Anthropic announced it is bringing its Claude AI assistant to the healthcare industry with HIPAA-ready Enterprise tools and specialized connectors designed for medical workflows, following a similar expansion by OpenAI with ChatGPT.
In a recent blog post, Anthropic announced Claude's expansion into the healthcare sector with new features tailored specifically for healthcare needs. The company is testing connectors that integrate with healthcare systems to streamline operations. Claude can now connect to the CMS Coverage Database to check Medicare coverage rules based on geographic location and support prior authorization processes. The AI assistant can also look up ICD-10 codes for medical coding verification, billing error reduction, and improved claims processing. When deployed across healthcare organizations, Claude can verify providers, support credentialing workflows, and reduce claim errors. The move aims to help healthcare organizations improve billing processes, work more efficiently, and maintain compliance with revenue cycle management.
Regarding HIPAA compliance, Anthropic has positioned Claude for Healthcare to operate under business associate agreements (BAAs) through AWS Bedrock, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure, meeting HIPAA Security Rule standards for protected health information. Anthropic is currently the only major foundation model available through all major cloud providers with HIPAA compliant infrastructure, enabling the company to sign business associate agreements with hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. The company explicitly states they do not use user health data to train models, and consumer health data shared with Claude is excluded from model memory and storage. All data sharing is opt-in, and users can disconnect or edit permissions at any time.
According to Anthropic's blog post, the company explained that "Claude is expanding into Healthcare" and is "testing new connectors specifically tailored for healthcare needs."
According to the Anthropic Economic Index report titled "Uneven geographic and enterprise AI adoption," in the US alone, 40% of employees report using AI at work, up from 20% in 2023. The report also found that educational tasks surged from 9.3% to 12.4%, and scientific tasks from 6.3% to 7.2% in Claude usage patterns. Additionally, "directive" conversations, where users delegate complete tasks to Claude, jumped from 27% to 39%.
For healthcare specifically, Claude's CMS integration addresses dual challenges of revenue cycle management and compliance that have required manual labor. Medical coding errors and claim denials cost the healthcare industry billions annually, so automation tools that catch mistakes before submission could have a good financial impact. The timing is relevant as the report shows knowledge-intensive fields like educational and scientific tasks are seeing sustained growth in AI usage, suggesting healthcare workers may be increasingly ready to adopt AI-powered tools. The move also signals that major AI companies are investing in HIPAA compliant infrastructure, addressing a barrier that has prevented healthcare organizations from adopting general-purpose AI assistants.
As AI continues to integrate into healthcare operations, organizations must ensure these tools meet HIPAA compliance standards while delivering efficiency. Healthcare providers exploring Claude should evaluate how the CMS and ICD-10 integrations align with their specific workflows and verify that proper safeguards protect patient information.
Related: HIPAA Compliant Email: The Definitive Guide
Claude uses large language models to reason across policy, coding, and documentation rather than relying solely on rigid rules-based automation.
Anthropic has positioned Claude primarily for administrative, billing, and operational workflows rather than direct clinical care.
Large health systems, payers, and revenue cycle management vendors with complex billing operations are the most immediate candidates.
AI-assisted workflows could reduce repetitive manual tasks, allowing staff to focus on higher-value work rather than eliminating roles outright.