What tasks are necessary for physicians to do, but are busy work that could be performed in a different way? This was the question that spurred innovations at Bon Secours Richmond (Va.) Health System.
"We've noticed a lot of time and detail and attention spent on generating notes," Peter Charvat, MD, chief clinical officer of Bon Secours Richmond, told Becker's. "It's a very important part of the medical visit, but it can take hours of physicians' time."
The solution? An AI generative scribe program. Unlike traditional transcription tools, the secure mobile app transcribes the physician-patient conversation, self-edits and creates a detailed, accurate note that automatically populates into the electronic health record. All the physician has to do is review and edit as needed.
"We've seen a lot of solutions in medicine that were supposed to save us time, but they don't end up delivering on that. This is one [solution] that actually is a time saver," he said.
The impact has been threefold for physicians.
First, the detailed note generated is helping physicians create better treatment plans and catch things they had not noticed. One physician told Dr. Charvat that sometimes she leaves the room thinking of a direction to take the patient care, but after reviewing the generated note, she will pick up on things that she hadn't noticed in the moment. In some cases, this leads to additional tests or changes to the care plan to be more comprehensive.
Second, it makes physicians more productive. Many physicians approach notes in two ways, either bringing the computer in the room or leaving it out and typing up notes at the end of the visit or the day, Dr. Charvat said. Using the AI scribe allows physicians to focus on their interaction with patients without looking at a screen. The AI scribe can characterize different parts of the exam and exclude irrelevant information. For example, Dr. Charvat said it can tell the difference between a patient reporting family history and a patient talking about the health of their family member in casual conversation. The AI scribe can also create separate notes for the physical exam portion if the physician dictates what they are observing out loud.
Third, the AI scribe saves hours of documentation time for physicians. Dr. Charvat said they have many physicians that used to spend hours in the evenings generating notes. Now, those physicians leave shortly after their last patient because the notes are "seamlessly generated and amazingly accurate."
The AI scribe has also been successful for virtual patient visits.
So far, the AI scribe is being piloted by 50 physicians and advanced practice providers in primary care and specialty care outpatient clinics.
The program launched on April 17 and has received no concerning feedback from patients or physicians, Dr. Charvat said. He said his theory is the scribe will improve patient experience scores as the face-to-face time increases.
"I think at the end of the day, this is going to be a win for patients and providers as well."