Abridge is expanding its clinical AI platform across the University of Texas System through an enterprise-wide agreement with UT REAL Health AI, building on a pilot that has grown significantly over the past year.
The partnership establishes a systemwide framework for the eight UT health institutions to access Abridge while upholding local decision-making and supporting responsible AI implementation, the organizations say.
UT Health-owned and affiliated hospitals and clinics provided nearly 11.7 million outpatient visits and more than 2 million hospital days in the last year. The system includes UT Southwestern Medical Center, UT Medical Branch, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, UT Dell Medical School, UT Health Tyler, UTHealth Houston, UT Health San Antonio, and UT Health Rio Grande Valley.
UT’s REAL (Research, Engineering, Application, Lab) Health AI initiative was established in 2025 to advance responsible AI adoption in healthcare. That same year, Abridge launched a pilot with UT’s Health Systems which has included clinicians at five locations across outpatient, inpatient, and emergency department settings and more than 50 specialties.
UT REAL Health AI Chair and Vice President Peter McCaffrey, M.D., said in a statement the partnership “represents a shared conviction about what healthcare delivery looks like when designed intentionally as an integrated system.”
“We are focused not only on expanding clinician access to ambient AI to strip away the mental clutter of clerical overhead, but equally on returning that focused, human presence back to patients at the bedside,” McCaffrey said.
The enterprise framework is designed to pair systemwide access with campus-level implementation and innovation across a large, complex healthcare ecosystem.
Across the UT System, adoption has increased significantly, with the pilot growing 73% in recording clinicians and 80% in monthly notes over the last 12 months.
“True technological transformation in healthcare requires trust, workflow integration, and scale,” said Shiv Rao, Abridge CEO and co-founder, in a statement. “Through UT REAL Health AI, the UT System has the vision to define what that future can look like, and it is an incredible privilege to partner systemwide to improve the lives of Texans.”
Abridge says it works with 300 of the largest and most complex health systems in the U.S., and its platform will support more than 100 million patient-clinician conversations this year.
Last month, Abridge was awarded an enterprise contract for ambient AI with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). It opens the door to broader adoption across the VA, as the company is eligible to compete for specific VA task orders as the agency continues its electronic health record (EHR) modernization effort.
It also expanded its AI capabilities with a pre-bill review capability designed specifically for clinical documentation integrity (CDI), coding and revenue cycle teams.