Jim Boswell is the President & CEO of OnPoint Healthcare, Jim is a strategic thinker who has devoted his 28-year career to building, optimizing, and leading large, multi-specialty group practices within a large health system and private practice group, Jim is passionate about driving alignment, growth, performance improvement, and transformation.
OnPoint Healthcare Partners was established in response to various unmet needs in the healthcare industry, including the demand for innovative clinical support services, effective physician and staff engagement strategies, and operational change management.
You founded OnPoint Healthcare Partners in 2019 after a long career in the healthcare industry. What inspired you to start this company, and how did your previous experiences shape your vision for OnPoint?
I founded OnPoint Healthcare Partners after spending many years on the “buy side” of healthcare, working closely with physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. Throughout my career, I saw firsthand the immense administrative burdens that were taking valuable time away from patient care. This experience inspired me to create a company that could leverage technology to eliminate inefficiencies and allow healthcare providers to focus on what truly matters—caring for their patients.
Can you elaborate on the early challenges you faced in bringing this vision to life, especially in a highly regulated and complex industry like healthcare?
Starting OnPoint in such a highly regulated industry like healthcare came with significant challenges, particularly around data privacy and HIPAA compliance. From the beginning, we knew that safeguarding patient information had to be our top priority. We built our system on Microsoft Azure, ensuring it was high-trust and SOC 2 certified, which allowed us to provide a secure, cloud-based solution that met all necessary regulatory standards. Our deep understanding of healthcare regulations, gained from our years working within the system, was crucial in overcoming these initial hurdles.
Iris, your AI-driven system, boasts a 98% clinical accuracy rate and significantly reduces the time healthcare providers spend on documentation. Could you explain the technology behind Iris and what sets it apart from other AI solutions in the market?
Iris is truly a groundbreaking solution because it combines advanced AI with human oversight. The AI engine is supported by a continuous learning loop, which has accumulated over a million notes that improve the system’s accuracy every day. What sets Iris apart is our proprietary workflow where AI handles up to 80% of the work, and then our W2-employed clinicians step in to complete the last, most critical mile. This approach allows us to achieve near-perfect accuracy and provides our clients with the flexibility to tailor the solution to their specific needs.
AI in healthcare is often met with both excitement and skepticism, particularly around the topics of data security and the risk of “hallucinations” in AI outputs. How does Iris address these concerns, and what measures are in place to ensure patient safety and data privacy?
We take data security very seriously at OnPoint. Our systems are fully encrypted and cloud-based, with no human access to encryption keys and no storage of protected health information (PHI) within our system.
When it comes to preventing AI hallucinations, we rely on a combination of advanced technology and human oversight. Our clinicians play a key role in reviewing and validating AI-generated outputs, which ensures the highest level of patient safety and data accuracy. We’ve designed our platform with a “safety first” approach, prioritizing patient safety above all else.
One of Iris’s key features is its continuous learning loop that improves over time using real-world data. How do you manage the balance between automated processes and the need for human oversight in ensuring the highest accuracy and reliability in clinical documentation?
At OnPoint, we believe in deploying the appropriate level of technology based on the complexity of each patient encounter. For more straightforward cases, AI handles most of the documentation, but for more complex scenarios, our clinicians step in to ensure that the documentation is both accurate and reliable. This balance allows us to maintain high levels of efficiency without compromising on the quality of care.
Iris can save healthcare providers 3-4 hours per day, which is a significant impact on their workload. Can you share some feedback you’ve received from physicians and healthcare staff about how Iris has changed their day-to-day operations?
The feedback we’ve received from healthcare providers using Iris has been incredibly positive. Many have shared stories about how Iris has given them back precious time, allowing them to have dinner with their families or leave work on time for the first time in years. One doctor even told me that our obsession with accuracy has improved his livelihood because he no longer has to worry about documentation errors. These are the kinds of impacts that motivate us to keep pushing for excellence in everything we do.
With the reduction in documentation time, healthcare providers can focus more on patient care. How does OnPoint ensure that this reclaimed time is being used effectively, and what are the broader implications for patient outcomes and satisfaction?
While it’s not OnPoint’s role to dictate how providers use the time they save with Iris, we do provide robust dashboards and analytics that offer visibility into their operations. This data empowers healthcare providers to make informed decisions about how to best use their time, whether that’s seeing more patients, focusing on wellness, or improving their work-life balance.
The integration of AI in healthcare is still in its early stages. Looking ahead, how do you see AI evolving in this space, and what role do you envision OnPoint playing in the future of healthcare technology?
AI is still in its early stages in healthcare, but its potential is enormous. At OnPoint, we’re constantly exploring new ways to integrate AI into our services to create more efficient and connected healthcare systems. We’re also committed to the responsible use of AI, which is why we’re involved with organizations like CHI that focus on ethical AI practices. Looking ahead, I see OnPoint playing a significant role in advancing AI technologies that improve patient care and operational efficiency.
OnPoint recently received a growth investment from Peloton Equity. How will this new funding be utilized to accelerate OnPoint’s mission, and what strategic priorities are you focusing on in the near term?
The recent investment from Peloton Equity is being utilized to advance our AI technology and develop new products that provide a more comprehensive offering across the care continuum. We’re also investing in universal integration capabilities, which will make it even easier for healthcare providers to implement our solutions regardless of their existing EHR platform.
You’ve led large healthcare organizations before starting OnPoint. How does your leadership approach differ in a tech-driven startup compared to traditional healthcare organizations, and what lessons have you brought from your past roles into OnPoint?
Leading OnPoint is different from my previous roles in larger healthcare organizations because it requires a more agile and innovative approach. However, the lessons I’ve learned from those experiences—particularly the importance of understanding the needs of healthcare providers—have been invaluable in shaping our strategy at OnPoint. My goal is to create a company that not only drives technological innovation but also makes a real difference in the lives of healthcare professionals and their patients.
Thank you for the great interview, readers who wish to learn more should visit OnPoint Healthcare Partners.
