Artificial intelligence is rapidly advancing, moving beyond simple uses such as customer service chatbots and virtual assistants. As AI-powered technology continues to improve, multiple industries are using it to improve how they service clients. The healthcare industry has adopted multiple uses for AI, including improving electronic health records (EHR). Here’s how.
How is AI Used in EHR?
Applying AI to EHR technology is one of many ways tech is improving patient care across the industry. Some applications include:
- Ambient listening
- Generative AI for note-taking
- Draft responses to patient questions
- Auditing patient records
- Personalized treatment recommendations
AI can assist healthcare providers in diagnosing and treating patient conditions. Over time, it can make EHR more detailed and accurate which improves patient care.
Benefits of Using AI in EHR
Essentially, AI can serve as an extra assistant with an enhanced ability to process and analyze data. As AI-powered EHR features evolve, the technology has the potential to benefit caregivers and patients alike.
Improved Patient Care
AI speeds up the data entry process which gives caregivers faster access to patient data. Physicians and other medical professionals can use AI voice assistants to transcribe patient visits and enter relevant data into medical records. EHR solutions with AI-powered ambient listening tools automatically transcribe conversations between caregivers and patients.
This method reduced interruptions during the data entry process which helps minimize charting errors. With more accurate data, caregivers can tailor treatment plans and start treating patients faster.
Personalized Care
Because AI can analyze large volumes of data quickly, you can use it to assess a patient’s whole history and identify trends and potential issues. Your doctors and other medical staff can see subtle changes and symptoms and identify early stages of disease. AI also helps reduce diagnostic errors, allowing you to treat a patient earlier in their disease instead of spending time eliminating diagnoses.
Whether you’re providing hospice care to terminally ill patients or working on outpatient rehabilitation following surgery, you need to analyze patient data. AI can help predict complications or calculate the likelihood of readmission. Your caregivers can use this data to adjust medications or change treatment plans as soon as a patient starts showing new symptoms.
Better-Quality Patient Charts
Since AI can record a doctor-patient interaction in real-time, you aren’t relying on a caregiver’s memory or their ability to take notes. You get accurate patient charts with detailed information that can improve diagnostics and allow your medical team to develop comprehensive care plans.
If your agency refers a patient to a specialist or another care facility, you know their chart contains accurate and updated information. Conversely, when physicians and other providers refer patients to you, you have a thorough record with enough information to prepare for the patient.
Improved Analytics
AI has enhanced the medical imaging field because it can quickly assess X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, and other images accurately. Radiologists and other medical professionals can scan the report to identify anomalies and take a closer look at suspicious images.
This tool allows for more precise diagnostics, allowing you and your medical team to treat a patient promptly. You can also assess multiple medical images to study specific conditions as part of ongoing research.
Remote Monitoring
The rise of telehealth has given more people access to high-quality healthcare. Instead of having to drive to an advanced medical facility or opt for long-term care, patients can use AI-powered wearables as they stay home.
Your caregivers can analyze data and recommend professional intervention if a patient’s condition deteriorates. These tools let you dispatch help to remote patients as soon as you notice critical changes in their vitals rather than waiting for a patient to come in on their own.
Risks of AI in EHR
Although AI has the potential to greatly improve patient diagnostics and care, there are some concerns.
Data Privacy
Since AI-powered EHR software works with personal data, it can be a target for cyberattacks. If you’re using one of these EHR solutions, choose a platform with strong encryption that was developed by people familiar with healthcare industry regulations. Make sure you use multi-factor authentication and other permission controls to limit who has access to confidential data.
Misdiagnosis
Although AI is great for diagnostics, each program is only as good as the data you use to train it. Historically, healthcare data has including gender, race, and socioeconomic biases that lead medical professionals to misdiagnose people in underrepresented groups.
If you’re training your AI using this historical data, you could be introducing these biases into your systems. Use diverse sources of data to train your AI and audit algorithms. If you’re not training your AI, look into your provider to see their data sources and make sure their program isn’t biased.
Technology Dependency
As AI continues to evolve and get smarter, we run the risk of over-relying on technology. AI-powered EHR technology is not a replacement for human skill. Human caregivers and administrative teams should use AI as a tool instead of relying on it for the bulk of decision-making.
For example, although AI can evaluate medical imaging results and highlight anomalies, a radiologist or another professional should come in to evaluate these images more critically. Humans can confirm initial AI findings or examine medical images in more detail to improve patient outcomes.
Upgrade Your EHR With ChartPath
If you’re ready to step into the future, ChartPath has an EHR solution for you. Our platform offers multiple features to streamline your workload. Use social determinants of health screening for accurate diagnostics and personalized care plans. Take advantage of the dictation feature to record patient notes and automatically enter them into each chart.
ChartPath also integrates with multiple platforms, some of which use AI to help you better manage patient care. Keep all your patient records in one place for a comprehensive overview of each case. Use analytics to build personalized care plans and identify potential diseases in the early stages.
Schedule your demo today to learn how we can help you.
