Hospitals Deploy AI-Powered Virtual Nurses and Clinical Assistants

Healthcare organizations are turning to artificial intelligence-enhanced virtual care platforms to tackle persistent staffing shortages and patient access challenges, according to recent announcements from multiple health systems and technology vendors.

Collette Health, which serves more than 185 U.S. hospitals, announced a partnership with VirtuAlly to combine virtual observation, nursing, and workforce management capabilities. The collaboration provides 24/7 virtual nursing support for admissions, discharges, documentation, patient education, and administrative tasks, allowing bedside nurses to focus more directly on patient care.

"One of the greatest challenges facing healthcare today is access to experienced nursing talent," said Collette Health CEO Holly Miller.

VirtuAlly CEO Joseph Wechsler emphasized that hospitals need more than monitoring equipment. "They need experienced nursing judgment behind the technology," he said.

VirtuAlly also expanded its services into emergency department workflows through a collaboration with MUSC Health. The Virtual Provider in Triage program enables nursing intake and provider evaluations to occur simultaneously, allowing patient assessment and testing to begin before traditional treatment rooms become available.

Dr. Marc Bartman, based in the MUSC Health Adult Emergency Department in Charleston, South Carolina, explained that early provider evaluation "creates a better arrival experience for patients while helping emergency departments use their people and physical resources more effectively."

AI-driven symptom analysis and scheduling

Atlantic Health System in New Jersey integrated K Health's PatientGPT into its patient portal to help patients understand health concerns and connect with primary care physicians. The tool, currently in beta for some Atlantic patients, personalizes answers to symptom-related questions and can schedule same-day appointments with Atlantic Health Virtual Primary Care.

"Technology should strengthen the connection between patients and clinicians, reduce barriers to care and help people get the right care at the right time," said Atlantic Health President and CEO Saad Ehtisham.

The health system plans to roll out the tool to all patients across New Jersey over the coming months.

Meanwhile, Zocdoc announced integration with Google's Gemini app to enable appointment booking directly from the AI platform. According to a 2026 Zocdoc survey, approximately 65% of patients have used AI to determine what care they need. Providers on Zocdoc with available appointments automatically become bookable through the Gemini app without additional integration.

Expanding virtual care platforms

QC Healthcare launched My Adult Doctor, a 24/7 virtual care platform available in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Guam. The platform integrates AI technologies for urgent care, primary care, chronic disease management, and behavioral health needs.

The company is partnering with Massive Bio to incorporate AI-enabled oncology clinical trial matching into its services. "So many patients are treated in community settings where oncologists simply don't have the bandwidth to screen every case against thousands of open trials," said Arturo Loaiza-Bonilla, Massive Bio's co-founder and chief medical AI officer.

Consolidation in digital health

Sword Health, a virtual care company providing musculoskeletal and mental health services, filed official notice to acquire OrangeDot, the parent company of Headspace, in a cash transaction. The acquisition includes Headspace's digital mental health offerings, including Ebb, an AI platform for mental health support and coaching.

Sword has developed AI models including MindGuard, which screens user messages for distress signals, and Dawn, a chatbot that provides clinically based responses. The company previously acquired Kaia Health's digital therapeutics for $285 million earlier this year.

Why it matters

These deployments represent a shift from experimental AI pilots to operational tools addressing concrete healthcare delivery challenges. By automating administrative tasks, extending clinical capacity through virtual platforms, and reducing friction in appointment scheduling, health systems are using AI to stretch limited clinical resources while attempting to maintain care quality. The consolidation activity, particularly Sword Health's acquisition of Headspace, signals maturing market dynamics as virtual care companies build comprehensive platforms spanning physical and mental health.

These developments were first reported by Healthcare IT News.