Today healthcare systems around the world are gripped with a serious issue—Doctor Burnout. More than 50% of doctors report feeling burned out, which is even higher among emergency-room physicians. Not only doctors but all healthcare workers are also experiencing burnout after the increased workload and stress during the COVID 19 pandemic.
Doctor burnout is a pressing challenge in the healthcare industry as it diminishes doctors’ ability to make sound medical decisions, potentially putting patients at risk. It also leads to early retirement and physician shortage, affecting healthcare accessibility.
Stressful work environments and high demanding job roles are the main culprits behind it. To address this issue and help doctors fight burnout, health tech startups have started deploying AI.
Let’s know more about startups using AI to help doctors fight burnout.
Startups using AI to Help Doctors Fight Burnout
A doctor’s work profile consists of several responsibilities like patient evaluation and diagnosis, checking patient’s medical history, maintaining patient health records, prescribing tests and medicines and whatnot. There’s AI to address it all.
Hospital Information Management Systems (HIMS)
Healthcare AI can help with hospital in-patient and out-patient management. It takes into account several factors and assists in decision-making. There are several startups in the healthcare IT space to reduce the mundane workload on doctors’ shoulders. Here are a few areas they address:
- Manage pre-screening of patients
AI is being used to collect and document patient data and screen them before visit to streamline patient intake and reduce doctor’s documentation time. Some startups in this area are Health Note, Decoded Health, Keona Health, etc.
- Manage the billing process
With the use of AI, patient data at each stage of the visit can be recorded to automate bill generation based on the procedures a patient undertakes. It can also consider the patient’s insurance eligibility and keep the hospital and insurance companies informed. Some startups in this space are Akasa, Privia Health, Cedar, Inbox health, etc.
- Managing patient EHR
With the help of AI, EHR data can be organised efficiently, helping doctors with required medical history at the time of need. Startups in this space are My Health ONE, Epic, Ciitizen, Practo, Akila Labs, Kareo Health, etc.
Elderly Care
AI is being used to monitor health and well-being remotely. It helps flag if conditions deteriorate and critical care is necessary instead of doctors monitoring them. This improves caregiving alongside reducing doctors’ workload. Some startups providing elderly care are Papa, Devoted Health, PointClickCare, Homage, etc.
Diagnostic Medical Imaging
AI has demonstrated outstanding sensitivity and accuracy in identifying imaging abnormalities, and it has the potential to improve tissue-based detection and characterisation. A few startups are Qure AI, BrainSight AI, Niramai, Imagen’s OsteoDetect, RapidAI, Viz.ai, etc.
Remote Monitoring
AI helps remote monitor patients and allows doctors to focus on patients requiring critical care. Some startups in this space are SolvEdge, Empatica, Biofourmis, Forward Health, Cadence Solutions, TimeDoc Health, etc.
Medical Transcription
Doctors spend a lot of time documenting the health records of patients after a visit. AI in medical transcription helps in clinical documentation, allowing doctors to focus on nothing by patient care. Some startups providing voice-based assistants that transcribe doctor notes while the doctor has a conversation with patients are Augnito, DeepScribe, Suki, Nuance, Corti, Kiroku, etc.
To Conclude
Healthcare is currently transitioning to a new era of data-driven and AI-assisted medicine. Doctor burnout can be prevented with the efficient use of AI, NLP and EMR systems. However, concerns like patient privacy, health data security and others affect this space. AI can also reinforce existing biases in the healthcare system.
While there are several concerns, the potential of AI in the health segment is evergrowing. It will help doctors devote more time to critical patient care and avoid burnout.
