MEDITECH is taking further steps toward reducing the clinician documentation burden by integrating ambient listening technology into its Expanse EHR. The AI-based solution, currently being deployed at several sites, integrates MEDITECH’s web-based Expanse EHR and multiple voice assistant vendors. By taking advantage of large language models and natural language processing, clinicians can leverage ambient listening workflows to digitally scribe — significantly reducing the time it takes to document patient encounters.
MEDITECH’s vendor-agnostic approach enables Expanse users to launch directly into an ambient listening vendor through various methods, whether via mobile devices, desktop applications, or browser extensions. The ambient listening vendor records the conversation and automatically generates the appropriate clinical visit notes. MEDITECH believes that keeping humans in the loop is an essential piece of the AI puzzle, so clinicians are then provided the option to review, edit, and approve the note within the ambient listening solution using voice, typing, or macros, and incorporate this data within the appropriate documentation fields in the Expanse EHR.
Two of the first sites to implement ambient listening with MEDITECH will leverage Suki Assistant, which was first announced as a member of the MEDITECH Alliance in September.
St. Mary’s Healthcare (Amsterdam, NY) is a local, independent healthcare provider integrating ambient listening into their MEDITECH Expanse EHR.
“Investing in innovation is a strategic priority at St. Mary’s Healthcare, especially when that investment delivers significant advantages for patients and providers,” said St. Mary’s Healthcare Executive Director of Clinical Innovation and Transformation Julie Demaree. “Implementing ambient listening will free our providers to focus on their patients while AI technology securely documents the encounter. Time previously devoted to writing notes can be used to follow up with patients, while also fulfilling the equally important goal of enhancing our providers’ work-life balance.”
Decatur County Memorial Hospital (Greensburg, IN) is a local, county-owned healthcare provider that is also adopting ambient listening.
“We are very excited about the integration of ambient listening into our Expanse EHR, and the impact it will have on provider workflow,” said Decatur County Memorial Hospital Executive Director of Physician Practices and Support Services Amy Wickens. “The accumulated time savings from automated note generation is a great benefit to our providers and their patients, who will both enjoy improved satisfaction from increased face-to-face time during each encounter.”
One of the many benefits of MEDITECH’s open, cloud-based Expanse platform is the ability to easily collaborate with technology vendors to bring customers cutting-edge solutions, such as ambient listening.
“MEDITECH is committed to providing solutions that combat clinician burnout and improve clinician satisfaction and patient outcomes,” explains MEDITECH Director of Product Management Rebecca Lancaster. Our testing is already showing measurable improvements in documentation time and quality, which translates to a significant impact on improving the physician and patient experience.”
MEDITECH will continue to extend the integration points between the Expanse EHR and third-party ambient listening vendors by leveraging FHIR APIs to support data consumption through the Expanse Now mobile app and web-based physician solutions. Development of integration with Augmedix and the Nuance DAX™ Copilot solution is underway. MEDITECH will later expand the functionality to nurses and home care staff.
Join MEDITECH in kiosk 71 at the HIMSS24 Interoperability Showcase, where MEDITECH will demonstrate its integrated ambient listening solution alongside Suki. Demonstration times are:
- Tuesday, 3/12 at 2:30 pm
- Wednesday, 3/13 at 3:30 pm
- Thursday, 3/14 at 11:30 am
To learn about more of MEDITECH’s AI initiatives, read about Mile Bluff Medical Center's (Mauston, WI) successful implementation of Expanse Search and Summarization powered by Google Health and Fraser Health’s (Surrey, B.C.)deployment of generative AI to assist with the creation of the hospital course narrative at the time of discharge.
