Ascertain Raises $10 Million in Series A Funding to Scale Agentic AI Platform
Reimagining Operational Workflows for Health Systems, Payers, and Independent Provider Groups
NEW YORK, April 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Ascertain, a healthcare technology company empowering care teams with AI, announced today that it has raised $10 million in Series A funding. The financing round was led by Deerfield Management, with strategic participation from Northwell Health. This investment aims to accelerate Ascertain's growth trajectory and expand access to its innovative AI-powered solutions across the healthcare ecosystem.
Ascertain's AI-powered case management solution is designed to automate time-consuming workflows for health systems, payers, and independent provider groups. The company addresses a critical pain point in healthcare: the immense administrative burden placed on case managers. Studies indicate that these vital professionals can spend up to 60% of their time on manual administrative tasks like documentation, securing prior authorizations, and ensuring compliance. This leaves them with less time for high-impact activities such as direct patient care planning and managing high-risk individuals.
Compounding this issue is an acute labor shortage, with over 100,000 open positions for case managers and related administrative roles currently unfilled in the U.S. This shortage makes it difficult for health systems to meet patient needs effectively. Ascertain's platform directly tackles these challenges by automating workflows, boosting efficiency, and empowering often understaffed case management teams to focus where it matters most – on the patient.
Ascertain has already demonstrated promising results through a pilot program with Northwell Health's centralized transitions-of-care administration team. This pilot successfully processed authorizations, showcasing the platform's ability to free up nurses, case managers, social workers, and other staff for patient-centric tasks. Mark Solazzo, President of Strategic Initiatives and Chief Operating Officer at Northwell Health, noted, "At a time when clinicians and team members are faced with increasing administrative burden and manual work, Ascertain's ability to automate and streamline workflows allows for focus to be redirected towards patients and their families rather than tasks."
Northwell Health is a member of the Aegis Digital Consortium, a collaborative effort among 11 leading health systems aimed at developing and scaling AI-enabled technology solutions to address healthcare's most pressing quality, cost, and equity challenges.
Leading Ascertain is CEO Mark Michalski, M.D., who brings extensive experience from the intersection of healthcare and technology, having held roles at Mass General Brigham, Amazon, Butterfly Network, and Hyperfine Research. Under his leadership, Ascertain has developed a flexible, easily deployable agentic AI solution designed to integrate seamlessly into existing healthcare systems and workflows.
As the company continues to scale, Dr. Michalski will remain as Ascertain's CEO while also taking on the role of Chief Information Officer at Deerfield Management. In a related move, Ascertain will relocate its operations to Cure, Deerfield's health innovation campus in New York City. "There's a critical need to develop and implement AI solutions to improve operational efficiencies, ease the administrative burden on payers and providers, and facilitate information sharing," said Michalski.
Collaborating with Deerfield, Northwell, and Aegis provides Ascertain access to a range of distribution channels, workflows, and data, which they believe will unlock new levels of efficiency for healthcare workers. The investment will support Ascertain's vision for combining humans and AI to create the workforce of the future.
Ascertain aims to enable higher quality patient care, accelerate care journeys, and foster more cost-efficient care delivery across the healthcare system. The company's AI agents navigate complex systems, interpret unstructured data, and integrate across fragmented platforms, enabling faster throughput, lower costs, and more time for patient care.
As healthcare continues to evolve, Ascertain is positioned to play a critical role in reshaping how care is delivered. The need for effective AI solutions has never been more pressing, particularly as healthcare organizations face increasing demands and challenges.
About Ascertain
Ascertain is a healthcare technology company that empowers care teams with AI to streamline operations and reduce administrative burdens. Customers can either deploy Ascertain Automate, an enterprise software platform that uses agentic AI to automate high-volume administrative workflows, or engage Ascertain's tech-enabled services, outsourcing entire workflows to Ascertain's team, which operates the software on their behalf. From prior authorization and eligibility checks to discharge planning and patient scheduling, Ascertain's AI agents facilitate smoother operations in healthcare.
About Deerfield Management
Deerfield is an investment management firm committed to advancing healthcare through investment, information, and philanthropy. The firm works across the healthcare ecosystem to connect people, capital, ideas, and technology in collaborative and inclusive ways.
About Northwell Health
Northwell Health is New York State's largest healthcare provider and private employer, caring for over two million people annually with 21 hospitals and about 900 outpatient facilities. The organization is dedicated to making breakthroughs in medicine and training the next generation of medical professionals.
About Aegis Ventures
Aegis Ventures is a next-generation venture studio that partners with entrepreneurs and healthcare industry leaders to originate, launch, and scale transformative companies. Aegis focuses on leveraging technology to optimize quality, access, and cost in healthcare.
