Advancing Medical Record Management: The Power of AI/ChatGPT

Did you know that medical record management costs a staggering $125 billion per year in the US?

This inefficient system is heavily based on paper records and is putting healthcare providers at a significant disadvantage. On average, clinical staff spends 20 percent of their daily time chasing down patient records. Moreover, paper medical records occupy valuable storage space in hospitals and offices. Even worse, these records are virtually unsearchable, making it nearly impossible to track a patient’s history or locate specific information in a timely manner. Additionally, paper records are prone to irreversible damage. If a coffee spill occurs, critical information related to a patient’s life could be lost forever.

Many of us can recall instances when doctors printed out prescriptions, lab requests or X-ray orders and asked us to bring them along for medication or imaging procedures. We may have also experienced frustrations when pharmacies or doctors’ offices claimed they did not receive faxed prescriptions or lab results.

Sadly, this is still a common practice in the US, with over nine billion pages of medical records being faxed annually. While our cell phones undergo remarkable advancements every year, faxing technology remains unchanged since the 1980s.

Faxing medical records poses risks such as insecurity, information delays, inconsistent formatting and difficulties in deciphering poor handwriting quality. Consequently, around 30 percent of medical tests are reordered due to the inability to locate results, and approximately 25 percent of patients in the US complain that their records and results fail to reach another provider in time for their appointments. Furthermore, about 20 percent of malpractice claims involve missed or delayed diagnoses resulting from inadequate hand-offs between providers.

It’s Time to Stop Faxing Medical Records

In the realm of healthcare, the digitization of medical records has opened up new avenues for improving patient care and streamlining administrative processes. Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative force.

ChatGPT, an AI-powered conversational agent, has paved the way for unprecedented advancements in medical record management. With its ability to understand and process natural language, ChatGPT offers a user-friendly and efficient solution for retrieving and analyzing medical records. This revolutionary technology can enable healthcare professionals to harness vast amounts of patient data, transforming the way medical information is accessed, interpreted and utilized.

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ChatGPT Can Make Medical Record Management Easier

One of the applications of ChatGPT in the medical field is its capacity to assist doctors in analyzing and summarizing vast amounts of patient information. By extracting essential details from medical records, including medical history, test results and allergies, ChatGPT can present doctors with a comprehensive overview of a patient’s health status.

This timely and condensed information enables doctors to make more accurate diagnoses, devise treatment plans and improve patient outcomes. The ability of ChatGPT efficiently provides doctors with valuable insights, saving them valuable time and allowing them to focus more on patient care and decision-making.

Beyond its clinical applications, ChatGPT offers significant advantages in streamlining administrative tasks within healthcare settings. Doctors often find themselves burdened with administrative responsibilities that detract from patient care; however, ChatGPT can be trained to perform various administrative functions, such as scheduling appointments, drafting referral letters and notes, submitting insurance claims, or following up on prescription refills.

By automating these tasks, ChatGPT frees up doctors’ time, allowing them to devote more attention to their patients and reducing the administrative burden that often accompanies medical practice. The integration of ChatGPT into the fast-paced healthcare environment can enhance efficiency and improve overall patient management.

AI Empowers the Future of Doctor-Patient Interactions

Do you often find it challenging and time-consuming to schedule an appointment with your doctor for medical advice?

According to a survey conducted in 2022 by Merritt Hawkins and AMN Healthcare, the average waiting time for non-emergency appointments with new patients in 15 major cities across the US has increased to 26 days. This is up from 24.1 days in 2017 and 21 days in 2004.

Additionally, even for non-urgent medical education or advice from your primary care physician, it can take several days or weeks to secure a consultation appointment; however, ChatGPT has the potential to assist physicians by bridging the gaps in patient care information and providing education. Leveraging its comprehensive algorithm, ChatGPT can help address patient inquiries related to diagnosis, disease management and medication instructions.

Credo Announces PreDX, a Cutting-Edge AI Platform for Medical Records

Credo is an American innovative AI startup in healthcare technology focusing on automated patient medical record retrieval. Its cutting-edge AI platform, PreDX, has been introduced in March 2023, providing healthcare professionals a powerful tool in medical record management.

Credo’s PreDX is able to generate a complete longitudinal medical record summary before a patient’s visit, which eliminates the time from chasing paper-based medical record history and helps ensure the accuracy of the medical information.

According to Credo, a patient’s medical history typically consists of more than 40 documents, totaling hundreds to thousands of pages of information on average. The use of paper or faxed medical records has become increasingly burdensome for healthcare professionals, making it difficult to access and identify a patient’s medical history in urgent situations. The process of reviewing all this information has become challenging and time-consuming, leading to uncertainties regarding its accuracy.

“The healthcare industry has long been plagued by the inefficiencies of accessing and interpreting patient records. With PreDx, we have flipped the process of medical record retrieval and post encounter documentation review on its head. Instead of starting with a blank medical history, we equip healthcare providers with a holistic portrait of a patient’s medical history and diagnoses before their first visit, not after,” said Carm Huntress, CEO of Credo, in the company’s news release.

A preliminary study conducted across three provider groups in different states has shown promising results for PreDX. The study observed a remarkable 94 percent success rate in retrieving patient records. Additionally, the coding accuracy was significantly improved by identifying and correcting an average of two to three diagnoses per patient, all achieved within an average turnaround time of three days.

These impressive outcomes can be attributed to PreDX’s comprehensive algorithm, which utilizes large language models to automate the identification of diagnostic codes and gaps in care within patients’ medical records. By accessing a vast database of 85,000 digital health systems and clinics, combined with manual curation to address any existing gaps, PreDX leverages the machine learning algorithms trained on its own data. This enables the system to thoroughly analyze a patient’s medical history and consolidate all documented information, ultimately resulting in increased data accuracy and compliance.

Starting this year, PreDX has been launched and Credo is currently offering healthcare providers a free trial for the first 20 patients. Credo remains dedicated to expanding PreDX’s intelligent capabilities, aiming to provide more compliant, accurate and auditable documentation solutions.

The Double-Edge Sword: Healthcare Privacy Concerns Against AI

While AI tools like ChatGPT will probably gain widespread usage in the healthcare sector, it is crucial to be mindful of specific concerns regarding data security and patient information privacy. Since AI models are trained on user or patient data, there is a potential risk of exposing sensitive information to the public.

As AI technology continues to advance and expand, another challenge arises in striking a balance between data security and the clinical benefits of utilizing this technology. Healthcare providers must conduct comprehensive risk analyses and establish robust risk mitigation procedures to minimize these risks. Measures such as restricting data access to authorized personnel and implementing well-managed privacy policies and procedures are essential.

Ultimately, while AI tools like ChatGPT have demonstrated significant benefits in patient treatment and management, a thorough evaluation of how to manage the risks versus the benefits is necessary.