With pervasive efficiency and workforce challenges, healthcare organizations face a growing imperative to embrace innovation. A recent webinar hosted by Becker’s Healthcare brought together key voices from the industry to discuss the transformative power of AI in alleviating clinician burnout, improving patient care, and streamlining operations.
Panelists included:
- Lee Schwamm, MD, Chief Digital Officer and Associate Dean, Digital Strategy and Transformation, Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health and Yale School of Medicine
- Sarah Rush, MD, Chief Medical Information Officer, Akron (Ohio) Children's Hospital
- Timothy Barker, MD, System Medical Director and Chief Medical Information Officer, Ambulatory Care, CHRISTUS Health (Irving, Texas)
- Shiv Rao, MD, CEO and Founder, Abridge
- Moderator: Scott Becker, Founder, Publisher and Chief Content Officer, Beckers Healthcare
Below are three key takeaways from their discussion, which centered on the adoption and impact of Abridge's generative AI platform.
AI shows promise in addressing clinician burnout
Clinician turnover is on the rise, with burnout and administrative task-based frustrations often to blame. Dr. Schwamm likened the traditional healthcare model to an "impossible task," where overwhelming demands lead to emotional exhaustion and workforce shortages.
"We've gotten to the point where our current model is no longer sustainable, not just from a workforce hiring perspective, but from what is expected of our providers," he said.
In leveraging Abridge's AI-powered clinical documentation platform, health systems have witnessed clinicians reclaiming their time and their well-being. Dr. Rush noted Akron Children's 50% reduction in self-reported burnout among pilot users. At CHRISTUS Health, physicians have experienced an 80% reduction in cognitive load.
Throughout the discussion, health system leaders highlighted how the technology has reinstated a key element of clinical practice: joy.
"I really noticed I could connect with my patients, and that connection with patients really brings back the joy of being a physician, the privilege that we have of taking care of people and guiding them along life's journey," Dr. Barker said. "We've had multiple senior physicians nearing retirement, and suddenly they're saying, 'Oh wow, with Abridge, this is fun — I can do this a little bit longer.' That's a theme we've seen throughout the last eight months."
Flexibility is essential for AI adoption and integration
Integrating new technologies, especially at large health systems, often poses significant challenges in operations and change management. However, panelists praised Abridge's platform adaptability across diverse care settings, specialties and workflows. From primary care to specialized fields like pediatrics and emergency medicine, the platform demonstrates versatility, they said.
At Yale New Haven Health, Dr. Schwamm described how the platform has successfully generated real-time documentation from multi-threaded conversations, such as interactions between attending physicians and trainees in emergency settings.
Despite early skepticism, users found the platform intuitive. Dr. Barker recounted how training resources and integration with Epic facilitated rapid adoption at CHRISTUS, scaling from a pilot to more than 900 licenses within months. Similarly, Akron Children's adapted the platform to meet the unique demands of pediatric care, such as filtering out irrelevant background noise.
"Being able to take a solution and pivot to understand what's really valuable and necessary for us, they [Abridge] have been really great partners, and we have appreciated their willingness to dive in and think differently about pediatrics," Dr. Rush said. "I think that's really what's made it such a valuable tool and enabled us to be able to roll it out through so many different groups within the pediatric space, from primary care to specialists."
Integration with Epic emerged as a crucial factor for adoption. Both Dr. Schwamm and Dr. Barker emphasized the importance of deep integration into existing EHR systems to ensure frictionless implementation. Beyond documentation, the platform is poised to extend its capabilities to order templating, coding and other administrative workflows.
Strong partnerships fuel transformative outcomes
Panelists agreed that the success of Abridge's implementation across their health systems stemmed from strong collaboration. They underscored the importance of technology partners understanding individual system needs and customizing solutions accordingly. Choosing vendors with the technical and operational capacity to scale solutions enterprise-wide is also critical.
But the tangible benefits of strong technology partnerships extend beyond operational efficiency. Regarding Abridge, panelists said they frequently get positive feedback from leadership peers and clinicians alike.
"CMIOs don't get a lot of fan mail typically, but I've gotten a lot of fan mail in the last 10 months and it often says 'this is life-changing,'" Dr. Barker said. He shared that recently, a physician remarked how she "got her lunch back," signifying the profound impact on work-life balance. Other panelists shared anecdotes that underscored the emotional relief of reducing "pajama time" spent on after-hours charting.
Moreover, the platform's role in recruitment and retention was highlighted. By reducing burnout and improving job satisfaction, the leaders said this technology is not only helping retain existing clinicians but is also helping to attract new talent. Dr. Barker noted the platform's inclusion in recruitment presentations, where prospective hires experienced it firsthand and were impressed by its capabilities.