The healthcare industry faces a severe workplace violence crisis that endangers healthcare workers and creates substantial financial burdens, estimated at $12.7 billion annually in the United States. OPTICS for Healthcare has responded by launching a pioneering AI-driven platform specifically designed to assess risks and ensure compliance within healthcare environments. This represents the first solution of its kind targeting this pervasive problem.
Healthcare professionals experience workplace violence incidents at a rate five times higher than workers in private industry. Daily, more than 2,000 nurses and nursing assistants face physical violence while on duty. The financial impact of these incidents is significant, with each case requiring medical treatment costing approximately $32,000 on average. Staff turnover expenses can reach $82,000 for recruiting and onboarding a new registered nurse, while legal settlements average between $800,000 and $1.2 million per case.
David Brake, Co-founder and CEO of OPTICS for Healthcare, stated that healthcare workers face unprecedented safety challenges that compromise both their wellbeing and patient care. The OPTICS platform integrates artificial intelligence with human oversight across five key components to provide a systematic, evidence-based approach to creating safer work environments and maintaining regulatory compliance.
The platform features include a current state workplace assessment, a GAP analysis report, a collaborative workflow management system, a peer-reviewed critical content library, and a management dashboard. These tools generate facility-specific policies, offer real-time regulatory updates, and provide leaders with detailed analytics and status updates. For more information about the platform's capabilities, visit https://opticshc.com.
Pilot programs for the OPTICS platform will begin this fall, focusing on client implementation, user experience, and component effectiveness. Kim Urbanek, OPTICS Co-founder and Chief of Innovation & Practice, explained that these pilots aim to ensure OPTICS delivers on its promise to improve staff safety, reduce liability exposure, enhance regulatory compliance, decrease turnover, and increase patient care quality.
With a nationwide release targeted for early 2026, the OPTICS platform will serve a broad spectrum of healthcare facilities including hospitals, assisted living facilities, skilled nursing facilities, and physician practice groups across the United States. The platform's development comes at a critical time as healthcare organizations seek technological solutions to address systemic safety challenges while managing substantial financial pressures from workplace violence incidents.
