8 Best Tools Like Olive AI in 2026 (Healthcare RPA & AI)

Looking for the best tools like Olive AI in 2026? You are in the right place. Olive AI — the Columbus, Ohio healthcare automation company founded in 2012 by Sean Lane as CrossChx and rebranded in 2018 as an "AI workforce for healthcare" — shut down in October 2023 after raising more than $902 million and reaching a $4 billion valuation in 2021. The company sold its clearinghouse and patient-access automation business to Waystar and its Olive Assure utilization-management line to a new company called Humata Health. Olive's revenue-cycle bots, prior-authorization workflows, and hospital-facing "Olive workforce" agents went dark for the customers who did not migrate.

That leaves hundreds of US health systems — Cleveland Clinic, Bon Secours Mercy Health, Yale New Haven Health, and dozens more — hunting for a replacement that keeps the "AI plus RPA plus workflow" story Olive sold. This guide ranks the eight best tools like Olive AI by workload in 2026, split between revenue cycle and claims automation, prior authorization, general healthcare RPA, and clinician-facing AI. Each pick gets a clear best-for, current pricing, a KLAS or peer-reviewed evidence link, and an honest verdict. You also get a rise-and-fall timeline, a 60-second decision tree, a capability matrix, an 8-step migration playbook, and an 8-question FAQ. By the end you will know exactly which platform to try this quarter — and which one your health system should standardize on for the next three years.

Why hospitals and payers still need tools like Olive AI

Olive's collapse was not the end of healthcare AI automation — it was the end of one company's attempt to be the "AI workforce" for the entire hospital. Axios's reporting and Forbes's post-mortem show the same pattern: too many products, too little repeatable value, and a customer base that never renewed at the scale needed to justify the $902M raise. The demand for the underlying work — bots that clear claims, prior-authorization pipelines, EHR-integrated workflow — never went away. See our tools/olive-ai live status page and the what-happened-to-olive-ai deep dive.

• Revenue cycle is still the top spend line. HFMA and KLAS Research surveys consistently rank RCM automation as the highest-ROI use of AI in provider organizations. Every Olive customer needs a home for that workload — Waystar, Akasa, and Notable Health picked up most of it.
• Prior authorization got worse, not better. The American Medical Association's 2024 survey reports 94% of physicians say prior auth delays necessary care. CMS's Interoperability and Prior Authorization Final Rule (CMS-0057-F) forces payers to automate PA APIs by 2027 — a market Olive left wide open.
• Generative AI raised the bar overnight. Post-ChatGPT, providers now expect generative summaries on top of RPA — something Olive never fully delivered. Notable Health and Akasa both shipped generative RCM in 2024–2025.
• HIPAA and OCR enforcement tightened. The HHS Office for Civil Rights issued a $1.19M settlement in early 2024 tied to an EHR automation gap. Any Olive replacement has to prove SOC 2 Type II plus HIPAA controls end-to-end.
• Staffing shortages did not ease. AHA data shows US hospitals still short more than 200,000 nurses and thousands of revenue-cycle staff. The financial case for bots that clear claims and inbox tasks is stronger in 2026 than it was when Olive raised its Series H.
• Payers and providers converged. Optum, Cotiviti, and Cohere Health now sit on both sides of the payer-provider PA transaction — the shape of the market Olive missed by trying to serve providers only.

If any of that describes your organization, the picks below cover the swap. For wider context, see the tools/olive-ai profile, the case study on why Olive AI failed, and the comparisons hub.

Timeline — how Olive AI rose and fell

Before you pick a replacement, the short story of what happened. Olive was founded as CrossChx in Columbus in 2012 by Sean Lane, pivoted to healthcare RPA and rebranded to Olive AI in 2018, raised a $400M Series H at a $4B valuation in July 2021 led by Vista Equity Partners and General Atlantic, laid off 35% of staff in February 2023, cut a further 200 in July, and wound down in October 2023 — selling the clearinghouse and patient-access business to Waystar and the Olive Assure utilization-management product to a new company Humata Health led by former Olive president Jeremy Friese.

Two lessons from the arc. First, an "AI workforce" pitch across every hospital function is very hard to price and even harder to renew — KLAS's 2022 report on Olive flagged mixed outcomes and inconsistent value even at its peak. Second, healthcare automation buyers want proof of a specific workflow that moves a specific KPI (denials, days in AR, PA turnaround) — a lesson every alternative below applied. See the why Olive AI failed breakdown for the full analysis.

