The Craneware Group is transforming how healthcare providers operate with Microsoft Azure OpenAI

The Craneware Group, a leading provider of revenue integrity solutions, is transforming how US healthcare systems improve operational efficiency and financial performance, to support the delivery of high-quality care. As the US healthcare industry faces growing regulatory complexities and financial pressures, The Craneware Group continually seeks new ways to drive innovation and empower healthcare organisations.

Recognising an opportunity to transform the business of healthcare, The Craneware Group partnered with Microsoft. This collaboration is redefining how healthcare providers manage operations, setting a new standard for financial sustainability.

Breaking the cycle of complex regulations

Regulations are the backbone of the US healthcare system, ensuring patient safety, data privacy and equitable access to care. Yet, for hospitals and healthcare providers, compliance is a relentless challenge – a maze of evolving policies, extensive documentation, and high-stakes decision-making.

"Regulation is one of the most complex aspects of healthcare," says Sean Waugh, Vice President of Product Management at The Craneware Group. "Hospitals must navigate thousands of pages of regulatory documentation."

These challenges aren’t just administrative – they directly impact hospital operations. Delays in compliance processes slow decision-making, divert resources, and add unnecessary costs.

"On average, answering a regulatory question can take two hours," explains Sean Waugh. "Some are quick, taking 30 minutes, but others demand a full day of investigation to ensure accuracy and proper citations. Hospitals can’t afford these delays—this is time that can be used to improve patient services."

Caught between growing compliance demands and the need for efficiency, healthcare providers needed a way to break free from the cycle of time-consuming manual processes. The Craneware Group saw an opportunity to eliminate these inefficiencies through AI-driven automation.

 Delivering information at the fingertips 

"We wanted to free hospitals from time-consuming, manual compliance processes and give them real-time, AI-powered insights to remove regulatory roadblocks," says Sean Waugh.

This vision led to the development of Trisus Assist, a powerful addition to the revenue intelligence portfolio for The Craneware Group. The Craneware Group first deployed Trisus Assist in Trisus Chargemaster, The Craneware Group’s flagship, Best in KLAS® solution, which serves as a centralised system to track patient care, linking procedures and services to billing codes, ensuring hospitals receive the correct, compliant, and complete reimbursement. Building on this foundation, Trisus Assist introduces new AI-driven functionality, providing instant regulatory insights and reducing manual effort. 

Turning hours into seconds 

With Trisus Assist, compliance teams no longer spend hours, or even days, sifting through complex regulations, verifying codes and ensuring billing accuracy. 

"Now users can simply ask a question and receive a clear, fully referenced response instantly," says Abhilesh Gandhi, Chief Technology Officer at The Craneware. Group.

This eliminates bottlenecks, ensures claims accuracy, and unlocks additional compliant reimbursement dollars for healthcare organisations. 

Fuelling results with Microsoft

Bringing technology to life required more than just innovation – it needed the right partner. To build a scalable, AI-driven solution capable of evolving with the healthcare industry, The Craneware Group chose to collaborate with Microsoft.

"Microsoft’s expertise and leadership made them the perfect partner for us," explains Abhilesh Gandhi. "By leveraging Microsoft’s technology alongside our deep industry knowledge, we’ve created a powerful synergy that allows us to innovate at scale and drive real impact for healthcare providers."

Through its partnership with Microsoft, The Craneware Group gained access to Microsoft Azure OpenAI services, Azure AI Search, Azure AI Foundry and Azure Machine Learning, enabling the team to fast-track development, refine AI models and deploy solutions with greater speed and accuracy. The Microsoft Innovation Hub has also played a pivotal role, providing direct access to Microsoft architects, AI specialists and cloud engineers. 

“We’ve been able to access leading-edge technology much earlier than we would have on our own. It has dramatically shortened our learning curve and allowed us to move quickly from concept to execution," emphasises Abhilesh Gandhi.

 Achieving greater accuracy 

The collaboration between The Craneware Group and Microsoft hasn’t just made compliance faster – it has made it more precise. Hospitals no longer have to wade through mountains of regulations, second-guess billing codes, or risk costly claim denials. 

"With Trisus Assist through Trisus Chargemaster, hospitals can act faster, reduce errors and ensure claims are submitted correctly the first time," says Sean Waugh. 

Securing data with confidence

In healthcare, security isn’t optional – it’s essential. With Microsoft Azure, The Craneware Group ensures that patient data remains protected and fully compliant with strict industry regulations.

"Microsoft’s certifications and security frameworks give our customers confidence that their data is protected," says Abhilesh Gandhi. "By following Microsoft’s best practices, we’re building AI-driven solutions that meet the highest security standards while keeping hospital operations efficient."

The Craneware Group leverages Microsoft’s Responsible AI framework to safeguard personally identifiable information (PII) and protected health information (PHI).

"Microsoft OpenAI services have built-in safety controls, which we’ve fine-tuned to meet healthcare’s specific security needs," adds Alan McCrimmon, VP of Product Development at The Craneware Group. "We’ve also adopted Microsoft’s Responsible AI Toolbox to ensure responses are secure and accurate, setting a new benchmark for compliance."

 Reducing costs by eliminating inefficiencies

Financial sustainability is just as critical as compliance. Billing inaccuracies and administrative inefficiencies can lead to unnecessary costs. Trisus Assist helps hospitals cut waste, prevent revenue leakage and improve financial performance by automating compliance and pricing management.

By automating manual corrections, hospitals can reduce denied claims, avoid compliance penalties and minimise financial inefficiencies. Instead of diverting resources to fix billing errors, healthcare providers can reinvest time and money into patient care and operational improvements.

"With Trisus Assist, hospitals can identify and correct discrepancies, ensuring they capture the full value of their services while reducing costly rework," mentions Abhilesh Gandhi.

Shaping the future of healthcare 

As healthcare continues to evolve, AI will play an even greater role in transforming operations, compliance and financial management. The Craneware Group is committed to pushing the boundaries of innovation, leveraging Microsoft’s Azure native technology, cognitive search and OpenAI services to create even more intuitive solutions for hospitals across the US.

"AI is going to become a core piece of functionality within our solutions," says Abhilesh Gandhi. "As we continue to expand our use of Microsoft’s advanced AI capabilities, we’re not just enhancing compliance – we’re setting the stage for a new era of intelligent healthcare management."

Looking ahead, The Craneware Group envisions a future where AI-driven insights empower hospitals to make faster, data-driven decisions – not only in compliance but in financial planning, operational efficiency and patient care strategies.

"What excites me most is that we are just getting started. We see the potential of AI in healthcare and the work we’re doing today is laying the foundation for a smarter, more connected future for hospitals everywhere," concludes Abhilesh Gandhi.