Hospital for Special Surgery Deploys Advanced AI to Enhance Patient Access and Accelerate Care Delivery

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 28, 2026--

Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), the world’s leading academic medical center focused on musculoskeletal health, is announcing a partnership with Ema, the leader in agentic AI, to deploy intelligent AI agents that transforms how patients access care. The partnership, which launches with patient scheduling and triage, is designed to reduce wait times, improve appointment accuracy, and ensure patients connect with the right specialist faster, accelerating their path to treatment and recovery.

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For patients navigating complex conditions, finding the right provider can be challenging. HSS serves patients across multiple locations and a wide range of musculoskeletal subspecialties. The new AI-powered agent acts as an intelligent guide, understanding a patient's specific needs, medical history, and preferences to match them with the most appropriate physician and care setting.

"Getting patients to the right care quickly is fundamental to everything we do," said Dr. Ashis Barad, Chief Digital and Information Officer at HSS. "This technology allows us to meet patients where they are – by phone, text, or online, and provide immediate, intelligent support. It removes barriers to care and ensures every patient receives the expertise they need when they need it."

Available 24/7 online, though text and phone, this system provides consistent real time support regardless of when or how a patient reaches out. Unlike traditional scheduling tools that require patients to navigate complex menus or wait on hold, Ema's conversational AI understands natural language, asks clarifying questions, and takes action in real time: booking appointments directly into patients scheduling systems and sending confirmation details instantly.

For patients with urgent needs, the AI performs intelligent triage, assessing symptom severity and care requirements to prioritize appointments appropriately. For those seeking specialized care, it navigates HSS's wide range of subspecialists to match patients with the right provider, factoring in location preferences, insurance coverage, and physician availability.

The technology reflects HSS's commitment to staying at the forefront of healthcare innovation. As part of a three-year engagement, HSS will expand Ema's AI capabilities into internal operations, including HR and IT support, freeing clinical and administrative staff to focus on patient care rather than routine inquiries.

"World-class care starts with world-class access," said Surojit Chatterjee, CEO and founder of Ema. "HSS is setting a new standard for how hospitals can use AI to improve the patient experience. This isn't about replacing the human touch, it's about removing friction so patients spend less time waiting and more time healing."

Unlike rigid chatbots that fail when questions deviate from a script, Ema's agentic AI reasons through complex scenarios, adapts to individual patient needs, and learns continuously from interactions. The platform integrates seamlessly with HSS's existing systems, ensuring data flows securely and appointments are managed without disruption.

HSS's deployment includes built-in safeguards: every AI decision is auditable, human staff can step in at any point, and the system is trained specifically on HSS protocols, policies, and care pathways. Patient data remains secure and compliant with healthcare privacy regulations.

The result is a faster, more personalized care journey. Patients no longer navigate a maze of phone menus or wait days for callback confirmations. They get answers in seconds, appointments scheduled in minutes, and the confidence that they're seeing the right specialist for their condition.

About Ema
Ema is a horizontal agentic platform building enterprise AI employees. These AI employees automate complex, multi-step workflows across functions such as Human Resources, Customer Experience, Finance and Sales, delivering speed, precision, and security at an enterprise scale. Designed for regulated industries including Healthcare and Insurance, Ema is trusted by Fortune 500 companies worldwide and backed by leading investors like Accel and Section 32. The platform ensures trust through compliance-ready security, bias-mitigating Turing tests, and full source transparency. With a library of pre-built agents and dedicated deployment teams, Ema delivers fast time-to-value, enabling enterprises to move rapidly from proof-of-concept to secure, large-scale production deployments. Learn more at ema.co.

About HSS
HSS is the world’s leading academic medical center focused on musculoskeletal health. At its core is Hospital for Special Surgery, nationally ranked No. 1 in orthopedics (for the 16th consecutive year), No. 3 in rheumatology by U.S. News & World Report (2025-2026), and the best pediatric orthopedic hospital in NY, NJ and CT by U.S. News & World Report “Best Children’s Hospitals” list (2024-2025. Founded in 1863, the Hospital has the lowest readmission rates in the nation for orthopedics, and among the lowest infection and complication rates. HSS was the first in New York State to receive Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Service from the American Nurses Credentialing Center five consecutive times. An affiliate of Weill Cornell Medical College, HSS has a main campus in New York City and facilities in New Jersey, Connecticut and in the Long Island and Westchester County regions of New York State, as well as in Florida. In addition to patient care, HSS leads the field in research, innovation and education. The HSS Research Institute comprises 20 laboratories and 300 staff members focused on leading the advancement of musculoskeletal health through prevention of degeneration, tissue repair and tissue regeneration. In addition, more than 200 HSS clinical investigators are working to improve patient outcomes through better ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat orthopedic, rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. The HSS Innovation Institute works to realize the potential of new drugs, therapeutics and devices. The HSS Education Institute is a trusted leader in advancing musculoskeletal knowledge and research for physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, academic trainees, and consumers in more than 165 countries. The institution is collaborating with medical centers and other organizations to advance the quality and value of musculoskeletal care and to make world-class HSS care more widely accessible nationally and internationally. www.hss.edu.

