Our team at Santovia is thrilled to announce our collaboration with Northeastern University on an innovative case study aimed at addressing a critical gap in the healthcare system, transforming how patients access personalized health information, and developing cutting-edge solutions using artificial intelligence (AI).
We pinpointed that patients often lack personalized, reliable health information about their individual medical conditions. In turn, this can impact their ability to make the right decisions regarding their health. To solve this issue, we have combined cutting-edge AI with our patient engagement platform, allowing patients to access the correct information they need quickly and easily. This was achieved through a collaboration with Northeastern’s AI + Health and Human Data Interaction teams.
“Santovia’s collaboration with Northeastern’s Institute for Experiential AI has the potential to fundamentally enhance our understanding of how AI technology can, when integrated with quality health-specific knowledge, help patients with their healthcare decisions and ultimately improve healthcare outcomes,” Santovia CEO Fiona Calnan said.
Check Out Our Case Study
Learn more about this collaboration between Santovia and Northeastern University’s AI + Health team alongside The Roux Institute at Northeastern University’s Human Data Interaction group here or continue reading here:
Revolutionizing Patient Engagement with AI: Case Study
The AI + Health team of Northeastern University’s Institute for Experiential AI, along with the Roux Institute’s Human Data Interaction group, recently partnered with Santovia to transform the way patients access personalized health information.
The AI + Health team of Northeastern University’s Institute for Experiential AI, along with the Roux Institute’s Human Data Interaction group, recently partnered with Santovia, a company dedicated to improving patient care decisions, to develop cutting-edge solutions using the latest developments in AI, specifically Large Language Models (LLMs) and Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), to transform the way patients access personalized health information.
The Challenge
Santovia recognized a critical gap in the healthcare system: Patients often lacked access to reliable, personalized information about their medical conditions, hindering their ability to make informed decisions about their health. To solve that problem, Santovia is combining AI with their patient engagement platform, which will give patients easy access to high-quality, evidence-based health education that is superior to what they would receive through a standard internet search.
The goal is to deliver a sophisticated, AI-enabled tool that can understand the individual needs of each patient’s specific medical condition and provide personalized answers to their questions that reference accurate and up-to-date information about conditions and the choices they have available to them.
Collaborating with the Institute for Experiential AI
To take their product to the next level, Santovia decided to collaborate with Northeastern’s AI + Health and Human Data Interaction teams. The project highlighted the teams’ wide-ranging skills and commitment to solving real-world business problems.
“This project required expertise in generative AI, visualization, human-computer interaction, clinical implementation, and user testing,” AI + Health Director Gene Tunik says. “It was not just about writing code and building a model. It was an A-to-Z pipeline of work.”
The AI + Health team worked closely with Santovia’s leadership, engaging in weekly meetings to gain a deep understanding of their workflows, product priorities, and long-term business goals. Through that work, the AI + Health team adopted an iterative approach to the project with three main components:
- To develop a state-of-the-art AI system for patients to seek answers to their health questions.
- To maximize user engagement and encourage long-term adoption.
- To develop personalized and preference-sensitive choices based on information collected from the patient.
To build the AI system, the AI + Health team leveraged its expertise in large language models (LLMs) and small language models (SLMs), building upon existing AI assistant architectures. They then refined their models using techniques like Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) to create a tailored solution for Santovia.
Deliverables Designed for Value
The result is a fully self-contained AI system that operates autonomously, providing accurate responses to user queries across multiple medical use cases.
The system holds the potential to transform the way patients interact with health information, empowering them to take control of their well-being.
The aim is to create value by improving care for patients and reducing healthcare costs.
“Santovia’s collaboration with Northeastern’s Institute for Experiential AI has the potential to fundamentally enhance our understanding of how AI technology can, when integrated with quality health-specific knowledge, help patients with their healthcare decisions and ultimately improve healthcare outcomes,” Santovia CEO Fiona Calnan says. “Santovia is excited to be working with the team from Northeastern University on this development phase of our platform. Together we are making sure that targeted and personalized experiences are the rule, not the exception.”
Northeastern has extensive experience delivering customized AI solutions that deliver measurable ROI across varied business challenges. Our world-class experts collaborate with partners on a range of AI projects across the life sciences, human performance, climate, Responsible AI, and more.
Editor’s Note: We are deeply saddened to share that Walid Saba, a senior principal research scientist who contributed to this project, recently passed away. His absence is felt deeply by all who had the privilege of collaborating with him.
Reflecting on his impact, Director of AI + Health Gene Tunik shared:
“Walid was instrumental in shaping this project with Santovia. When we first approached him with the idea of building a chatbot for health, he immediately saw its untapped potential and introduced innovative, responsible techniques that transformed our vision. Working with Walid was always a highlight—he combined deep intelligence with humility, and every conversation left you enriched. His contributions to the project and to all of us were profound, and we are committed to continuing the incredible work he started.”
About Santovia
Santovia is an innovative patient and member engagement platform. Our technology tackles major issues facing healthcare users and professionals. We provide an unrivaled range of video and written education, delivering targeted surveys, and supporting shared decision-making.
Santovia helps users become more independent, take care of themselves and their families, and recover from illness and injury more quickly, ready for day-to-day life, and to return to work.
