Addressing Healthcare Personnel Deficits through Clinical Automation Technologies
In the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare, digital health company Eko is making waves with its innovative digital stethoscopes and stethoscope attachments. These devices automatically check for heart murmurs in the background of a physician's exam, offering a promising leap forward in diagnostic technology.
However, the integration of such technology is not a straightforward process. It's crucial to start with a specific use case, measure its impact, and only scale the technology once success is evident. This approach aligns with the healthcare industry's movement towards at-home health solutions and the organization's long-term vision.
The key to a smooth transition lies in the creation of a culture of exploration, led by clinical executives, IT teams, and clinicians themselves. This culture helps overcome trust issues that may arise from the implementation of new technologies.
One such technology is natural language processing software like Nuance Dragon, which can transcribe clinicians' conversations in real time and automatically input the notes into the electronic health record. This not only streamlines documentation but also frees up clinicians' schedules.
The widespread adoption of clinical automation technologies, such as AI, virtual monitoring, and computer vision, will require more adoption and iteration before becoming commonplace. Yet, the ultimate goal is to free up physicians and nurses to spend more time with patients at the bedside, rather than bogged down by administrative tasks.
AI algorithms can also be applied to radiology studies to reduce the number of images that need to be read by humans, increasing turnaround time. Moreover, AI and automation can be used to automate the collection of vital signs and their input into the EHR, further freeing up clinician schedules.
AI and automation may also be applied to symptom checkers to automatically triage patients, making it easier for healthcare organizations to determine the right team and right modality to use for each patient. However, it's essential to emphasize that these technologies support clinicians and improve patient care, not penalize or replace them.
Healthcare organizations should not fit automation into existing workflows but create new processes with a strategy supported by clinical automation. By doing so, they can reduce administrative burden, streamline documentation, enhance coordination and decision support, improve real-time alerting and patient monitoring, and minimize physical strain and cognitive workload.
Together, these technologies automate time-consuming, repetitive, or cognitively heavy tasks, allowing clinicians to spend more focused time with patients and reducing frustration caused by administrative overload. This results in streamlined workflows, faster processes, fewer errors, and better coordinated care, which all contribute to lower burnout and improved clinician well-being without adding extra workload.
This article is part of the HealthTech's MonITor blog series, encouraging discussion on Twitter using the #WellnessIT hashtag. The future of healthcare is shifting towards at-home health solutions, with brick and mortar facilities continuing to exist for intensive cases. Let's continue the conversation and embrace the transformative potential of clinical automation.
[1] [Source for reducing administrative burden] [2] [Source for streamlining documentation] [3] [Source for enhancing coordination and decision support] [4] [Source for improving real-time alerting and patient monitoring] [5] [Source for minimizing physical strain and cognitive workload]
- The application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data-and-cloud computing has the potential to revolutionize workplace-wellness by automating time-consuming tasks in the healthcare industry, thereby reducing mental-health stress and burnout for clinicians.
- The integration of technology, such as AI algorithms, can be used to automate the collection of vital signs, freeing up clinicians' schedules and improving health-and-wellness, both physically and mentally.
- In the realm of health-and-wellness, AI and artificial-intelligence can enhance coordination and decision support in medical settings by streamlining workflows, reducing administrative burden, and improving real-time alerting and patient monitoring. This, in turn, can contribute to better mental-health and overall well-being for healthcare professionals.
