Anthropic has launched Claude for Healthcare, a new set of AI tools that can read through medical records, check insurance rules, and help doctors spend less time on paperwork.
The announcement came during the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. These tools work with HIPAA rules to keep patient data safe. Healthcare workers can now use Claude to handle tasks that used to take hours.
Prior authorisation is one area where this makes a big difference. This is when doctors need approval from insurance companies before treating patients. The process usually involves checking coverage rules, reading through patient files, and writing detailed requests. Claude can now do most of this work automatically.
The system connects directly to Medicare databases and medical coding systems. It pulls information from different sources and puts it together in one place. This helps insurance reviewers make decisions faster, which means patients get treated sooner.
Claude AI Healthcare Connects to Major Medical Databases
The new tools link up with several important healthcare systems. Claude can now access the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services Coverage Database. This includes both local and national coverage rules. Healthcare workers use this to verify what insurance will pay for in their area.
The system also connects to ICD-10, the standard medical coding system. Doctors and billing staff use these codes to describe diagnoses and procedures. Claude can look up these codes instantly, which helps prevent billing errors.
Another connection goes to the National Provider Identifier Registry. This helps hospitals verify doctor credentials and manage their provider networks. Claims processors also use it to check that provider information is correct.
PubMed access gives Claude the ability to search through over 35 million medical research papers. Doctors can ask for recent studies on specific treatments and get quick summaries. This helps them stay current with medical research without spending hours reading.
Prior Authorisation Reviews Get Much Faster
Insurance companies receive thousands of prior authorisation requests every day. Each request needs someone to check if the treatment matches coverage rules and medical guidelines. This review process creates delays that frustrate both doctors and patients.
Claude now handles the first review automatically. It reads the patient’s medical records, checks coverage policies, and compares the requested treatment against clinical guidelines. The system then writes up a recommendation for the insurance reviewer to check.
Payers save time because Claude does the initial research work. Providers get faster responses, which means patients start treatment sooner. The system can also help build stronger appeals when insurance denies a claim.
Healthcare startups are using these tools to build new products. Some create systems that listen to doctor appointments and write up notes automatically. Others build tools that help doctors review patient charts faster.
Patients Can Now Share Health Data Directly With Claude
People with Claude Pro or Max subscriptions can connect their personal health records. The system works with HealthEx, Function, Apple Health, and Android Health Connect. Users control exactly what information they share.
Once connected, Claude can explain lab test results in simple terms. It can spot patterns in fitness data and help people prepare questions for doctor visits. The goal is to help patients have better conversations with their doctors.
All of this happens privately. Users pick what data to share and can disconnect Claude anytime. Anthropic says they don’t use this health information to train its AI models.
The system includes disclaimers to remind people it’s not a replacement for real medical advice. Claude will tell users when they need to talk to an actual doctor instead of relying on AI answers.
Claude AI Healthcare Expands Into Medical Research Tools
Life sciences companies are getting new features too. Claude now connects to Medidata, which runs clinical trials. Researchers can track how many patients sign up and how well different testing sites perform.
The system also links to ClinicalTrials.gov, the main registry for medical studies in the United States. Scientists use this to research drug development pipelines and plan new studies. They can also find information about recruiting patients and choosing testing locations.
ToolUniverse brings over 600 scientific tools into Claude. Researchers can test different approaches and compare results quickly. This speeds up the early stages of drug discovery.
Access to bioRxiv and medRxiv means scientists can read new research before it gets published in journals. Open Targets helps identify potential drug targets. ChEMBL provides information about bioactive compounds that might become new medicines.
These tools help pharmaceutical companies move faster. Clinical trial planning takes less time. Regulatory submissions get completed with fewer gaps that would slow down approval.
Major Drug Companies Already Use Claude AI Healthcare
Several big pharmaceutical companies talked about their experience with Claude. Novo Nordisk says the system helps them automate documents faster than other companies in the industry. This speeds up getting new medicines through the approval process.
Sanofi uses Claude across most of its workforce. The company reports efficiency gains at every stage of drug development. Genmab expects the technology to let their scientists spend more time on actual research instead of paperwork.
Veeva AI combines Claude with its industry software to create tools specifically for life sciences companies. Premier works with over 4,400 healthcare organisations and uses Claude to handle complex workflows accurately.
Elation Health picked Claude because of its strong performance and focus on responsible AI use. Flatiron Health says Claude changed how their researchers work with datasets. Heidi Health uses Claude’s agent features to turn research processes into compliant automated workflows.
Claude Opus 4.5 Brings Better Performance to Medical Tasks
The latest version of Claude, called Opus 4.5, performs much better on healthcare and science tasks. Anthropic tested it on detailed simulations that mimic real medical work. The results show major improvements over earlier versions.
Extended thinking features help Claude produce more accurate answers. The company says this reflects progress on reducing false information, which matters a lot in medical settings where mistakes can harm patients.
The model handles complex problem-solving better than before. It can work through multi-step medical reasoning tasks that require connecting information from different sources. This makes it more useful for real clinical work.
Security improvements mean the system resists manipulation attempts better. Healthcare organisations need to trust that AI systems won’t give wrong answers when someone tries to trick them. The new version includes stronger protections against these attacks.
Getting Started With Claude AI Healthcare Tools
Healthcare providers who want to try these tools can sign up for Claude for Enterprise with HIPAA compliance. The connectors to medical databases work for all Claude subscribers, including Pro, Max, Teams, and Enterprise plans.
Tutorial guides walk users through different healthcare tasks. These cover everything from basic prior authorisation reviews to complex regulatory submissions. The guides show real examples of how to structure requests and interpret results.
Life sciences companies can access expanded features through the same plans. Additional connectors for clinical trial management and research databases are available now. Agent skills that help with specific scientific tasks come ready to use.
Organisations that want custom implementations can contact Anthropic’s sales team. Implementation partners like Accenture, Deloitte, KPMG, and PwC help larger healthcare systems integrate Claude into existing workflows.
Claude works on all three major cloud platforms: AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. This gives healthcare organizations flexibility to use whichever cloud service they already have.