The top 8 healthcare automation tools like Olive AI in 2026

Here are the eight platforms we rank as the best Olive AI alternatives. Each pick has a workload fit, current pricing, deployment notes, and a quick take on what makes it stand out. We split the list into four clusters — the first three are revenue-cycle and claims automation, the next two are prior authorization, then two general-purpose healthcare RPA platforms, and finally one clinician-facing AI assistant.

1. Waystar — the direct RCM heir to Olive

Waystar is where the biggest chunk of Olive's book of business actually landed. Founded in 2017 out of the merger of Navicure and ZirMed, public on the Nasdaq since June 2024, Waystar processed more than 5 billion healthcare payment transactions in 2024 across roughly 1 million providers and 5,000 payer connections. When Olive shut down, Waystar acquired its clearinghouse and patient-access automation assets in October 2023 and migrated Olive's customer contracts. Pricing is enterprise, quoted per health system.

Waystar beats Olive on scale — a public-company revenue-cycle platform with a mature clearinghouse, KLAS Category Leader recognition for Claims Management in 2024, and Epic App Orchard and Cerner integration. It also beats Olive on generative AI velocity — the Waystar AltitudeAI platform shipped denials-prevention and appeal-generation modules in 2024. Where Waystar loses: it is claims-and-payments first, not a general-purpose "AI workforce" — pair it with UiPath or Notable for broader RPA. For former Olive RCM customers, Waystar is the default pick.

2. Notable Health — best AI intake, scheduling and prior authorization

Notable Health is the pick for provider organizations that want an AI-first replacement for Olive's front-of-house and prior-authorization workflows. Founded in 2017 by Pranay Kapadia (ex-Apple, ex-Facebook), Notable raised a $100M Series B in 2021 and is deployed at North Kansas City Hospital, Intermountain Health, and dozens of large medical groups. Pricing is enterprise, sold per FTE saved.

Notable beats Olive on generative AI — the Notable Assistant shipped voice-driven intake, scheduling, and prior-auth agents on GPT-class models in 2024. It also beats every pure-RPA alternative on user experience — Notable's browser extension sits inside Epic and Cerner rather than running headless bots the way Olive did. Where Notable loses: it is not a clearinghouse and does not process claims. For former Olive Autonomous Revenue Cycle customers focused on the front end, Notable is the pick.

3. Akasa — best RCM RPA plus generative AI

Akasa is the pick for health systems that want deep RCM automation without leaving their existing clearinghouse. Founded in 2019 by Malinka Walaliyadde (ex-a16z), Akasa raised a $60M Series B in 2021 and has been deployed at Bassett Healthcare Network and Adventist Health. Akasa's Unified Automation platform uses LLMs on top of RPA to touch claim-status checks, prior-auth submission, medical coding, and denials work. Pricing is enterprise, sold as outcomes-based contracts.

Akasa beats Olive on ML transparency — every automation ships with an explainability layer surfaced to the revenue-cycle team, which Olive's opaque "AI workforce" branding never delivered. It also beats general RPA vendors like UiPath on healthcare specificity — models are trained on healthcare-specific data and the platform ships with SOC 2 Type II and HITRUST certification. Where Akasa loses: it is US-only and RCM-only. For pure RCM RPA replacement, Akasa is the pick.

4. Cohere Health — best payer-side prior authorization AI

Cohere Health is the pick for payers, and by extension the providers who contract with them, looking for an intelligent-prior-authorization replacement for Olive Assure. Founded in 2019 by Siva Namasivayam, Cohere raised a $50M Series B in 2022 and is used by Humana, Geisinger Health Plan, and Medical Mutual. The Cohere Unify platform automates prior-auth intake, clinical review, and provider communication end-to-end.

Cohere beats Olive Assure on approval rate — published data shows an 85%+ auto-approval rate for musculoskeletal PA, one of the highest in the market. It also beats every provider-only tool on payer fit — Cohere is contracted directly by health plans, so provider offices see faster turnaround without needing their own PA vendor. Where Cohere loses: it is a payer product, not a general provider tool. For any payer looking to fill the Olive Assure gap, Cohere is the pick.

5. Rhyme (formerly Myndshft) — best real-time prior-authorization network

Rhyme is the pick for provider organizations that want a payer-agnostic real-time prior-authorization network. Founded in 2015 in Wisconsin, rebranded from Myndshft in 2022, Rhyme raised a $65M Series B in 2022 and is used by Novant Health and OhioHealth. Rhyme's platform submits PAs to 400+ payers via APIs, RPA, and portal automation and returns real-time status back into the EHR.

