Ascertain

Ascertain is a New York-based healthcare technology company that applies agentic AI to administrative workflows for health systems, payers and independent provider groups. Its AI agents execute prior authorization submissions, referrals, eligibility verification, denials and appeals, medical records requests, discharge planning, care planning, care gap identification and care coordination by navigating existing portals and systems, ingesting unstructured data (including faxes), completing forms and communicating results. The platform emphasizes human-in-the-loop review, built-in traceability and audit readiness.

The product spans both revenue cycle and care management functions and is positioned for rapid deployment, with the company stating implementations go live in weeks and return on investment demonstrated in under 90 days. Named deployments include The Oncology Institute, where prior authorization work was reduced across more than 100 oncology clinics, a case management pilot with Northwell Health, and a partnership with Cardiovascular Associates of America. Vertical focus areas cited include cardiology, oncology, orthopedics, behavioral health and health systems.

Founding story

Ascertain was launched by Northwell Holdings, the for-profit investment arm of Northwell Health, and Aegis Ventures. The team describes itself as healthcare operators who experienced administrative burden firsthand and built an agentic AI platform to automate those workflows end to end.

Business model

Customers can deploy Ascertain Automate, an enterprise software platform that uses agentic AI to automate high-volume administrative workflows, or engage Ascertain's tech-enabled services, in which Ascertain's own team operates the software on the customer's behalf and takes over entire workflows.

Two delivery models are offered: licensed enterprise software (Ascertain Automate) and outsourced, tech-enabled services in which Ascertain runs the workflows for the customer.

Traction

Reported a 95% reduction in prior authorization workload across more than 100 oncology clinics at The Oncology Institute, where the first implementation went live in eight weeks and prior authorization effort fell from 350 hours to 10. In a Northwell Health case management pilot, Ascertain reported an 80% reduction in user clicks and a 67% reduction in authorization submission time. Additional customer relationships include Cardiovascular Associates of America.

Latest developments

In April 2025 Ascertain closed a $10 million Series A led by Deerfield Management with strategic participation from Northwell Health, CEO Mark Michalski additionally took on the role of Chief Information Officer at Deerfield Management, and the company relocated to Deerfield's Cure headquarters in New York City. The platform has since been extended across revenue cycle and care management workflows for specialty practices and health systems.