Health systems are increasingly adopting AI-powered ambient clinical documentation tools, but the high costs associated with these technologies pose challenges.
Organizations such as Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, Chicago-based Northwestern Medicine, Stanford (Calif.) Health Care and Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham are expanding their use of AI tools to alleviate administrative burdens on providers. However, not all health systems can afford these advanced solutions.
Daniel Yang, MD, vice president of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies at Kaiser Permanente, expressed concerns to The Wall Street Journal about the growing divide in AI adoption.
"The AI 'haves' will be large, well-resourced systems like Kaiser Permanente that invest in testing, evaluating, and responsibly deploying AI technologies for the benefit of our members," Dr. Yang said. "The AI 'have-nots' will be health systems like county hospitals, federally qualified health centers, and rural hospitals that lack the infrastructure or expertise to deploy these technologies effectively, or that do so without fully understanding their capabilities and limitations."
Nuance Communications, owned by Microsoft, is a key player in partnering with health systems to implement AI tools. In June 2023, Epic Systems partnered with Nuance to integrate GPT-4-powered clinical documentation technology into its EHR software. When asked about the pricing of these tools, a Microsoft spokesperson told Becker's that their AI-based solutions for hospitals and health systems are competitively priced.
"Over 400 organizations are already using DAX Copilot to alleviate administrative burden and enhance clinician and patient experiences," the spokesperson said.
The company did not disclose how much it is charging healthcare providers for this tool.
"We have to be able to address the cost of these technologies," Rebecca Mishuris, MD, chief medical information officer at Mass General Brigham, told Becker's. "They're currently very expensive and are probably pricing out some health systems and providers as a result. If this has an opportunity to truly be an inflection point in provider burnout, we don't want to leave health systems out because of the cost. And so I'm hoping that we see the cost come down dramatically."