Artificial intelligence and machine learning have been streamlining and improving processes in healthcare for years. However, the emergence of generative AI and the improvement of predictive models has ushered in a modern era in which technology is improved iteratively based on feedback from front-line users. Several recent product announcements show that this trend is working.
Improved performance of prior authentication
IT cloud services provider athenahealth has set an ambitious goal over the next three years to eliminate half of the administrative burdens managed by private practices on the revenue cycle management side.
To improve the speed, accuracy and quality of RCM processing, the company said in Thursday’s announcement that its AI-powered improvements this year reduced claims errors at practice reception desks, eliminated claims processing delays after patient encounters and streamlined prior authorizations.
Practices say they spend almost two full days a week on upstream credentialing tasks, athenahealth says, so the company has launched credentialing management services to speed up the process.
“Through authorization management at athenaOne, we have transformed our authorization process from a bottleneck to a streamlined operation,” Angela Szymblowski, director of clinical operations at South Texas Spinal Clinic, said in a statement.
By moving away from manual authorization, the specialty clinic reduced patient wait times from six to eight weeks to just five days, “enabling us to provide the tests and procedures our patients need while also improving our bottom line,” she said.
To achieve the efficiency that athenahealth automation brings, “we would need six or more full-time, pre-authorized employees.”
Modern operating system platform improves data analysis
Tuva Health’s modern open-source data platform enables providers, payers, research institutions, life sciences companies and their partners to develop modern methods to refine analytical models to improve patient outcomes and operational efficiency, the company said Thursday.
As modern methods and approaches to processing data are developed, the entire open source community validates them for accuracy. Once shared, each customer and partner can then run proven approaches on their data.
Tuva Health said in the announcement that it is working with more than 25 partners, including Oscar Health and CareAbout Health, who have integrated the platform to reduce costs and raise data transparency.
“Real health care technology companies find that we solve the same problems over and over again,” Mario Schlosser, co-founder and chief technology officer of Oscar, said in a statement.
“We believe that collaboration is needed – creating open source solutions and improving data interoperability to improve healthcare operations.”
Supporting frontline leaders with your insights
University of Cincinnati Health, an integrated academic health system serving the greater Ohio and Northern Kentucky metropolitan area, has selected Laudio’s AI-powered leadership operations platform to address persistent nurse burnout and turnover issues, according to Wednesday’s announcement .
By streamlining workflow for 7,500 frontline team members across two major hospitals and clinics, UC Health will exploit the technology to free up production capacity, helping frontline workers spend less time on administrative tasks and more time on everyday leader-employee interactions. he said.
The workflow center aggregates data from multiple healthcare operating systems and streamlines administrative work with built-in features, Laudio said. The platform shares employee insights, trends and metrics, and offers AI-powered recommendations that can aid leaders prioritize high-impact actions.
“Supporting and engaging frontline leaders are prerequisites for a thriving frontline workforce,” Dr. Russ Richmond, CEO and co-founder of Laudio, said in a statement.
It gives leaders “better visibility into their teams and streamlines workflows, which saves time,” added Rob Wiehe, senior vice president and chief operating officer of UC Health.
“A key goal is to ensure data is easily accessible and actionable for our frontline leaders.”
The exploit of this technology has increased efficiency but also created opportunities to strengthen the culture at UC Health, Margie Zyble, the health system’s chief human resources officer, said in a statement.
“Empowering our people is a top priority in our cultural evolution.”
Increasing precision with feedback from the front line
Dallas-based Spectral AI, which focuses on artificial intelligence-based wound diagnostics, announced Monday that it has improved its critical care platform by incorporating first-hand feedback, increasing diagnostic accuracy and streamlining workflow integration to the benefit of patient care .
The updated software, which is also used by burn centers, complied with UK and Australian medical diagnostics regulations, according to the company.
“As we receive additional feedback from real-world use, we will continue to refine the performance of DeepView and its impact on patient care,” Dr. J. Michael DiMaio, chairman of the board of Spectral AI, said in a statement.
“The feedback from the UK is extremely encouraging and reinforces my belief that DeepView can significantly contribute to improving patient care.”