6 ways medical practices leverage AI in healthcare

Artificial intelligence in healthcare has emerged as a powerful tool to drive efficiency and improve patient outcomes. In the recent Physician Sentiment Survey, a report fielded by athenahealth of 1,000 practicing physicians in the U.S., 39% of physicians said they believe healthcare AI has the power to reduce administrative burdens and streamline tasks.¹

The innovations in athenaOne are a direct result of that feedback loop with our customers and the healthcare industry at large. The AI-native athenaOne platform operates as a single, intelligent system across tens of thousands of practices, learning continuously from every transaction in the network. What’s more, new capabilities are deployed through seamless SaaS upgrades, enabling customers to rapidly adopt and reap the benefits of AI in healthcare without disruption.

To highlight the critical results of this industry research and our response to it, we're examining the top use cases for healthcare AI technology that physicians believe could benefit them most. Here are six potential opportunities to consider as your medical practice or healthcare system continues to leverage AI in your EHR, and how athenahealth might help support them, now and in the future.

1. Clinical decision support and diagnostics

AI-powered decision support systems can assist healthcare professionals in using data to make more accurate diagnoses and treatment recommendations. 42% of physicians surveyed said that a leading potential benefit of AI is identifying patterns and anomalies in patient data. Machine learning algorithms can analyze vast amounts of raw patient data, medical literature, and clinical guidelines to identify patterns and provide evidence-based suggestions.² Looking ahead, the athenaOne AI-native EHR is poised to support clinical decision-making by delivering real-time recommendations, insights, alerts, and summaries to help identify diagnosis and care gaps. This application of AI for medical diagnosis has the potential to not only improve diagnostic accuracy but also assist physicians in catching health issues earlier. Earlier detection can lead to better patient outcomes and potentially lower healthcare costs associated with misdiagnoses or ineffective treatments.

2. Intelligent workflow automation

Enterprise healthcare organizations and smaller independent medical practices alike often struggle with inefficient workflows and administrative burdens, which can lead to delays, errors, and increased costs. AI EHRs may help streamline these processes by automating repetitive tasks, such as appointment scheduling, medical coding, and data entry. athenaOne's ChartSync streamlines clinical workflows by parsing, deduplicating and surfacing external patient data, while Document Services scans incoming faxes to extract critical information and improve accuracy in patient records – reducing processing time by 91%.

Future athenaOne updates will iterate on these solutions, generating intelligent summaries across documents, charts and clinical events to help clinicians quickly access relevant insights.

Robotic process automation (RPA) and natural language processing (NLP) technologies can also be employed to handle these tasks more efficiently, freeing up valuable time for healthcare professionals to focus on patient care.

3. Resource optimization

The effective allocation of resources, including staff, equipment, and supplies, is crucial for clinics and healthcare organizations to operate efficiently and provide timely care. In fact, 35% of physicians surveyed listed increased efficiencies as a key benefit of healthcare AI.³ New AI technology has the power to assist in optimizing resource utilization by analyzing historical data, forecasting demand, and identifying potential bottlenecks or underutilized areas. A “virtual front desk,” as an example of AI patient engagement, could automatically message patients to fill appointment slots as they come open. Predictive analytics can help organizations anticipate staffing needs, manage inventory levels, and optimize facility layouts, which may lead to cost savings in the long run."By looking to new technology like AI and automation to help reduce administrative burdens and shorten documentation times, physicians can get time back in their day to focus on patient care and attracting new patients."

By looking to new technology like AI and automation to help reduce administrative burdens and shorten documentation times, physicians can get time back in their day to focus on patient care and attracting new patients.

4. Population health management

Artificial intelligence in healthcare can also play a pivotal role in population health management by analyzing large datasets to identify risk factors, predict disease trends, and develop targeted interventions.⁴ Some machine learning models are beginning to stratify patient populations based on health risks, enabling healthcare organizations to design personalized care plans and allocate resources more effectively. Additionally, AI-powered remote monitoring and telehealth could facilitate preventive care and chronic disease management, helping reduce the burden on healthcare facilities and improving overall population health.

5. Medical imaging and radiology

AI-powered image analysis and computer vision technologies can start to assist radiologists in interpreting medical images more accurately and efficiently. 34% of physicians surveyed said that a leading potential benefit of AI is improved accuracy of patient diagnoses.⁵ In this form of AI for medical diagnosis, machine learning algorithms help detect subtle patterns and anomalies in images, providing an additional aid in the early detection of diseases and reducing the risk of missed diagnoses. Additionally, AI can potentially help streamline workflows in radiology departments by automating tasks such as image preprocessing, prioritization, and reporting.

6. Voice-powered documentation solutions

Many healthcare organizations say time spent documenting patient encounters is a huge challenge for their organization. Our research shows that physicians spend over 15 hours per week outside of normal business hours on paperwork and administrative tasks.⁶ That’s time that would otherwise be spent connecting directly with patients.

Voice-to-text dictation—sometimes referred to as AI dictation or AI scribe technology—is quickly becoming a highly used service among healthcare organizations looking to cut down on documentation time. athenaOne's AI-powered ambient listening technology can help reduce documentation time normally spent on clinician notetaking and medical history, boost productivity, and create new efficiencies during patient encounters. Some intuitive services can retrieve clinical information and complete meaningful clinical tasks hands-free, from desktop or mobile devices. By integrating AI scribe voice dictation services into day-to-day workflows, athenahealth’s AI-native EHR helps clinicians achieve increased efficiency during patient encounters, while also focusing more on being present and providing care.

Embracing the benefits of AI in healthcare

Virtually all medical practices in the US—from enterprise scale healthcare organizations to small independent practices—can leverage AI EHRs to help drive efficiencies, improve patient outcomes, and stay competitive in an increasingly digital healthcare landscape.

Start by evaluating where your business is and where AI might make the most initial impact, whether that’s clinical experience, patient engagement, revenue cycle management, or a combination. Then, consider how an AI-native EHR like athenaOne— which applies AI where it counts, surfacing insights and automating tasks—could save your team time and allow you to focus on patient care.

Learn more about our approach to AI in healthcare.