Tampa General Hospital Deploys Artificial Intelligence Tools to Elevate Patient Experience

Ambient listening eliminates hours of documentation so providers can focus on patients and their care.

Tampa, FL (June 11, 2024) – Documentation is essential to delivering high-quality care but can result in a heavy burden on physicians and serve as a distraction from their patient interactions. Tampa General Hospital (TGH) is turning to artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to reduce the bureaucracy and elevate the patient experience.

Through a partnership with Nuance finalized this month, more than 500 physicians affiliated with Tampa General will begin utilizing DAX Copilot to increase productivity. The ambient listening tool is used to securely capture a patient story, including details of symptoms, observations and experiences. With the help of AI, it automatically converts multi-party conversations into specialty-specific, clinical summaries in seconds.

“Simply put, documentation is necessary, but it’s a growing burden on all involved. At Tampa General Hospital, we’re not willing to settle for the status quo. We’re focused on pursuing innovative solutions to transform the way we deliver care,” said John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General Hospital. “With the help of AI, we’re easing the burden of documentation on providers and in turn giving them the ability and the additional time to focus on our top priority — our patients. It’s initiatives like these that set Tampa General apart from the rest and contribute to the world-class care we deliver.”

The technology was made available for full integration into the Epic electronic health record (EHR) system earlier this year, making Tampa General one of the early adopters of this AI tool that has proven to support physicians while elevating patient care.

The tool is not a voice-to-text transcription. Instead, it is an AI-powered solution that identifies voices, captures patient history, detects key observations, summarizes takeaways and works seamlessly with existing platforms already utilized at Tampa General. The technology — like all technology implemented at Tampa General — adheres to the highest standards of security and privacy and is in accordance with federal HIPAA requirements.

The benefits of this technology are not just felt by physicians, but also by the patients they see. The use of technology to reduce documentation requirements enables providers to spend more time with their patients with a greater focus on their needs.

“As the documentation burden on providers grows, they have less and less time to spend with their patients and they are often tethered to their keyboards in exam rooms,” said Nishit Patel MD, VP Chief Medical Informatics Officer, Tampa General. “With the power of emerging technologies, like AI and ambient listening, we can finally free our physicians and providers from this administrative burden and allow them to focus on what they do best at Tampa General: deliver world-class, patient-centered care."

A series of data points, surveys and studies reveal that U.S. physicians spend an average of 4.5 hours per day or as much as two-thirds of their time on paperwork or electronic documentation. The requirement for documentation leaves less time for them to spend directly with patients and contributes greatly to burnout. What’s more, time spent on documentation decreases collaboration and communication between providers and clinical staff.

DAX Copilot is reported to reduce documentation time by half. Nearly three-quarters of physicians who utilize the technology experience a reduction in feelings of burnout and fatigue. A vast majority of patients (85%) say their physician is more personable and conversational.