Teladoc Health launches AI to curb violence in hospitals

Teladoc Health has launched new AI capabilities that enable care teams to monitor and mitigate violence in healthcare workplace settings.

The virtual care provider has integrated the new AI features into its Clarity monitoring solution. The AI technology utilizes video and audio cues to assess facial expressions, gestures and language to determine threats. If a situation is deemed potentially aggressive and appears to be escalating, the solution will notify the appropriate care teams and staff. For example, it will identify safety risks, such as a person aggressively tampering with medical equipment.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, workplace violence is a "recognized hazard in the healthcare industry." Workplace violence refers to "any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site."

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the healthcare and social assistance sector had the highest counts and annualized incidence rates for workplace violence of any private industry sector in 2021 and 2022. There were 41,960 total nonfatal cases of workplace violence requiring days away from work, job restriction or transfer in the healthcare and social assistance sector over the two-year period. There were also 59 fatal occupational injuries in 2023 among healthcare practitioners and technical staff.

Additionally, a 2023 CDC Vital Signs report revealed that the number of healthcare workers reporting harassment at work more than doubled from 6% in 2018 to 13% in 2022.

The issue is also costing hospitals. In a 2025 American Hospital Association research report, the estimated total annual financial cost of violence in hospitals was $18.27 billion in 2023.

"Healthcare workplace violence is a persistent and growing threat impacting care team safety, patient wellbeing, and health system operations," said Andy Puterbaugh, president of hospital and health systems at Teladoc Health, in the press release. "While traditional tools are often reactive -- relying on human vigilance or panic buttons -- our new workforce safety capability is purpose-built to transform insights into action, using AI to empower early intervention and improve the safety of everyone in the care setting."

Hospitals and health systems will be able to implement the Clarity solution with the new AI features in the first quarter of 2026 as part of Teladoc Health's partner development program.

Anuja Vaidya has covered the healthcare industry since 2012. She currently covers the virtual healthcare landscape, including telehealth, remote patient monitoring and digital therapeutics.