Across the nation, providers are increasingly pressured to see more patients while maintaining the same level of meticulous notes in an efficient and timely manner. This sets an unsustainable pace that has burned out providers and left them questioning why they got into medicine.

At Valley View Hospital, administrators discovered that one of the biggest sources of burnout and errors was documentation. To combat this, they sought a solution that would allow their providers to reconnect with patients and rediscover their love of practicing medicine. They required a tool that was easy to use, relieved documentation burden, relief, enabled providers to close encounters quickly, and improved patient care.

Valley View was eager to learn more about Nuance’s newest addition to the Dragon family, DAX Copilot. The AI-powered solution securely captures patient encounters and automatically creates a clinical summary with delivery in seconds. The notes can be reviewed and edited in real time or at the convenience of the provider and then transferred into the athenahealth medical record.

Over the past three months, 14 providers from family practice, pediatrics, and internal medicine have captured more than 3,000 patient encounters using DAX Copilot.

“My favorite thing about DAX is how it allows me to engage with the patient in front of me while still collecting the detailed information I need. I also appreciate the time saved that I can now spend with my family,” said Shana Light, Nurse Practitioner, family medicine. “We adopted DAX during the summer when [patient] volumes tend to be lower due to factors such as seasonality, vacations, and time off. But even with that, we have seen a positive increase in most providers’ wRVU [work relative value units]/encounter ratios.”

AI technology is capturing care aspects for providers that may not have been documented previously. A number of providers have had statistically significant changes in their wRVU/encounter ratio, which is an early indicator of a positive return on investment (ROI). Across the organization, Valley View has observed an additional .1 to .3 wRVUs/encounters on average.

The coding shift reflects the care being delivered due to DAX Copilot capturing and documenting additional problems and medical decisions. The solution has also helped some Valley View providers better align with MGMA national coding averages for their specialties.