Crimson AI accelerates surgical operations for health systems

Nearly 27% of surgical supplies go unused. Crimson AI addresses this inefficiency and reduces waste by analyzing usage patterns, flagging costly items and recommending more efficient supply lists in real time for each procedure.

The AI-enabled platform flags expensive items that could be replaced with cost-effective alternatives and highlights materials that are routinely opened but never used. Hospitals are using these insights to cut unnecessary spending, streamline protocols and make every dollar count. One New York based health system, for instance, used Crimson AI to successfully renegotiate pricing for hip and knee replacement supplies, cutting costs by 16% and saving $680,000 annually.

“As demand for surgical care continues to grow, we’re seeing real value in technology that helps us better manage costs,” said Alexandre Warman, DBA, CEBA, administrator of perioperative business services at Lehigh Valley Health Network in Allentown, Pennsylvania. “Crimson AI is giving us the data we need to make smarter supply decisions, so our surgical teams can focus on delivering care more efficiently.”

Nearly half of surgical physicians in the U.S. report being understaffed. This contributes to burnout and limits how many patients can receive treatment.

Crimson AI integrates with existing electronic medical records to deliver real-time scheduling insights and predictive analytics to maximize surgical capacity. It identifies underused block time, flags cases likely to run long and recommends how to reassign OR time based on surgeon availability and historical patterns. This helps hospitals better align staff schedules with surgical demand, reducing idle OR time and minimizing overtime.

Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. leveraged the analytics to reduce surgical scheduling lead time by more than 7 days, helping patients get into the OR faster. The center also increased the number of scheduled surgeries by 7%, while reducing staff burnout and streamlining OR operations.

As health systems face mounting pressure to do more with less, Crimson AI is an integral part of the broader mission of Optum to help health systems improve performance across the continuum of care. Beyond surgical optimization, the clinical analytics platform is modernizing health care by prioritizing patient cases in real time, automating medical necessity reviews and using predictive analytics to support better decision-making.