Why AI is the key to (finally) unlocking EHR

Did you know that EHRs were first invented in the 1960s?

Literally 60 years ago?!

I didn't either. That is kind of discouraging.

For all the ads, conferences, blog posts, etc...

Promising "unbelievable transformation beyond our wildest dreams"...

I'm yet to meet a single physician who REALLY swears by their EHR or EMR.

Why is that?

Plain and simple: the current paradigm of data capture still relies on a human in the trenches to manually type in their handwritten notes...

Often, after hours while watching sports or sitting at a child's piano lesson.

Sometimes, not at all.

Data has been spotty. And hard to capture.?

So, while the health system OVERALL has benefitted from some of this data aggregation...

Most individual physicians would probably be happy if the EMR got shut off altogether.

This is not ideal.?

As technologists, we've got to be able to do better, right?

I think so. And I hope so.

So, what is the answer?

I think it's leveraging the superpowers of generative AI to figure out automating data capture.

Whether this is through voice notes...

Whether this is through handwriting-to-text...

Whether this is through some sophisticated scanning algorithm...

Until a physician can capture data on THEIR terms and workflows, the system is going to be broken.

I realize you might be thinking: "Matt, come on man? This little tweak can't possibly unlock billions in value for healthcare?"

My response: there are 1 million physicians in the United States. Most of whom have this dilemma. If we can save ALL of them just an hour a day on data capture...

We are talking about something like 250 million extra hours a year of time-saving.

Until this problem is solved, it will be one of our innovation focuses at True North.

And we'd be happy to connect with you any time on it.

Remember: big visions become reality because of small, incremental progress.?