Left to Right: Dr. Ashis Barad, Chief Digital and Information Officer at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) and Surojit Chatterjee, CEO and founder of Ema.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki expressed defiance Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to withdraw Washington’s support for Iraq if he returns to power.

Al-Maliki, who was nominated last week by the country’s dominant political bloc to return to the premiership, said in a statement: “We reject the blatant American interference in Iraq’s internal affairs and consider it a violation of its sovereignty."

Trump in a social media post Tuesday wrote, “Last time Maliki was in power, the Country descended into poverty and total chaos,” adding, “Because of his insane policies and ideologies, if elected, the United States of America will no longer help Iraq and, if we are not there to help, Iraq has ZERO chance of Success, Prosperity, or Freedom.”

Washington has been pushing Iraq to distance itself from Iran and sees al-Maliki as too close to Tehran. His last term, which ended in 2014, also saw the rise of the Islamic State group, which seized large swaths of the country.

Caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s list of candidates won the largest share of seats in November’s parliamentary elections. But he stepped aside earlier this month, clearing the field for al-Maliki after the two competed for the backing of the Coordination Framework, a collection of Shiite parties that is the largest parliamentary bloc.

The framework named al-Maliki as its nominee last week. A parliament session was set to take place Tuesday to elect a president, who in turn would appoint the prime minister, but the session was canceled due to a lack of quorum, with no alternate date set.

Al-Maliki said he would continue to stand for the premiership “out of respect for the national will and the Coordination Framework’s decision.”

Before Trump's statement, members of the Coordination Framework had received a written message from U.S. Charge d'Affaires Joshua Harris saying that “we recall the period of previous governments headed by Prime Minister Maliki negatively in Washington." Two members of the Coordination Framework confirmed to The Associated Press having received the message, a copy of which was circulated widely on social media.

“The selection of the prime minister-designate and other leadership positions is a sovereign Iraqi decision, and likewise, the United States will make its sovereign decisions regarding the next government in accordance with U.S. interests,” the message said.

A U.S. embassy spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump’s intervention into Iraqi politics came as he weighs carrying out new strikes on Iraq’s neighbor Iran. It also comes as the U.S. has started transferring Islamic State group militants from detention sites in Syria to ones in Iraq.

Al-Sudani came to power with the backing of the Coordination Framework in 2022 but during his first term managed to balance relations with Iran and the U.S. and restrained pro-Iran militias from intervening in support of Iran during last year’s 12-day Israel-Iran war.

Some of those militias have voiced their support for al-Maliki.

Abu Alaa al-Walae, commander of the Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada militia, called Trump’s statement “blatant interference in Iraqi affairs,"adding that “the criminal Trump, who physically assassinated the leaders of victory now wants to repeat the act by politically assassinating” al-Maliki.

During his first term, Trump ordered a drone strike that killed powerful Iranian military leader Gen. Qassim Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy leader of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group composed of an array of militias, including Iran-backed groups, formed to fight the Islamic State group.

Tamer Badawi, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London specializing in Iraq, said that al-Sudani may well have anticipated the pushback against al-Maliki’s nomination and stepped aside as a political maneuver. That allows al-Maliki to “temporarily steal the spotlight," while the rival candidate's “path to office narrows under the weight of his domestic opponents and even sharper hostility from the Trump camp,” he said.

“Iraq cannot afford the economic consequences of Donald Trump delivering upon his threats,” he said. Those could include imposing sanctions and restricting Iraq’s access to its own supply of U.S. dollars - Iraq’s foreign currency reserves have been housed at the United States’ Federal Reserve.

But that “does not automatically mean the race is now decided in Sudani’s favor,” Badawi said. “A third candidate emerging as a compromise pick remains one of the plausible outcomes.”

FILE - Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki arrives to his political block campaign rally before the parliamentary elections in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)