Anthropic has extended the capabilities of its AI model Claude with two major initiatives: Claude for Healthcare and expanded life sciences tools. The updates aim to support clinicians, payers, researchers, and life sciences organizations with HIPAA-compliant AI solutions and enhanced scientific workflows.
Claude for Healthcare introduces connectors to major healthcare systems, enabling secure access to key data sources. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Coverage Database allows Claude to verify local coverage requirements, support prior authorization checks, and assist with claims appeals. Additional integrations include the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10), and the National Provider Identifier Registry, which help with medical coding, billing, and provider verification. Existing healthcare connectors, such as PubMed, provide access to millions of biomedical articles for research and clinical insights.
Anthropic also added new Agent Skills for FHIR development and prior authorization review. FHIR support improves interoperability across healthcare systems, while the prior authorization skill streamlines cross-referencing between coverage policies, patient records, and clinical guidelines. These tools enable Claude to accelerate prior authorization reviews, strengthen claims appeals, triage patient messages, and assist healthcare startups in building AI-driven applications for clinical documentation and decision support.
Enhanced Life Sciences Capabilities
Claude’s life sciences updates focus on supporting clinical trial operations, regulatory tasks, and early-stage research. New connectors include Medidata for trial data and enrollment tracking, ClinicalTrials.gov for recruitment and protocol planning, ToolUniverse for scientific tool access, and bioRxiv & medRxiv for preprint research. Additional integrations cover Open Targets, ChEMBL, and Owkin’s Pathology Explorer, complementing existing Benchling, PubMed, and 10x Genomics connectors.
New Agent Skills facilitate scientific problem selection, bioinformatics workflows, Allotrope data conversion, and clinical trial protocol drafting. Claude can generate trial protocols compliant with FDA and NIH requirements, monitor trial performance using Medidata data, and prepare regulatory submissions by identifying gaps and drafting responses aligned with agency guidelines.
Adoption and Accessibility
Claude is now available across multiple subscription tiers, including Pro, Max, Teams, and Enterprise, and is compatible with major cloud platforms, including AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft. Anthropic partners with consulting and AI adoption firms such as Accenture, Deloitte, KPMG, and PwC to assist organizations in integrating Claude into healthcare and life sciences operations.
The updates aim to improve operational efficiency, accelerate patient care processes, and support research and regulatory compliance, positioning Claude as a practical AI tool for both healthcare providers and scientific organizations.
The launch follows a broader trend in AI-driven healthcare, with OpenAI just recently introducing ChatGPT Health, a dedicated platform that securely integrates personal health data to assist users with wellness, lab results, and medical appointments while maintaining strict privacy protections.
