Doctors do so much to keep our communities thriving. Unfortunately, according to the American Medical Association, about 63 percent of physicians report experiencing emotional exhaustion at least once weekly. Exacerbated by the volume of clinical notes required at the end of the day, physician burnout can adversely affect patient care, leading to errors and reduced care quality. This is especially alarming in the context of the physician shortage because it heightens the strain on an already-stretched healthcare system.
The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety found that, for every 10 percent decrease in physician task load, the odds of experiencing burnout were 33 percent lower. NextGen Healthcare and our peers are working to reduce burnout and improve the patient experience by automating provider workflow in all three phases of patient interaction: before, during, and after the visit.
Utilizing LLMs pre-visit
In the healthcare industry, there is a focus on developing solutions to harness the power of large language models (LLMs) to give doctors an accurate and comprehensive picture of patients’ medical histories before appointments even begin. LLMs streamline data processing, providing proactive insights that reduce the need to rely heavily on patient memory or require the doctor to sift through vast amounts of irrelevant information in patients’ electronic health records (EHRs). The goal is to make medical appointments more productive and improve care delivery with better-informed doctors and patients who feel seen and understood.
Ambient listening during the visit
AI-driven ambient listening innovations are significantly reducing provider workloads. Using providers’ mobile devices, ambient technology can interpret patient-provider conversations in real time to summarize appointments and document care plans at unprecedented speeds. Instead of requiring physicians to dictate or type clinical notes after patient visits, ambient technology listens to the conversation between the provider and patient and produces a visit note in seconds – enabling doctors to fully focus on the conversation.
All relevant health-related information the patient and doctor discuss during the visit, including medical and family history, symptoms, vitals, provider assessment, and the proposed treatment plan, is automatically populated into the EHR. Our ambient listening technology is sophisticated enough to remove any pleasantries so visit notes remain focused on what is truly medically important. We do that by utilizing multiple AI technologies combined with our industry-leading data to create a superior solution.
Captured data for post-visit care
With an integrated ambient tool, information flows directly into the correct places within the EHR and is available for review in 20-30 seconds. When visits conclude, doctors can immediately review, edit and approve the ambient-generated notes.
By shifting from note creators to note editors, physicians can save up to two hours of documentation time per day. After quick review and approval, physicians can leave their offices on time – boosting their mental health, job satisfaction and effectiveness.
The most secure and private ambient technology doesn’t save audio or transcripts or have any humans in the loop. This reduces cybersecurity risks, privacy concerns, and HIPAA concerns. The only thing that is saved is the note for provider review. This reduces cybersecurity risks, privacy concerns, and HIPAA concerns. It also doesn’t infer medical conditions, make medical judgments, or suggest medical plans. It’s not making medical decisions; the physician remains the expert in the room.
Embracing AI
AI is everywhere, and it is so much more than a trending topic. It is already improving cost efficiency, facilitating robotic surgery and even expediting medical breakthroughs.
With AI on their side, doctors can help keep communities healthy while safeguarding their own well-being, making this a truly transformative era in healthcare.
About David Sides
David Sides was appointed as Chief Executive Officer for NextGen Healthcare, effective September 22, 2021. He brings a breadth of global commercial and operations experience leading premier healthcare technology companies to the role. He most recently served as Chief Operating Officer at Teladoc Health, the global leader in virtual care, where he led the Company’s worldwide commercial and operations teams. During his tenure, Teladoc’s revenues doubled in 2020 and are currently on track to exceed $2 billion in 2021. Previously, he served as CEO of Streamline Health, which offers revenue cycle management solutions for healthcare providers. David led the full-scale turnaround of Streamline Health, growing revenue, EBITDA and cash flow organically. Prior to that, he was recruited by TPG to serve as CEO of iMDsoft, an Israeli headquartered provider of clinical information systems and electronic medical records for critical, perioperative and acute care organizations. Under David’s leadership, iMDsoft delivered a more than 30% increase in revenue while investing in new systems and processes.
Earlier in his career, David worked for Cerner Corporation, a leading supplier of health information technology services, devices and hardware, from 1995-2012. Among other roles, he served as Senior Vice President, World Wide Consulting, where he led Cerner’s professional services in 24 countries and owned global P&L and functional responsibilities from sales through implementation for the business. At Cerner, he created new methodologies for deployment, new service lines and development plans for 3,500 associates, growing the consulting business from $643 million in 2008 to $1.031 billion in 2012.
David is a former director at EMIS Group, a major provider of healthcare software, information technology and related services in the UK, and at Streamline Health. He is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.