The Seattle-based startup has been honored for a healthcare product that uses artificial intelligence to reduce the EHR documentation burden.
Healthcare technology vendor, Saykara, has received a 2021 BIG Innovation Award for its AI voice assistant that produces clinical notes, orders, referrals and more by ambiently listening to conversations between physicians and patients. Named Kara, the assistant is accessible via a mobile app that extracts meaning and intent from what it hears, then populates both structured and narrative data to the electronic health record (EHR).
BIG Innovation Award nominations are judged by a panel of experienced business executives across multiple domains. Saykara has been honored in the healthcare category for “a product that has caused market or customer disruption.”
“We are addressing a universal paint point for physicians,” said Dr. Graham Hughes, president and chief medical officer of Saykara. “EHR systems have helped streamline the business side of healthcare, but they’ve had a devastating effect on physicians who now spend more time on electronic documentation than patient care.”
According to numerous studies and surveys, the documentation burden is one of the most significant contributors to burnout and dissatisfaction among U.S. physicians. “When physicians are put to the task of entering data to a computer instead of practicing medicine, the very fabric of our nation’s healthcare system is compromised,” said Hughes.
Kara automates the clinical charting process using deep machine learning and long-form natural language understanding. It not only reduces the overall documentation burden by up to 70%, it enhances documentation quality by an average of 20%, which is certain to aid conformance with the new 2021 evaluation and management (E/M) coding changes now in effect.
“Using the Saykara AI voice assistant has increased the quality and comprehensiveness of our SOAP notes, which I believe will allow us to more than adequately satisfy the level of documentation needed for new E/M coding,” said Shawn Studdard, CEO and practice director of Chi Arthritis & Rheumatology, in a recent press release on his organization’s adoption of the Saykara solution.
With Kara, physicians aren’t tethered to a computer and don’t have to navigate complex EHR systems. They’re able to give patients their undivided attention.
“With Kara, I just talk naturally. I can recap a visit after the fact or I can have the iPhone app simply capture what’s being said during a visit,” said Dr. Prayus Tailor, an attending nephrologist at Nephrology Associates, P.A. of Delaware, in a recent press release on his organization’s adoption of the Saykara solution. “I find patients really like this, especially when I summarize what I’ve heard them say and what I intend to include in the electronic health record, which gives them opportunity to confirm that I have it right or correct me if I’ve misstated something.”
