The summer is coming to a close with a feverish launch of artificial intelligence tools some of the biggest names in health tech have designed to ignite electronic health record capabilities – from clinician documentation to claims office efficiencies. 

Microsoft and Epic expand cloud-boosted AI integrations 

Out of the combination of Microsoft’s cloud and AI technologies and Epic’s clinical workflows and insights, the companies announced several conversational, ambient and generative AI technologies blossoming across the Epic electronic health record ecosystem.

"Epic’s approach to leveraging Microsoft’s technology and infrastructure is unprecedented in time and scope," Eric Boyd, corporate vice president of Microsoft's AI platform, wrote in a blog post Tuesday. 

"Together, we are bringing generative AI to healthcare at scale as quickly as possible, responsibly and in partnership with providers, to address the ongoing issues affecting healthcare."

Boyd highlighted many "copilot solutions" on the Azure OpenAI Service and Nuance DAX that address workforce burnout, staffing shortages and more. He said Epic was showcasing many of the new capabilities at its annual Users Group Meeting, taking place this week on the EHR vendor's Wisconsin campus.

Building on the In Basket, on display at HIMSS23 in April, Epic is adding "suggested text and rapid review with in-context summaries," according to Boyd.

But unveiled at its Wisconsin campus before an engaged EHR user community is a new integration with DAX Express AI technology in the native Epic Hyperdrive platform and Haiku mobile application.

On the revenue cycle management side, Epic is adding suggestions based on clinical documentation in the EHR to improve coding accuracy and streamline billing processes.

"Revenue cycle management is one of many areas where generative AI can meaningfully improve efficiency," Boyd said.

For a select group of SlicerDicer visualization tool users, the ability to leverage Azure-powered search tools can help them incorporate real-world data to "fill gaps in clinical evidence" in their study of rare diseases.

"Our work to integrate Azure OpenAI Service and Nuance ambient technologies within the Epic ecosystem shows that broader strategic collaborations can rapidly accelerate the availability of actionable AI-driven solutions for healthcare organizations and the patients they serve," Boyd said.

Cerner adds Suki ambient voice AI assistant

To complete documentation and provide workflow flexibility in their workflow, users will now be able to reference key patient chart data directly within Suki via a bi-directional sync, according to an announcement Tuesday. 

Cerner EHR users will also be able to view their previously signed notes and copy them in Suki. Along with dictation and intuitive commands, the generated documentation integrates back and automatically updates pertinent sections.

Also available on Epic, Suki uses natural language processing to improve the speed of clinical documentation by a claimed 72%, according to the company.

"At Suki, we strive to lift the administrative burden from clinicians," Belwadi Srikanth, VP of product and design for Suki, said in the statement. 

"The EHR is a critical part of clinician workflows so deepening our integration with the EHR means we can help our users save time and energy."

Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, a nine-hospital group serving patients in Louisiana and Mississippi, implemented Suki AI to help improve the provider experience and reduce clinician burnout.

"The company has developed a suite of solutions that address this specific issue resulting in improved provider experience," Jenny M. Smith, senior director of digital health, told Healthcare IT News in July.

She said that some of the health system's staff are using the AI-powered voice assistant for documentation, partial dictation, information retrieval and coding.

Partners leverage eClinicalWorks AI to improve patient access

"Combining Ero Health’s best-in-class service and hosting applications with our patient engagement platform is going to be instrumental in helping our mutual customers drive access and close more care gaps, said HealthTalk A.I. CEO and founder Jerrod Ullah in a statement earlier this month.

HealthTalk A.I. automates patient intake, population outreach and scheduling to reduce administrative workload and improve patient experiences, the company said.

By partnering with Ero Health – the largest eClinicalWorks partner in North America – the company can offer EHR users AI-driven patient outreach and scheduling capabilities. Ero Health serves independent clinics, Federally Qualified Health Centers, health systems, accountable care organizations, management services organizations and others.

The collaboration brings the following to providers:

• Automated population engagement in all languages.
• Real-time scheduling via secure SMS and web chat.
• Digitized intake and e-signing capabilities.
• No-show management (confirmations, cancellations and rescheduling).
• Follow-up and transitional care management.

In May, presented at an eClinicalWorks health summit in Boston, Alison Connelly-Flores, chief medical information officer of Urban Health Plan, an FQHC, slashed its patient no-show rate in three months using AI.

Andrea Fox is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.