “patients are more prepared for consultation and better informed about the level of care they need, and the diagnosis they may be facing.” Clinical safety is essential; Flores highlights that CUF “found no situations in which the severity of a patient’s suggested condition had been underestimated.”
of patients feel more prepared for their consultation
of patients report reduced anxiety
of assessments are completed outside of hours
“One of the big challenges is ensuring that digital solutions are viewed as an opportunity to solve specific problems rather than just being an additional cost,” says Paula Silva, Executive Board Member, “Ada helps patients to make better decisions about their care and access the right level of care, improving efficiency and quality in healthcare delivery.”
Ada offers a first touchpoint in the patient journey via CUF’s patient-facing app and has already been used over 120,000 times, with 84% of these completing an assessment.
The impact on patient decisions is significant. After using Ada, 77% more patients seek primary care, and 20% fewer patients choose specialty care. 13% of all patients completing an assessment choose same-day telehealth, which can also be a step toward more targeted care, such as a specialist or ordering tests for follow-up.
Monteiro highlights that 30% use Ada more than once and 37% schedule further care at CUF “indicating a high level of trust and perceived value to patients and that Ada effectively guides patients to clinical services.”
of patients use Ada more than once
schedule further care
of users choose same-day telehealth
Integration with CUF’s electronic health record (EHR) allows clinicians to view patients’ clinical Handover reports, semi-automating the clinical history-taking process. “It increases efficiency, and clinicians really can save a lot of time,” Monteiro mentions.
64% of surveyed physicians reported time savings in consultations or by reducing administrative burden, meaning they can focus on providing high-quality patient care.
Time is not the only benefit; it also helps gather data and improves doctor-patient conversations. “Integrating structured information into our EHR improves the quality of our records,” Monteiro notes, and 78% of physicians surveyed felt more prepared before a consultation.
Flores adds that Ada “supports physicians’ clinical reasoning and helps them feel more confident in their thinking.” Monteiro concurs, “Showing complaint characteristics that are present and absent and offering differentials including those less probable or rare - contributes to clinicians’ diagnostic accuracy.”
of physicians surveyed felt more prepared before a consultation
of physicians saved time in consultations or by reducing administration
times Ada has underestimated the severity of a patient’s suggested condition
“Without credibility and trust, it would be a no-go from the beginning,” states Monteiro. CUF’s medical team rigorously tested several solutions and analyzed peer-reviewed research before selecting Ada for its comprehensiveness, accuracy, and safety. “Being a Class IIa regulated medical device also really helps, and Ada has been accepted as part of the care journey.”
CUF continuously monitors performance through active post-market surveillance together with Ada, physician testing, and clinical research to evaluate safety, accuracy, workflows, and the interaction between patients and clinicians.
“There is an attitude of real partnership, and we’ve got the opportunity to build the whole journey around it.” continues Monteiro.
As healthcare systems worldwide grapple with resource constraints and increasing demand, CUF’s experience offers valuable insights into the impact of AI-driven care navigation tools.
“Ada helps patient-centered care models by empowering patients to autonomously access the right care at the right time in the right place by offering integrated care pathways from the very first moment of need.”
Dr Micaela Seemann Monteiro, Chief Medical Officer for Digital Transformation
ABOUT CUF: CUF, Portugal’s largest private healthcare network, serves the healthcare needs of 12% of Portugal’s population and sees 1.2 million patients annually. CUF has a long-standing history of innovation and aims to assist patients from their first need through their entire care journey.