As physician burnout persists, doctors hope AI eases clerical work overload

By Sharon Chen

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    KANSAS CITY, Kansas (KCTV) — Artificial Intelligence is changing healthcare at Kansas University Medical Center by getting doctors more face time with their patients.

“A better, happier provider is a better, happier patient,” said Dr. Greg Ator.

As an ENT otolaryngologist, each day he sees dozens of patients. Part of the visits includes getting their health stories.

“You need to be communicating, then you’re practicing your typing skills and trying to spell the words right,” said Ator.

Sometimes getting the story straight is challenging.

“If you’re doing a bunch of patients throughout the day, it’s hard to remember who said what, and what you said and what you meant,” said Ator.

From the documentation to various codes for medical billing, sorting through all the clerical work can add up to a lot of extra hours.

“That is the number one activity people spend time doing,” said Ator.

All the paperwork has led to a public health crisis: physician burnout. A recent study by the JAMA Network Open projected a shortfall of 35,000 to 90,000 physicians in the U.S. by 2025. The same study found doctors completed an average of 5 and half hours of clerical work for every eight hours of scheduled patient time.

“At this moment, 63 percent of clinicians for the AMA are burning out, because it’s not just about seeing the patients, it’s also all the documentation,” said Dr. Shiv Rao.

Rao, a cardiologist, is speaking from experience, which he’s now integrating with a program he’s created called Abridge. The program using artificial intelligence was four years in the making and was created by a team of doctors. Rao is the CEO and co-founder.

“This concept is all about using technology to help them have better experiences and better conversations,’ said Rao.

Conversations can now be captured on a physician’s phone with a simple push of a button.

“Then immediately when I swing my chair to look at my medical record there’s a draft of the conversation formatted and summarized,” said Rao.

The A-I does not diagnose but acts more like a co-pilot. Abridge also has the ability to provide background and make edits on the spot.

“You can ask questions or answer and verify that it got the names right and the facts correct,” said Ator.

Now with a virtual assistant by his side, Dr. Ator can accomplish those tasks with his eyes off the computer screen and onto his patient.

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