Becker's Hospital Review

20 INNOVATION How University of Utah Health physicians fell in love with AI By Giles Bruce Better eye contact with patients. Less time looking at the computer during appointments. More thorough EHR notes. ese are some of the benefits Salt Lake City-based University of Utah Health has experienced since implementing an artificial intelligence "co-pilot" for clinical documentation in January. e technology is now being used by more than 150 clinicians a month at the health system, with over 10,000 patient encounters being documented by AI in May and upward of 25,000 total since the start of 2024. e providers employ the DAX co-pilot from Microso subsidiary Nuance that is integrated into Epic Haiku, the EHR vendor's mobile app. "is is, frankly, how we're going to be doing our notes in the future," Jennifer Vogt, MD, a University of Utah Health family medicine practitioner and associate director of virtual health for her primary care group, told Becker's. "Before I was on the computer trying to look through their last cardiology visit or going through their last labs — and I still do that, but I'm not feeling that pressure of having to type in the note at the same time." She said she can also leave her clinic right when it closes to pick up her kids from school and not be under the strain of having to write her notes when she gets home. She pointed out that the technology still hallucinates, a common problem for generative AI, but that the notes are "85-90% done" before she finalizes them. She said the co-pilot is also constantly getting better as clinicians give the developer feedback. One barrier to wider adoption at University of Utah Health has been the price. e co-pilot costs about $400 a month per clinician — an amount the health system splits 50/50 with provider groups — and some providers have been skeptical about the return on investment, especially if they're only in a clinic a couple days a week. Others don't want to learn a new technology; it's a new way of documentation, where clinicians have to audibly state everything that happens during a visit so the microphone can pick it up. On the flipside, some providers have reported spending half as much time on notes as they did before, while others say they're now able to see more patients in a day because of that time savings. One physician said it's helping prevent carpal tunnel syndrome among providers. "We've heard from patients that the physicians in the practices using this had better eye contact with them and felt like, 'Somebody's really talking to me,'" said University of Utah Health CIO Donna Roach. "Also, in an academic setting we might see better adoption because the physician already is explaining to the medical student and resident what they're doing and that kind of cadence is what the Nuance co- pilot is looking for." University of Utah Health providers have also started a chat page where they share feedback and pointers for how to more effectively use the technology. "It can be a game-changer," said Lori Petersen, associate director of IT training for University of Utah Health. "We've got providers saying, 'is was the first time that I've never had to work on the weekend closing my charts.' And I'm like, 'What more could you want than that?'" As for the price, University of Utah Health applications chief Travis Gregory said health systems are willing to pay a premium for DAX because it has the deepest integration with Epic of any solution of its kind. But increased competition in the years ahead could change that equation, he noted; healthcare AI company Abridge is starting to incorporate its technology into Epic as well. University of Utah Health trialed the technology for behavioral health but found it ineffective because of the length and complexity of those visits. But the health system is developing an AI co-pilot model for hospitalists. "I am somebody who was really efficient at my notes before, but Mayo Clinic: 'Platform thinking' can change healthcare By Giles Bruce H undreds of leaders from Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic and other healthcare institutions gathered recently to discuss how "platform thinking" can transform the industry. PlatforMed 2024, which took place June 4-5 in Phoenix, was hosted by Mayo Clinic Platform, which collaborates with digital health startups and other health systems to drive healthcare innovation through data. "If we can start collectively delivering the care journeys and care-path planning that our patients need and want, reducing the burden on our caregivers and empowering the next generation that is not going to have enough resources, then we are finally going to change the practice of medicine," John Halamka, MD, president of Mayo Clinic Platform, said at the event, according to a June 20 Mayo news release. "The only way to do it is with platform thinking — and the only way to do it is together." Mayo Clinic Platform, which recently partnered with eight health systems across the globe to tailor medical care with artificial intelligence, hosts an accelerator program for startups. Leaders at the June event pointed to solutions born from that initiative, including using deidentified data from millions of patients to predict dangerous conditions such as sepsis and preeclampsia. n

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