Rhyme beats Olive on payer connectivity — Rhyme's Payer Cloud already meets the emerging CMS Interoperability and Prior Authorization Final Rule (CMS-0057-F) FHIR PA API standard. It also beats Cohere on provider-first design — Rhyme is deployed inside the provider workflow rather than the payer. Where Rhyme loses: it is prior-auth-only. For provider-side PA replacement, Rhyme is the pick.

6. UiPath Healthcare — best general-purpose healthcare RPA

UiPath is the pick for health systems that want a broad, horizontal automation platform instead of a single-workflow product. Public on the NYSE since 2021, UiPath reported $1.43B ARR in FY2025 and has more than 10,900 customers. The healthcare vertical is used at Cleveland Clinic, Baptist Health, and dozens of other IDNs — often replacing exactly the Olive bots that were retired. Attended bots start around $420 per month and unattended bots around $1,930 per month.

UiPath beats Olive on platform breadth — computer vision, document understanding, and generative AI (UiPath AI Trust Layer) span every function of the hospital, not just RCM. It also beats healthcare-only vendors on developer ecosystem — a mature UiPath Marketplace means starter templates for claims, prior auth, and inbox automation exist out of the box. Where UiPath loses: it is not healthcare-specific, so implementation partners matter a lot. For a horizontal, IT-led replacement of Olive's bots, UiPath is the pick.

7. Automation Anywhere — best cloud-native RPA for large IDNs

Automation Anywhere is the pick for large integrated delivery networks running a cloud-first automation program. The Automation 360 platform combines RPA, generative AI (AARI + Automation Co-Pilot), and document processing in a fully cloud-native stack. Automation Anywhere is used at large systems including Bon Secours Mercy Health and ChristianaCare. Bots start at $750 per month with enterprise pricing negotiated per program.

Automation Anywhere beats UiPath on native cloud posture — Automation 360 was born cloud-first, which matters if your CIO's mandate is "no more on-prem". It also beats Olive on healthcare-specific templates — the Bot Store includes healthcare-specific bots for eligibility, claim status, and remit posting. Where Automation Anywhere loses: it is a general RPA platform and needs healthcare partners to reach Olive-level workflow depth. For cloud-native, enterprise-scale RPA replacement, Automation Anywhere is the pick.

8. Suki AI — best clinician-facing AI voice assistant

Suki AI is the pick for health systems that want to replace the clinician-facing pieces of Olive with a voice-first AI documentation assistant. Founded in 2017 by Punit Soni (ex-Google, ex-Motorola), Suki raised a $70M Series D in 2024 and integrates deeply with Epic, Cerner, Athenahealth, and MEDITECH. Suki Assistant is licensed at $399 per clinician per month.

Suki beats Olive on clinician adoption — the published Mayo Clinic evaluation shows a 72% reduction in documentation time per note. It also beats general dictation tools like Dragon Medical One on generative-AI note assembly. Where Suki loses: it is clinical documentation only, not RCM or PA. For the clinician-facing sliver of what Olive tried to do, Suki is the pick.

Capability matrix — what each tool ships

Use this matrix to filter by capability before pricing. The capabilities below are the ones Olive customers most often want to match on a replacement.

A few things this matrix hides. "RCM" means the tool covers at least eligibility, claim submission, and denials — not one narrow slice. "Prior auth" means a direct payer-side or provider-side PA product, not a generic form-filling bot. "General RPA" means the platform automates workflows outside healthcare too, so IT can share licenses with other departments. "Clinician AI" means an ambient or voice-driven documentation assistant. "HIPAA" means the vendor holds a signed BAA and publishes SOC 2 Type II. "EHR API" means documented Epic App Orchard, Cerner Code, or FHIR integration. Pick on the capability that actually breaks your workflow.

Decision tree — pick in 60 seconds

If the matrix did not narrow it down, follow the tree.

The shortest version: Waystar is the pick for former Olive RCM customers that want continuity — Waystar literally acquired the assets. Akasa is the pick for RCM RPA with generative-AI transparency. Notable Health is the pick for front-of-house and provider-side PA. Cohere Health is the pick if you are the payer. Rhyme is the pick for provider-side, payer-agnostic PA. UiPath and Automation Anywhere are the picks for broad enterprise RPA. Suki AI is the pick for clinician-side voice AI.

