AI 411: August 2026

Welcome back to AI 411, a monthly roundup of tech announcements from across the healthcare industry.

This month, health tech companies, like Abridge and Zocdoc, dominated the headlines. Here’s your AI rundown for August.

Abridge. AI scribe company Abridge shared on Aug. 17 that its clinical intelligence agent is now available to all of its users, providing clinicians with real-time decision support based on patient medical records.

American Medical Association. The AMA introduced a new continuing medical education program called the Ethical AI Use in Medicine Series on Aug. 26 to help physicians safely navigate the technology.

Athenahealth. On Aug. 13, Athenahealth announced a new AI clinical encounter option built directly into its electronic medical records platform athenaOne. Now, users have access to athenaAmbient, which can draft clinical notes, help make diagnoses, and recommend orders.

Oracle. On Aug. 19, the electronic medical records system provider shared updates to the Oracle Health Clinical AI Agent. These new capabilities include automated insurance coding for ambulatory care, and it allows physicians to dictate clinical documentation and review patients’ clinical charts.

Zocdoc. On Aug. 12, Zocdoc announced a partnership with Google Gemini to launch an AI-assisted medical appointment booking service. Users can now use the Gemini app to match with more than 200,000 providers across 200+ specialties.