Ambient AI gained much of its early traction in healthcare as a documentation tool for physicians. Now, a growing number of health systems are testing whether the technology can do something similar for nurses.
Recent pilots and rollouts at Mercy, FMOL Health, Northeast Georgia Health System, Mount Sinai Medical Center and Jefferson Health show health systems beginning to bring ambient technology into nursing workflows, while Northwell Health plans to expand the technology to nurses by the end of the year.
The shift is still early. Nursing workflows can differ significantly from physician documentation, relying heavily on flowsheets, assessments and other structured information rather than traditional clinical notes. But recent deployments offer an early look at how health systems are adapting ambient technology for those differences.
At Chesterfield, Mo.-based Mercy, the health system recently became the first to deploy the Android version of Microsoft’s ambient AI documentation tool for nurses. In three pilot units, the technology was associated with a 22% reduction in flowsheet documentation time per shift. Mercy is now expanding the tool in phases, with plans to bring it to one medical-surgical unit at 12 additional hospitals before eventually reaching every medical-surgical unit across its acute care facilities by June 30, 2027.
Baton Rouge, La.-based FMOL Health has also been testing ambient technology with nurses after initially focusing primarily on physicians. The health system conducted nursing pilots in its Jackson, Miss., and Baton Rouge markets. CIO Will Landry told Becker’s the pilots uncovered documentation efficiencies the IT team had not anticipated, and FMOL Health is planning to extend its use of ambient listening further across clinical operations.
Other health systems are testing Epic’s approach. Northeast Georgia Health System in August became the fifth health system to deploy Epic’s Chart with Art ambient AI tool for nursing documentation. A pilot involving 15 nurses and two patient care technicians across all five Northeast Georgia Medical Center hospitals is testing technology that can draft assessments, care plans, patient education notes and other documentation for nurses to review before it becomes part of the medical record.
Miami Beach, Fla.-based Mount Sinai Medical Center began rolling out the same Epic technology to inpatient nurses in late July after already using Chart with Art for physicians. The organization became the fourth health system in the country to launch the tool for inpatient nurses, according to its announcement.
Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health is taking another early approach. The system is piloting ambient AI documentation technology on nursing units as part of a broader effort to return 10 million clinical hours to clinicians by 2028. Jefferson President Baligh Yehia, MD, previously told Becker’s the health system is aiming to save each clinician an average of one hour of administrative work per day. The organzation is using technology logs and in-person observations to measure time saved.
More expansion could be coming. Northwell Health’s northern region has nearly completed an ambient AI rollout across acute care settings and plans to extend the technology to nursing staff by year-end, Albert Villarin, MD, vice president and chief medical informatics officer, recently told Becker’s.
The early nursing deployments also come as vendors expand their offerings. Epic now lists Chart with Art: Nursing among its available AI capabilities.
For health systems, the recent pilots are beginning to test whether ambient AI’s use case can extend beyond the physician note, and how much the technology will need to change to fit distinctly different clinical workflows.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.