A healthcare start-up that simulates real-life patient conversations to help doctors and nurses communicate better has raised $1.5 million in Seed funding.

The round in SimConverse was led by Folkloric Enterpriseswith support from Artesian.

SimConverse was founded by Aiden Roberts and Will Pamment after they met in college, where they were studying medicine. They have set themselves the goal of digitizing healthcare education and communication skills training using generative artificial intelligence (AI).

Roberts said research shows ineffective communication between health care providers is one of the leading causes of medical errors and patient harm about 70% of medical errors are attributed to communication breakdowns.

SimConverse uses AI to play the role of a patient, colleague or family member in verbal communication to train healthcare workers at a fraction of the current cost, using actors.

“Communication is the most important determinant of the quality of care a patient receives. Without good communication you can’t treat, diagnose and provide care,” said Roberts

“Healthcare systems are smart; they know the importance of good communication, but have not had the resources to train their staff. With AI, we are able to train everyone in the system – doctors, nurses, paramedics and support professionals – and we can do that at software prices for human actor outcomes.”

Will Pamment said that by working directly with government health networks, universities and hospitals, SimConverse can develop scalable and accessible training tools to improve the quality of care patients receive.

“SimConverse’s modular content approach means educators are uniquely able to adapt and adapt the technology to the curriculum needs of all their students,” he said.

Watch Startup Daily’s interview with founders Roberts and Pamment here.

Early clients include Queensland Health and NHS Lothian, as well as a number of leading international universities such as the University of Canberra, Liverpool University and King’s College London. They will use the Seed funding to expand their customer base in the US, UK and Australia.

Folklore partner Alister Coleman said the pace of SimConverse’s involvement in the market is a testament to the clarity of their solution.

“Addressing preventable healthcare failures due to misdiagnosis and poor communication by combining medical theory and generative AI to deliver ongoing and scalable training is incredibly exciting – but existing simulation tools lack effective training and breadth,” said he.

“SimConverse empowers medical professionals to engage in meaningful conversations with their patients so they can develop a more holistic understanding of their well-being, reduce the risk of error, and ultimately deliver better care.”