“Our mission is all about taking care of clinicians so that they can take care of their patients.”

So said Nuance CEO Mark Benjamin in a recent interview at HIMSS19 in Orlando about how AI can be put to work helping healthcare organizations deal with the growing problem of physician burnout. 

“Doctors are doing their best with electronic medical record technology to manage a staggering amount of documentation required for insurance coverage, as well as reimbursement, medical, and legal liability,” Benjamin explained, “all while continuing to prioritize patient care and quality reporting. Unfortunately, doctors are now spending about twice as much time entering or re-entering administrative data into computers than they do interacting with their patients. This work is often done at night at home during what they call “pajama time” – essentially family and personal time. I think any professional can relate, but what’s different is that we’re seeing skyrocketing burnout rates and elevated suicide rates among physicians. In fact, 51 percent of physicians reported experiencing frequent or constant feelings of burnout. The situation isn’t sustainable, and people are leaving the field at precisely the time we need them most.”

In his view, part of the solution to the problem of physician burnout is “conversational AI,” which he explains “uses intelligence to convert speech not just into text, but into text with meaning. It understands the speaker’s intent in context, responds with relevant and helpful information, and extracts key structured data that can drive actions and analytics. Conversational AI is a significant advancement of the AI-powered speech recognition systems used every day by doctors, lawyers, automotive manufacturers, financial institutions, and consumers.”

Perhaps appropriately, Benjamin sees conversational AI “as a painkiller that removes the pains imposed by administrative requirements and economic realities – allowing clinicians to work more effectively. In healthcare, our Conversational AI lessens the administrative burden for physicians, nurses, and other caregivers, and gives them more time with patients, allowing them to be more present in these interactions. They’re also not staying late or extending the workday at home. It’s striking to see the intense, positive reaction doctors have when they see how this technology can help them.”

As for what’s next in AI-assisted physician “care,” Benjamin points to progress with virtual assistants and a new category of AI-powered healthcare technology: Ambient Clinical Intelligence, which he says “surrounds the care team with knowledge so doctors can focus on the patient instead of the computer.”