AI tool reduces time spent on clinical notes, improving patient-doctor visits
Microsoft-owned technology empowers clinicians while reducing the risk of burnout
Ghandi Saadeh, M.D., used to finish his clinical notes at lunchtime and the end of his workday. Finding the time could be difficult.
Clinical notes document a patient’s medical history and enable continuity of care. While they are an essential part of healthcare delivery, they add to the workload of providers, and they can detract from interactions with patients.
“When you have all these notes piling up, that’s very stressful,” said Dr. Saadeh, an endocrinologist with Sentara Endocrinology Specialists.
Now, with the help of an artificial intelligence tool called DAX Copilot, Dr. Saadeh can complete the needed documentation in seconds.
“DAX Copilot cuts down on stress and saves you time,” Dr. Saadeh said. He added that the tool has “been working very well.”
This April, a group of 41 physicians and advanced practice providers with Sentara Medical Group began using DAX Copilot to automate clinical notes, part of an initiative to reduce provider workload while improving patient care.
DAX Copilot is expected to decrease burnout and fatigue among doctors and other providers, said Stephen Payne, Sentara’s regional director of business operations, who’s overseeing the initiative. This comes in the face of an ongoing physician shortage.
According to the American Medical Association, physicians spend nearly two hours on documentation and administrative duties for every hour of patient care. They spend an additional hour or two nightly doing computer or clerical work.
DAX Copilot is also expected to positively impact care. Microsoft, the parent company, boasts that three of four physicians say DAX Copilot improves documentation quality, while 85% of patients say their physician is more personable and conversational when using the tool.
“What I’m hearing from physicians is, ‘This is helping me capturing things I was not capturing before,’” Payne said.
Given the positive results, Sentara plans to continue expanding the use of DAX Copilot.
Previously, physicians were expected to write or dictate their notes. If a physician was busy, they might wait days to document patient encounters, which could make the notes less accurate.
Now, after informing the patient, doctors use the DAX Copilot app on their smartphone to record a visit. The app, which is secure and protects patient information, uses generative AI to sort relevant from nonrelevant information. It can immediately convert a conversation into a structured clinical note. Doctors review the note, make edits, and approve.
“Leveraging an AI solution to help reduce the documentation burden makes perfect sense,” said Joseph Evans, M.D., Sentara’s chief health information officer. “We know that is one of the drivers of burnout for our frontline teams.”
DAX Copilot was made available in September 2023. Sentara joins other large health systems who have deployed the tool, including Stanford Health Care, Atrium Health, and Intermountain Health.
Dr. Saadeh has practiced medicine for 32 years and remembers when doctors dictated clinical notes and assistants transcribed them. DAX Copilot gives similar results, he said, with less labor.
He estimates that the tool is more than 95 percent accurate. His edits are usually minimal.
Joshua Greenhoe, M.D., an internal medicine physician at Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital, has also been using DAX Copilot since the April rollout.
He said he feels like a better physician with the tool, and that his interactions with patients have been much more productive and satisfying.
“I would rather be an editor than the writer,” Dr. Greenhoe said. “My mental energy is reserved for the more important aspects of my work.”
Clinical notes document a patient’s medical history and enable continuity of care. While they are an essential part of healthcare delivery, they add to the workload of providers, and they can detract from interactions with patients.
“When you have all these notes piling up, that’s very stressful,” said Dr. Saadeh, an endocrinologist with Sentara Endocrinology Specialists.
Now, with the help of an artificial intelligence tool called DAX Copilot, Dr. Saadeh can complete the needed documentation in seconds.
“DAX Copilot cuts down on stress and saves you time,” Dr. Saadeh said. He added that the tool has “been working very well.”
This April, a group of 41 physicians and advanced practice providers with Sentara Medical Group began using DAX Copilot to automate clinical notes, part of an initiative to reduce provider workload while improving patient care.
DAX Copilot is expected to decrease burnout and fatigue among doctors and other providers, said Stephen Payne, Sentara’s regional director of business operations, who’s overseeing the initiative. This comes in the face of an ongoing physician shortage.
According to the American Medical Association, physicians spend nearly two hours on documentation and administrative duties for every hour of patient care. They spend an additional hour or two nightly doing computer or clerical work.
DAX Copilot is also expected to positively impact care. Microsoft, the parent company, boasts that three of four physicians say DAX Copilot improves documentation quality, while 85% of patients say their physician is more personable and conversational when using the tool.
“What I’m hearing from physicians is, ‘This is helping me capturing things I was not capturing before,’” Payne said.
Given the positive results, Sentara plans to continue expanding the use of DAX Copilot.
Reducing the documentation burden
Previously, physicians were expected to write or dictate their notes. If a physician was busy, they might wait days to document patient encounters, which could make the notes less accurate.
Now, after informing the patient, doctors use the DAX Copilot app on their smartphone to record a visit. The app, which is secure and protects patient information, uses generative AI to sort relevant from nonrelevant information. It can immediately convert a conversation into a structured clinical note. Doctors review the note, make edits, and approve.
“Leveraging an AI solution to help reduce the documentation burden makes perfect sense,” said Joseph Evans, M.D., Sentara’s chief health information officer. “We know that is one of the drivers of burnout for our frontline teams.”
DAX Copilot was made available in September 2023. Sentara joins other large health systems who have deployed the tool, including Stanford Health Care, Atrium Health, and Intermountain Health.
Focusing on patient care
Dr. Saadeh has practiced medicine for 32 years and remembers when doctors dictated clinical notes and assistants transcribed them. DAX Copilot gives similar results, he said, with less labor.
He estimates that the tool is more than 95 percent accurate. His edits are usually minimal.
Joshua Greenhoe, M.D., an internal medicine physician at Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital, has also been using DAX Copilot since the April rollout.
He said he feels like a better physician with the tool, and that his interactions with patients have been much more productive and satisfying.
“I would rather be an editor than the writer,” Dr. Greenhoe said. “My mental energy is reserved for the more important aspects of my work.”
By: Clancy McGilligan