Duke Health clinicians embrace AI for faster, more engaged patient care :: WRAL.com
Thousands of Duke Health clinicians now have access to new
technology the health system says is helping enhance patient care.
The tech uses a cell phone and protected AI software developed
by Abridge to help physicians transcribe clinical notes faster.
Dr. Eric Poon said he used to think he did a good job with
transcribing his clinical notes in real time on a computer during the
appointment, until he started using the software.
“It is a game changer,” Poon said. “I ask patients for
permission to use the technology, and I just press record on my phone and put
it down and go about my normal business.”
Poon estimated nearly all his patients agreed for the
software to be used during their appointments with no hesitation.
The internal medicine physician was one of the first with
Duke Health to test the Abridge software and compare it to other similar technology
before access was eventually rolled out to others this month.
“The first thing I noted was my visits were going faster
because I wasn’t devoting a quarter of my brain to being a court
transcriptionist,” the physician said. “I was able to look at the patient and
have much more natural conversations with the patient and I realized I was able
to finish a little faster.”
The tech is now available to more than 5,000 clinicians at more than 150 Duke Health locations.
Dr. Ashley Johnston is among doctors at Duke Children’s
Hospital now utilizing the new software.
She told WRAL she is “appropriately hesitant about the use
of AI” but said using the new technology has had an “immediate impact on the
way I care for patients and the patient experience.”
“It listens to the normal conversation that I have with my
patient. I don’t have to change the way I talk to my patients; I can look them
in the face, I can interact with them, really create that bond while the
software in the background is taking those notes for me,” the doctor shared. “Then
I go in back to my workroom, I click another button and all of a sudden that
note is immediately up in an organized fashion in the exact same way I’d
normally create my note.”
Clinicians still have the ultimate control and last say in
terms of what is entered into the patient’s record.
“I can edit it the way I need to edit it, I can use certain
parts or discard certain parts, so I still have the authority over the note,” Johnston said.
Poon shared he found it was easier and faster to clean up
with AI-generated note after an appointment than to have created his own from
scratch.
Johnston noted it also at times has been more accurate.
“There’s been a couple times where if there’s information I
don’t remember, I can go back and be like ‘Oh no, actually that was a part of
our conversation.’ It doesn’t happen often luckily, but it’s kind of a back
safe for me and something I can rely on if I don’t remember all the information
because I’m not a computer,” Johnston said.
The doctors shared quicker appointments means patients are
spending less time in the waiting room and more time speaking directly with
their care team.
More time-back is also helping reduce stress in an industry
plagued by burnout.
“One person said the first time they used it they got all
their notes done before she walked out of clinic whereas normally, she would’ve
spent two hours at the kitchen table at night fixing the notes,” Poon said.
The doctor said he himself is now able to leave work at the
office heading into weekends.
“After I’m done seeing patients I would easily spend an hour
or two cleaning up the notes,” Poon said. “Often times it’s after I go home and
after I finish dinner on Friday. Now I’m finishing the notes and walking out done
and I wonder, ‘What should I do with my Friday evenings?’”
Johnston shared having more time back allows her to
better-connect with her patients and her family.
“This is one of those things that is actually making a
difference in terms of my wellbeing,” she said. “If I’m a happier physician,
and my family is happier—which then makes me happier—I can care for my patients
in a better way and be more positive and more engaged.”
Both doctors expressed excitement about other potential uses
of AI in the future, but urged continued caution to ensure any new tech is
being safely utilized.
“There’s certainly a lot of investment in this space,” Poon said. “I think the importance is for us to have an open mind of what technology
could do and understand with all technology there is promise but it’s important
to understand the limitations.”
He continued, “It’s possible for technology to misbehave and
with these complex technologies, we need to watch not just upfront, but in an
ongoing way.”
Poon shared the health system is always looking at ways to
advance care, including other ways to integrate AI further into clinical care,
such as to help with charting.
Johnston shared additional uses in surgical settings are
also being considered.
“I can hopefully in the future use the AI the same way I use
AI in a clinic to basically describe what I’m seeing and doing in the operating
room, and that’s immediately recorded and transcribed into the note,” the
doctor said of a potential use. “As long as I use AI to bond me closer to the patient,
I’ll be happier. I don’t want it to replace our presence.”
Duke
Health currently utilizes ‘OR Black Box’ cameras in some Durham operating rooms.
The data system records everything that happens in the
operation, including who enters and exists the room, what instruments are used
and how the operation goes.
The software then uses AI to take note of any incidents that
may have occurred which are then reviewed by the surgical team.
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