Leaders at New York's Mount Sinai Health System believe that, for now, Microsoft is the winner in environmental transcription.
The health system began rolling out Microsoft's ambient listening technology, called Dragon Copilot, in November. The tool listens in on clinician-patient conversations during a visit and automatically generates clinical notes that doctors can quickly view, edit and sign in the EHR.
The rollout is being implemented in phases, with approximately 500 doctors currently using the tool. Robbie Freeman, chief digital transformation officer at Mount Sinai Health System, said the organization aims to have 1,500 users onboard by spring.
He noted that as part of the rollout, the tool will be available to other members of the clinical care team, not just physicians, such as nurse practitioners, physician assistants and pharmacists.
Current deployments are primarily in outpatient settings, with some emergency department and urgent care uses. But Freeman added that over time, the technology will find its way more into acute care settings.
From the data Mount Sinai has collected so far, he said, it's too early to tell whether the tool has significantly reduced the time doctors spend taking notes.
“The jury is still out. We're always looking at issues like the quality of documentation, what we're capturing. Some organizations are saying, 'Just try to accommodate more and more access.'” That's not how we see it. We really look at it holistically – improving quality. When we improve the quality of our documentation, it means we get credit for everything that's going on and can be compensated appropriately. So this helps build a sustainable business case,” Freeman explains.
Mount Sinai is also “thinking deeply” about how the technology can provide a more seamless experience in different care settings.
“For example, when we renovate patient rooms, we believe we will be able to introduce ambient listening, like what you see today, but also technologies like visual artificial intelligence to help support quality, safety and patient experience,” Freeman said.
Another item on the roadmap is adding insurance-related functionality to Microsoft deployments, such as the ability to submit prior authorization requests for certain tests and procedures. Freeman said once these capabilities are ready, Mount Sinai will put its hands up to be an early adopter.
Before selecting Microsoft, Mount Sinai evaluated the company along with two other vendors in the crowded field of transcription, conducting short-term pilots and gathering feedback through qualitative surveys of clinicians testing the tools. Lisa Stump, Mount Sinai's chief digital information officer, named two other vendors: Abridge and Suki.
“At the time, Suki was in a different position technologically, so we couldn't actually launch a full-fledged pilot. They've come a long way since then, but our timing was inconsistent. Microsoft and Abridge were relatively close,” she said.
Stump explained that Mount Sinai then had to make business decisions based on the terms of the contract and shared collaborative goals, and Microsoft ultimately eliminated Abridge.
She also noted that Mount Sinai has been “completely transparent” with Microsoft and that their partnership may change in light of Epic's launch of a built-in AI charting tool earlier this month.
“We will evaluate Epic solutions. They are also our partners on the platform. We think the market will continue to evolve and we will evaluate the options, but we are very grateful for all the partners and innovation that have brought the overall market to where it is now,” Stump stated.
Photo: Abraham Gonzalez Fernandez, Getty Images
