HIMSSCast: How AI is reducing physician burden at one New Jersey health system

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Getting physicians' heads out of the EHR leads to better patient outcomes, lower costs and a reduction in the administrative tasks that are ailing doctors, says Dr. Anthony Mazzarelli, co-president and CEO of Cooper University Health Care in New Jersey.

An AI partnership at the health system is allowing physicians to spend less time taking clinical notes. In this episode of HIMSSCast, Mazzarelli talks with Healthcare Finance News about the partnership for ambient clinical technology that is helping to ease the physician burden.

"Think of AI as an assistant with incredible knowledge that is really, really fast," Mazzarelli said.

Talking points: 

• Cooper University Health Care has an AI partnership with Nuance for Dragon Ambient eXperience, or DAX.
• DAX is an ambient clinical technology that writes notes for physicians.
• Of physicians who use it more than 50% of time, 43% reported a reduction in taking clinical notes.
• In the future, Mazzarelli says GPT-4 connected to an EMR will have the ability to summarize lengthy medical records and recall the relevant information.
• Concern about AI needs to be balanced with the benefits of the technology, Mazzarelli says.
• Hospital executives looking to implement AI should tackle administrative tasks first.
• Direct connections with patients see improved outcomes, lower costs and less physician burnout.

More about this episode:

Machine learning, AI can help ease the trend of physician burnout

AMA agrees to develop principles on the benefits and consequences of AI-generated medical advice

Untested AI could lead to healthcare errors and patient harm, WHO warns

AI can help hospitals bill complete medical record

AI-powered scribe tool enables more patients, less burnout

DocsGPT in beta targets physician burnout

Twitter: @SusanJMorse
Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org