By Thelma Grimes | Colorado Politics
Editor’s Note: Colorado’s healthcare system is entering a period of accelerating instability — a “tsunami,” as multiple leaders describe it — driven by collapsing hospital finances, shrinking Medicaid reimbursements, disappearing services and a political fight over who is responsible for this unraveling. Healthcare Freefall is a multipart series examining how Colorado arrived at this moment, what H.R. 1 will do next and why communities across the state are bracing for deeper shocks.
Rural hospitals in Colorado say they are being pulled into a technological fight they didn’t choose.
Hospitals said insurance companies have deployed artificial intelligence to deny claims faster and more efficiently, and they are scrambling to adopt their own AI tools to defend their revenue — even as they struggle with shrinking margins, aging populations and service cuts.
Other observers counter that insurance companies must adopt AI tools — not so they could harm patience and maximize their profits, but because algorithms are very well-suited to the task of sifting through massive data, such as claims, as well as make other processes more efficient, ultimately helping all parties.
Nick Colleran, CEO of Delta Health, described the dynamic bluntly.
“All these insurance companies, they’re using AI to deny stuff from us right away,” he said. “They can look through our chart and say, ‘You didn’t have this code in’ or ‘You didn’t cover this.’ They’re scrubbing, finding ways to deny us.”
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