Tampa General Hospital (TGH) in Florida, US, has teamed up with Nuance Communications, a subsidiary of Microsoft, to deploy AI solutions and enhance the patient experience.
Under the partnership, Nuance will use its Dragon Ambient eXperience (DAX) Copilot ambient solution for more than 500 TGH physicians to enhance productivity.
DAX Copilot is a voice-to-text transcription service that distinguishes voices, records patient histories, identifies critical observations, and summarises key points.
The AI tool securely captures a patient story, including details of symptoms, observations, and experiences, and automatically converts them into speciality-specific summaries within seconds.
Tampa General Hospital president and CEO John Couris said: “Simply put, documentation is necessary, but it’s a growing burden on all involved. At Tampa General Hospital, we’re not willing to settle for the status quo.
“We’re focused on pursuing innovative solutions to transform the way we deliver care. With the help of AI, we’re easing the burden of documentation on providers and in turn giving them the ability and the additional time to focus on our top priority, our patients. It’s initiatives like these that set Tampa General apart from the rest and contribute to the world-class care we deliver.”
TGH is one of the early adopters of the AI solution, which integrated its Epic electronic health record (EHR) system earlier this year, to support physicians while elevating patient care.
The AI solution identifies voices, captures patient history, detects key observations, summarises takeaways and works with existing platforms already used at TGH.
According to a series of data points, surveys and studies, US physicians spend an average of 4.5 hours per day, which forms two-thirds of their time on electronic documentation.
DAX Copilot reduces documentation time by half, enabling physicians to spend more time with their patients.
Furthermore, the AI technology adheres to the highest standards of security and privacy and is in line with federal HIPAA requirements, said the Florida-based healthcare provider.
Tampa General chief medical informatics officer Nishit Patel said: “As the documentation burden on providers grows, they have less and less time to spend with their patients and they are often tethered to their keyboards in exam rooms.
“With the power of emerging technologies, like AI and ambient listening, we can finally free our physicians and providers from this administrative burden and allow them to focus on what they do best at Tampa General: deliver world-class, patient-centered care.”
