Epic is working on improvements to its artificial intelligence-powered voice assistant to deliver clinicians a hands-free note taking experience within the EHR, according founder and CEO Judy Faulkner.
During a recent online seminar with Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Department of Biomedical Informatics, Ms. Faulkner shared some updates about the EHR giant's current projects and what initiatives it has in store.
Four updates:
1. Ms. Faulkner said Epic is still at least two years away from launching an AI component that can listen in on the conversation between the clinician and patient and then draft orders, place a plan of care and close the visit.
2. The company's current voice assistant offering lets clinicians use their voice within the EHR to search a patient's medical history and place orders.
3. With HHS' interoperability rules coming into effect in the next few months, Epic has no plans to reprogram its patient portal MyChart to let patients selectively turn off or delay notifications for things like test results.
4. Information from the Epic Health Research Network has helped improve care of critically ill COVID-19 patients, with specific instances including influencing clinicians to place patients on their sides and delay putting them on ventilators.