Side-by-side — at a glance

Tool	Best for	Category	Starter price	Deployment	HIPAA BAA
Waystar	RCM continuity from Olive	RCM / claims	Enterprise	SaaS	Yes
Notable Health	AI intake, scheduling, PA	Provider workflow	Enterprise	SaaS	Yes
Akasa	RCM RPA + generative AI	RCM automation	Enterprise	SaaS	Yes
Cohere Health	Payer prior auth	Prior auth	Payer contract	SaaS	Yes
Rhyme	Provider prior auth network	Prior auth	Enterprise	SaaS	Yes
UiPath Healthcare	General healthcare RPA	RPA	$420/mo bot	SaaS or on-prem	Yes
Automation Anywhere	Cloud-native enterprise RPA	RPA	$750/mo bot	Cloud	Yes
Suki AI	Clinician voice assistant	Clinical AI	$399/user/mo	SaaS	Yes

Use this table as the final filter once you have a shortlist of two.

How to migrate off Olive AI in 2026

Leaving Olive — or, more accurately, replacing an already-shut-down Olive contract — is mostly about picking the right primary platform for each workflow and doing the data-continuity work. The eight steps below cover a real switch end-to-end.

1. Inventory every Olive workflow. List every bot, every payer, every EHR touchpoint. Most Olive customers ran between 12 and 40 distinct workflows across RCM, PA, and inbox automation — you cannot replace what you have not documented.
2. Confirm asset ownership. If your Olive RCM contract was assumed by Waystar in the October 2023 asset sale, most workflows continue with light migration. If you used Olive Assure, contact Humata Health directly. Any workflow not covered by the two acquirers is fully deprecated.
3. Extract your data. Under HIPAA §164.524 and the HITECH Act, you own the PHI Olive processed on your behalf. Request full exports of transaction logs, PA case history, and any model outputs — the wind-down administrators are still on record and required to comply.
4. Pick a primary platform by cluster. RCM → Waystar, Akasa, or Notable. Prior auth → Cohere (payer), Rhyme (provider). General RPA → UiPath or Automation Anywhere. Clinical documentation → Suki, Nabla, or Abridge.
5. Verify compliance posture. Every replacement must produce a signed Business Associate Agreement, current SOC 2 Type II, and ideally HITRUST r2 certification. Skip any vendor that cannot deliver all three inside a week.
6. Rebuild integrations. Reconnect the Epic App Orchard or Oracle Cerner Code integrations Olive owned. Every one of the eight tools above ships with documented FHIR endpoints and pre-built Epic/Cerner integrations.
7. Retrain staff. Olive was pitched as an "AI workforce" — your revenue-cycle and clinical teams learned to hand off tasks to bots. The replacement UX (Notable's browser extension, Waystar's dashboard, Akasa's outcome ledger) is different. Budget four to eight weeks of change management.
8. Track denial and PA turnaround KPIs. Compare the first three months on the new platform to the last three months on Olive. Every 2026-worthy vendor publishes benchmarks — KLAS's 2025 RCM Outsourcing Report and HFMA's MAP Awards are the industry references.

Most health systems leaving Olive AI in 2026 land on Waystar or Akasa for revenue cycle, Cohere Health or Rhyme for prior authorization, UiPath or Automation Anywhere for general RPA, and Suki AI for clinical documentation. That combination rebuilds everything Olive offered — with the KLAS ratings, published outcomes, and financial stability Olive lacked.

Frequently asked questions

The questions below come up the most when Olive customers compare replacements in 2026. Each answer is short enough to act on.

Final verdict

There is no single best tool like Olive AI in 2026 — there is the best tool for each of the four jobs Olive tried to do at once. For revenue cycle and claims, Waystar inherited most of Olive's book and remains the direct heir; Akasa is the sharper generative-AI RCM pick. For provider-side intake, scheduling, and PA, Notable Health. For payer-side prior authorization, Cohere Health. For provider-side PA against 400+ payers, Rhyme. For general-purpose horizontal RPA, UiPath and Automation Anywhere. For clinician documentation, Suki AI.

The honest answer for most former Olive customers is Waystar or Akasa for RCM plus Cohere or Rhyme for prior auth plus UiPath or Automation Anywhere for horizontal RPA plus Suki for clinical documentation — the "one vendor for the whole hospital" pitch that sank Olive is not a pattern worth repeating. Buy a specialist for each workflow, hold each one to a published KPI, and diversify vendor risk. For wider context, see the tools/olive-ai live profile, the why Olive AI failed case study, the what happened to Olive AI post-mortem, the comparisons hub, and the blog archive for more healthcare AI deep dives.