Ochsner Health is a non-profit healthcare organization situated in Louisiana, United States. The health system has always been quick to adopt new healthcare technology solutions aiming to improve patient care and experience. In its drive to boost patient experiences through digital tools, Ochsner is launching an Epic EMR Software system integration that leverages the power of generative Artificial Intelligence to draft message responses from clinicians to patients.
How can the Epic EHR Software benefit Ochsner Health?
The new Epic Software system tool will be tested by a group of healthcare providers. The use of generative AI aims to accelerate the response time to patients, which will give more time to clinicians to focus on patient care.
The integration of generative AI into patient messaging can simplify workflows and improve the patient experience altogether. The Epic EMR Software’s feature helps to draft quick responses to patient requests, which can be edited and revised by clinicians at Ochsner Health.
The robust functionality will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Patients can seek information and ask questions at any time, decreasing the need for unneeded emergency department visits or phone calls to healthcare providers.
Pilot Program
Ochsner Health is one of the first to test the generative AI feature rolled out by Epic EHR Software. The health system will test the new tool that uses Microsoft Azure’s OpenAI Service, which seamlessly integrates with the Epic Electronic Health Records (EHR) Software system. The first phase of the pilot program will be tested by 100 clinicians at Ochsner Health. The phase includes testing simple patient messages that do not require clinical analysis. There are a total of three phases of the pilot test, and after each phase, patient feedback will be received which will help improve the system.
Importance of Security and Privacy with Generative AI
Maintaining the security and compliance of patient data with healthcare legislation such as HIPAA is critical. Generative AI systems must be built with strong security mechanisms to protect patient information.
MyOchsner patient portal app is HIPAA-compliant and all messages are end-to-end encrypted. The generative AI feature certifies that a human reviews the message for maximum accuracy and makes any edits if required. This way, the messages between the provider and the patient aren’t completely robotic and have the human element.
The larger Trend
There has been an increase in EMR Software messaging because of the convenience it offers and also supports patient-provider communication. However, it was revealed that primary care physicians were spending more than half of their day interacting with the EHR Software system.
It is good to know that software vendors realize the extra burden on providers and are leveraging generative AI to speed up patient response time without the clinician spending too much time on the computer so they have more time to interact with their patients. The incorporation of generative AI by Epic EMR Software into patient messaging has the potential to improve patient experiences, healthcare outcomes, and healthcare delivery.
