Best Practice Software plans to integrate AI-powered clinical knowledge search into its practice management software following an investment in Medcast. The New South Wales-based company raised A$5.4 million in a funding round led by Best Practice to support the development of MedLuma, its AI-enabled clinical knowledge platform.
MedLuma will become available to Best Practice customers from the end of October. Users will access the tool through the existing workflow, though the company emphasizes that clinicians retain control over the information they provide to the AI search function.
Direct access to clinical guidance
The integration aims to reduce friction when finding trusted clinical guidance during a consultation. Medcast noted that the information provided to the AI remains separate from the patient’s medical record, creating a clear boundary between clinical tools.
Medcast, founded in 2013, has provided independent clinical education to more than 100,000 registered professionals. It launched MedLuma earlier this year with a focus on Australian general practice. The platform provides answers based on Australian clinical guidelines with transparent citations, helping clinicians manage growing volumes of information at the point of care.
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Medcast collaborates directly with copyright holders to ensure publishers maintain ownership of their intellectual property and receive proper attribution. The recent funding round will enable the company to enhance MedLuma’s integration with clinical software and grow its tech and clinical staff.
“The aim is to reduce the friction of finding trusted clinical guidance during a consultation while maintaining a clear separation between the AI knowledge tool and the patient’s medical record,” Best Practice stated.
“We believe Australia needs locally built technology grounded in Australian evidence, standards and models of care. This investment gives us the opportunity to build that capability here and ensure trusted, responsibly sourced information remains at the heart of patient care,” said Medcast founder and CEO Dr Stephen Barnett.
In the Asia-Pacific area, healthcare providers and tech firms are pursuing varied strategies for deploying AI-driven clinical knowledge search. In China, Ant Group revamped Haodf for Doctor into AQ for Doctor, introducing an AI assistant that lets physicians query clinical guidelines, medical literature and drug data via voice or text. The feature grants access to over 60 million medical papers, clinical guidelines, medical journals and more than 140,000 drug labels.
