OPTICS for Healthcare Launches AI-Driven Platform to Combat Workplace Violence in Healthcare Settings

OPTICS for Healthcare has unveiled a pioneering AI-driven platform designed to assess and mitigate workplace violence risks in healthcare settings, a significant step towards addressing a pervasive issue that costs the U.S. healthcare system approximately $12.7 billion each year. Healthcare workers are disproportionately affected by workplace violence, experiencing incidents at a rate five times higher than those in private industry, with over 2,000 nurses and nursing assistants facing physical violence daily.

The new platform by OPTICS for Healthcare offers a comprehensive solution through five integrated components: a current state workplace assessment, a GAP analysis report, a collaborative workflow management system, a peer-reviewed critical content library, and a management dashboard. This innovative approach combines artificial intelligence with human oversight to generate facility-specific policies and playbooks, ensuring regulatory compliance and enhancing staff safety.

David Brake, Co-founder and CEO of OPTICS for Healthcare, emphasized the platform's role in safeguarding healthcare workers, stating, "Our platform provides healthcare organizations with the systematic, evidence-based tools necessary to create safer work environments while maintaining regulatory compliance." The initiative comes at a critical time, as the healthcare industry grapples with the financial and human costs of workplace violence, including high staff turnover and legal settlements averaging between $800,000 and $1.2 million per case.

Pilot programs for the OPTICS platform are set to begin in the fall, focusing on client implementation, user experience, and the effectiveness of its components. Kim Urbanek, OPTICS Co-founder and Chief of Innovation & Practice, highlighted the pilots' objectives, "The goal of these pilots is to ensure that OPTICS is an easy-to-use platform that delivers on its promise to improve staff safety, reduce liability exposure, enhance regulatory compliance, and decrease turnover, while in turn, working to increase the quality of patient care."

With a nationwide release planned for early 2026, the OPTICS platform is poised to serve a broad spectrum of healthcare facilities across the United States, including hospitals, assisted living facilities, skilled nursing facilities, and physician practice groups. This development marks a significant advancement in the fight against workplace violence in healthcare, offering hope for a safer and more secure environment for healthcare workers and patients alike.