AI in Orthopedics: Early impact and future opportunity

How AI automation in healthcare transforms clinical workflows and reduces provider burnout

Elizabeth Bauske, PT, DPT, ATC, is a physical therapist and Manager of Clinical Informatics for Barrington Orthopedic Specialists, an orthopedic organization in Illinois. Read on to learn how athenahealth helped support a smooth go-live, how the Barrington Orthopedic team improved efficiency through configurable workflows, and the excitement around AI-powered documentation and operational gains.

Q: What excites you most about the AI capabilities coming into athenahealth?

A: We're very excited about a lot of the enhancements coming around AI, whether it's Sage, similar to ChatGPT, but in your encounter, or in your chart. I myself am actually already using it in alpha, and it's really impressive what it's capable of.

As the AI capabilities continue to expand, we're very excited to see those patient-generated summaries so that if a different provider picks up the patient, they're able to open the chart and see a summary of what's been going on. That's a huge time saver.

As far as native ambient, we're very excited because hopefully all of our staff can use it. Right now, we have a few providers using Ambient [Notes] AI. But it's not just the provider who's going in and having to document. There's a clinical team member going into the patient room first. They're getting a history. They may be initiating an exam, adding an order. If that can all go in quicker, then whoever's going into the room first can actually have a conversation with the patient and not sit there and type the whole time that they're in the room.

It's not just the provider workflow, it's the whole clinical team workflow. If everyone has the ability to use Ambient technologies and toggle between if they want to use it, if they want to go back to the traditional workflow, I think that's going to be a huge win for our clinic.

Probably the one that excites me most is the native ambient AI, just because the ability for anyone working in athenaOne® system to be able to toggle it and off, use it when they want to. It's going to open up so much more access and allow not just the provider, but any staff member that's working with that provider documenting a history or an initial exam — if they can actually sit and have a conversation with the patient, and that's all been documented, it's going to make our clinic more efficient, and it's going to make our patients happier.

Q: What has the experience been like for physicians already using ambient AI?

A: We initially had two physicians using athenaOne's Ambient [Notes]. We are very heavy into chart accelerators, and we use a lot of reasons for visit and encounter plans, text macros. So, because of that, we did have some physicians that were hesitant because a lot of their note can already be written efficiently.

We had a couple physicians that were very interested in it, and they have literally said that they can't go back. Once you have it, and you're used to having that model, you can't go back. Recently, the word's been spreading around the physicians, and I've had two more physicians just in the last month express interest and start using it. They've already said that they're very happy with it, and that they can't go back.

Q: How do you see AI shaping healthcare — and what barriers still need to be addressed?

A: I think that hopefully the AI developments are going to be part of a solution for healthcare providers, allowing us to do what we need to do, but do it efficiently. Still document thoroughly, but actually spend time with our patients. Often, you go to the doctor and the physician is documenting in the computer the whole time, quickly looking over at you and back. If they can sit and have an actual conversation with you, knowing it's all been documented and orders are being added and just needs to be reviewed afterwards, I think it's going to help improve both the patient satisfaction and physician and other healthcare provider's satisfaction with their own profession and their quality of life.

I think that AI is going to help from the moment that a patient contacts the practice. It has the ability to be beneficial in the registration and scheduling, prior authorizations, and the back-end workflows. It's also going to be important in the initial intake and clinical provider physician workflows. Beyond that, into the billing, denials management, and the revenue cycle management workflows. So, I think that there is space for AI to really improve every aspect of the patient experience.

One area where AI can have an impact would be insurance, prior authorizations and the ever-changing restrictions requirements. That goalpost just keeps changing and we have to keep chasing.

If I had a magic wand, I would remove insurance barriers. We live in a world where healthcare is expensive and you need to have insurance. You pay a lot of money for your insurance, and when the doctor says you need something, the insurance may say, no, and you don't get the care you need.

In regards to insurance limitations and the prior authorization restrictions — if we can just provide the patient the care they need, and the patient's insurance cover what they're supposed to cover, without having to jump through constantly changing obstacles, that would be amazing.

The second would be the advance of AI technology. Embracing it, making sure that there's appropriate guardrails on it, that it's safe, and providing the most accurate information. Figuring out how to embrace and use it so that it's actually making us more efficient. Ultimately, how can it help us provide the best care for our patients.

Q: How has athenahealth helped your practice work more efficiently?

A: athenaOne has allowed us to be more efficient as a practice because there's so many ways we can configure the system to work efficiently, allowing our providers and our clinical teams to efficiently document using chart accelerators, using order sets, encounter plans so that they are able to document thoroughly, efficiently.

For example, they’re able to have information in the documentation that we know is going to be needed for prior authorization, without having to type it all out. Therefore, it also allows us to spend more time with patients. We're able to document more efficiently and spend more time with the patient knowing that hopefully we'll be able to get the surgery, or MRI, approved because we've documented appropriately.

Q: What advice would you give practices that are just getting started on athenaOne?

A: Take advantage of all the resources that are available to you. There are a lot. It may seem overwhelming, but if you take advantage of the Success Community, there are so many different articles, and you can find almost everything you need to in there.

But also take advantage of the other opportunities that athenahealth provides, such as the clinical coaching. If there is something that you're really having difficulty setting up or figuring out an efficient workflow on, athenahealth does provide clinical coaching, at no extra charge.

If you have the opportunity to attend their conference [Thrive], it's a great place to find out what's coming, but also find out how to do existing workflows better, how to do them more efficiently. It is also a great opportunity to meet other customers who are doing the exact same thing you are, discuss similar challenges, and hopefully find great solutions that you can take back and implement.