Commure has terminated a program that paid clinics and partners for referring new business. The $7B vendor sells AI software to medical practices. Emails sent by chief legal officer Dan Brian give members 30 days’ notice that their agreements are ending, with amounts owed as of the termination date still paid.
STAT reported that the payments reached thousands of dollars per referral. The outlet drew on internal documents, contracts and interviews with dozens of former employees and customers for its investigation, which ran August 12.
Some customers told STAT they took steep financial losses and other negative outcomes after adopting the tools. Commure said the referral programs were industry standard and that the vast majority of its hundreds of customers are happy with its products.
Commure was founded in 2020 to build an AI-powered operating system for health care and later merged with Athelas. The company is valued at $7B and backed by Y Combinator. CEO Tanay Tandon has said the goal is to use AI to take power and money from large insurers and give it back to doctors.
The episode shows how hard it is to evaluate AI health products sold through aggressive incentive structures, since those tools directly affect the cost and quality of care for millions of patients.
