A physician dictates a clinical note.
In its latest effort to alleviate administrative burdens in the clinical setting, leading virtual assistant pioneer Suki is partnering with Premier, Inc., a healthcare improvement company, to provide the latter’s nearly 4,000+ strong hospital network with access to Suki’s revolutionary platform. Through this deal, Premier members will be able to take advantage of special pre-negotiated deal terms and pricing to leverage Suki for their organizations.
Suki’s software provides clinicians a variety of services, including a platform for ambient dictation and scribing, assistance with HCC and ICD coding tasks, and the ability to answer questions. Most importantly, Suki can deeply integrate into existing EHR systems, meaning that it can provide a cohesive approach to easing clinical documentation for clinicians.
Notably, healthcare administrative and documentation tasks have been cited as among the leading causes of burnout and attrition in the field. A study that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in 2022 surveyed nearly 1500+ physicians to understand the onerous tasks they face on a day-to-day basis and the impact on the field holistically; the study found that on average, physicians spent nearly 1.77 hours daily completing documentation tasks outside of regular office hours, and nearly 58% of respondents indicated that the time spent with documentation tasks was inappropriate and reduced time with patients.
In a study published by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), it was found that by using Suki, primary care specialists saw a 72% reduction in median documentation time per note. This resulted in saving nearly 3.3 hours per week, per clinician—time that could be spent with patients. Dr. Steven Waldren of the AAFP explained that the use of a virtual assistant tool “significantly reduced documentation time and burden while providing more flexibility and freedom… [it] is an essential innovation for all family physicians who have documentation burden and experience burnout.”
Technology giants and startups alike are racing to find ways to reduce or ease the administrative burdens faced by clinicians. However, this function is not easy to automate or adopt, as the documentation is incredibly nuanced. Furthermore, with increasing rates of security breaches and privacy concerns, healthcare organizations are hesitant to adopt robust technology solutions for clinical settings. Additionally, many solutions do not deliver actual value to the clinician, frequently leading to disappointment.
This is where Punit Soni, Founder and CEO of Suki, explains his vision to create a company that, at the very fundamental level, has a mission to “help the physician.” Soni explains a classic conundrum: while many companies want to provide value, few prioritize the physician, the most important stakeholder, while creating these products. Thus, his goal with Suki has been to “create a product that is built for physicians” and can truly create impact. Indeed, given just how entrenched technology has become within modern day healthcare settings, setting a fundamental vision like this is necessary to truly make a difference at a grass-roots level.
Undoubtedly, the work in this arena is just getting started. As companies like Suki continue to scale and improve their technologies, they must continue to prioritize privacy, security, affordability and most importantly, tangible value to stakeholders. However, if done thoughtfully, this realm of technology can truly impact the next generation of healthcare delivery.
