Sutter Health is piloting a new tool with some of its doctors that uses artificial intelligence to generate patient notes.
Sutter announced Wednesday that it had partnered with Pittsburgh-based startup Abridge to start deploying its technology with doctors’ groups across its footprint.
“We’re really excited and encouraged by the technology,” said Sutter Chief Digital Officer Laura Wilt.
The Abridge platform records and transcribes the doctor’s appointment with a patient, and generates notes that go into the patient’s medical record, as well as a summary for the patient that cuts down on medical jargon and lists the instructions the doctor gave them.
“Clinicians often don’t have time to write detailed patient instructions and summaries that reflect the details from their conversation that would most benefit the patient,” said Abridge CEO Dr. Shiv Rao, in a statement. “This is a prime use case for generative AI, and it’s a privilege to team up with those from Sutter Health on this new patient-centered initiative."
Wilt said the goal of the technology is to allow for a better conversation between the doctor and the patient in the exam room.
“Today the doctor may ask you some questions and then they have to turn away and type on the computer,” she said. “It hopefully will really make a more personalized experience both for the physicians and for the patients."
According to the announcement, the technology also promises to save doctors between two and three hours every day that they would normally spend typing up exam notes and entering them into the patient’s record — which they usually do in the evening, long after their workday is supposed to be over.
“This is just trying to take some of that administrative burden and make it easier for everybody,” Wilt said.
Abridge was started in 2018 by Rao, a cardiologist at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. UPMC was an early investor in the company, and uses the technology in its medical practice. It’s currently in use at dozens of health systems, according to the company.
