This year’s HIMSS conference in Las Vegas, which wrapped on Thursday, allowed healthcare technology leaders from around the world to convene and share ideas. As always, the event came with a slew of news announcements.

Below are six notable announcements made during the conference.

Epic says its expanding beyond EHRs

Epic announced that it is developing an enterprise resource planning system for the healthcare industry — a move that puts the EHR giant into direct competition with companies like Oracle and Workday.

The company said the ERP system will enable aid decision makers with insights derived from financial, operational and clinical data.

Baxter releases wearable device to aid clinicians

Baxter debuted a wearable device that seeks to facilitate more efficient communication between care team members. 

The badge-like device is powered by Baxter’s AI assistant named Scotty.  While wearing the device, care team members can say things like “Hey Scotty, call a nurse for Patient A,” or “Hey Scotty, call my colleague so I can ask a question about this patient’s medication.”

Microsoft rolls out copilot

Microsoft launched its Dragon Copilott — an AI assistant with ambient listening technology, voice dictation and  generative AI capabilities.

The company said the tool will help clinicians with a range of tasks, such helping them gather data about a specific patient or condition, sending referral letters, and generating documentation following a patient encounter.

InterSystems launches new EHR 

InterSystems unveiled a new EHR system with AI features. The EHR, named IntelliCare, is designed for health systems in the midst of digital transformation, and it seeks to eliminate “the constraints of legacy systems,” the company said.

“By building an EHR solution with AI at its core, we’re helping healthcare providers focus on what matters: More face time with patients and less screen time,” said Don Woodlock, InterSystems’ head of global healthcare solutions.

Zoom announces clinician platform & AI companion

Zoom launched beta programs for a new platform called Zoom Workplace for Clinicians, as well as for a new AI companion. 

The new clinician platform, which will integrate with EHRs, seeks to reduce administrative burden for providers, primarily with its ambient scribe technology. The AI Companion, which will be sold as an add-on to the new platform, is designed to speed up administrative tasks like documentation, scheduling and care coordination.

Talkdesk debuts AI agents suite

Call center software company Talkdesk unveiled its AI agents for healthcare companies. These agents can do things like help patients schedule visits, access account information in the EHR and escalate to a live agent if a patient becomes upset.

Each healthcare customer will be able to customize these agents for their specific organization and desired use case, the company noted.

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