Vienna consultancy turns HCM patient research into seven AI personas

OptimusFlow Consulting built seven AI patient personas for the HCM Patient Foundation using survey, interview and focus-group data from 11 European countries. The tool is designed to help clinicians, researchers and communicators practice and test how they engage with people living with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Why it matters: - The project turns patient research into a practical tool for communication, training and research testing. - The personas are meant to help people working on hypertrophic cardiomyopathy better understand how patients think, feel and respond in real conversations. - HCM is one of the most common inherited heart conditions, and patient experience varies widely by country, age group and disease stage.

What happened: - Vienna-based OptimusFlow Consulting developed HCM Patient Personas for HCM Patient Foundation. - The platform converts the foundation's patient research into seven AI personas. - The work used 339 survey responses, seven in-depth interviews and focus groups with patients across 11 European countries. - The personas are designed for research, training and communication testing.

The details: - The personas combine the Survey of European HCM Patients 2025 with qualitative input from interviews and focus groups. - The qualitative material captures details that a questionnaire cannot, including patients' fears, daily routines and conversations with doctors. - K-Means cluster analysis validated the personas against the wider patient population. - Each persona responds based on its own coping style, knowledge level and emotional profile. - A Persona Identifier helps users find the right persona for a specific scenario by answering seven questions. - Each persona runs as a separate conversational agent, so one persona does not draw on another persona's data. - Patient data was anonymised before processing. - No names, contact details or other identifying information were fed into the AI system. - An additional check screens every answer for personal data before it is shown. - The project is listed as "In Production" on the AI use-case map of VÖSI, the Austrian software association. - More information is available on the company website and the foundation website.

Between the lines: - The project points to a broader use case for organisations sitting on survey, interview or focus-group data that rarely gets used in day-to-day decisions. - OptimusFlow is positioning the platform as a template for patient organisations, associations and companies that want member or customer perspectives available in operational work. - The foundation's approach also suggests a way to preserve patient voice while making research easier to access for non-researchers.

What's next: - OptimusFlow says the project can serve as a model for other organisations with similar research datasets. - The company is targeting patient organisations, associations and businesses that want to turn qualitative and quantitative feedback into a usable decision-making tool. - The foundation can use the personas to support future research, training and communication around HCM.

The bottom line: - The HCM Patient Personas turn hard-to-use patient research into a structured AI tool that can simulate real patient perspectives without exposing personal data.