6 Ways UnityPoint Health Is Trying to Make Clinicians’ Jobs Easier

Doctors were charting on their laptops at their kids’ baseball games before UnityPoint Health started rethinking how AI fits into clinical work. 

Now, ambient scribing, chart summarization and real-time capacity tracking are among the tools UnityPoint is using to pull clinicians away from administrative work and back toward patients, according to Gregory Johnson, the health system’s chief medical officer.

Below are some of the tactics he highlighted during an interview last month.

—Clinical documentation tech: Like many health systems, UnityPoint has deployed ambient scribes to transcribe patient conversations directly into the chart so that physicians can focus on providing care instead of typing. Johnson noted that doctors are no longer “attached to the keyboard,” which helps boost job satisfaction and retention. The health system is exploring expanding this type of tech to nurses as well, he added.

—Speeding up chart review with AI: UnityPoint uses Evidently’s AI software for chart summarization. Physicians prompt the system to surface the most relevant information from a patient’s chart quickly, which has cut down the time they spend digging through records, Johnson explained.

—Real-time capacity and transfer management: The health system has deployed AI tools to help staff have a better view of capacity across the whole system — including its operating rooms, infusion spaces and procedural areas — in real time. Johnson said these solutions are doing a good job of helping clinicians expend less energy on logistics and patient placement.

—Reducing alert fatigue: Johnson named alert fatigue as a key driver of burnout. To combat this, UnityPoint tries to prioritize tools that decrease noise rather than add another layer of notifications for clinicians to sift through, he said.

—Letting physicians choose their own tools: When leadership selects software and then hands it down, it’s usually a recipe for low engagement. Instead, UnityPoint launched a program in which 60 physicians across specialties and markets test and weigh in on tools before any large rollout. This process allows clinical staff the chance to evaluate the product’s fit against their actual daily workflows, Johnson noted.

—Easing physical strain on non-bedside staff: Johnson pointed out a less obvious AI use case that UnityPoint is exploring — leveraging AI to reduce the ergonomic toll on sonographers, high attrition because “their arm and shoulder give out” from the repetitive motion the job requires.

Photo: MF3d, Getty Images