“I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.”

- Abraham Maslow

Generative AI - the newest darling in healthcare innovation. 

The leap forward in artificial intelligence technology has been substantial and its potential is immediately palpable in the hands of both the expert and the naïf. Businesses across the globe are racing to identify use cases and rapidly deploy Large Language Models (LLMs) to the point that generative AI is commonplace in casual conversation and is already visible in our everyday lives. 

Healthcare is following suit, racing to find applications in everything from diagnostics to workflows to patient portals… but lasting innovation is not so easy. We clinicians rely upon our own historical experience and training and are reticent to change because we have had countless promises of revolutionary change fall short. Look back and it's not hard to find cases of hyped-up technology – Genome-wide association studies, gene therapy, personalized medicine – but none have widespread application yet. It is not surprising then that generative AI is being viewed with equal parts enthusiasm and skepticism. There is certainly a future for generative AI in healthcare, but where it will have the greatest impact remains to be seen. 

So, what then is the right nail for the proverbial hammer?

At River Records, we want generative AI to assist clinicians, not replace them. In the wake of the COVID pandemic, burnout continues to affect clinicians, pushing many to leave the profession. The reasons are multifactorial, but the burden of medical documentation is certainly a major contributor. Notes are bloated, disorganized and duplicative, making it difficult and time consuming to review patient charts. Although concise and accurate medical documentation is our goal, clinicians are constantly pressed for time and we sacrifice quality for quantity. A smarter, faster way to document is sorely needed.

Hammer, meet nail.

Generative AI has a tremendous capacity to summarize and organize information quickly. We are leveraging its strengths to alleviate the administrative burdens of modern medicine. We developed Stream, an AI powered clinical narrative platform that documents the way clinicians think. But Stream is much more than just an AI Scribe. Stream listens passively during a patient encounter and intelligently compiles and sorts key medical information by diagnosis. The result is clear, concise, and problem-based narratives created in a fraction of the time with a fraction of the effort. 

Seeing is believing. I’ve showcased Stream to colleagues and clients, and inevitably there is almost always a ‘wow’ moment as they see a narrative unfurl right before their very eyes and envision their future without the burden of documentation. Not convinced? We’d love to show you firsthand.