NEMG uses Abridge program to reduce clinician burnout and enhance patient experience

In April, Yale New Haven Health and Yale Medicine launched Abridge, an application that uses ambient listening technology and artificial intelligence to generate notes from clinician-patient visits. Brian Williams, MD, Northeast Medical Group medical informatics officer, discussed the application’s use in his Family Medicine practice.

How beneficial has Abridge been for you and your practice?

Abridge has been a life changer. I was skeptical that I’d be able to integrate it into my visits smoothly, but it was clear with the very first visit that this was a tremendous time saver. I spend way less time writing notes, and more importantly, I am able to give my patient my undivided attention during the visit.

Have there been any issues with the application?

The integration has been seamless. It does take a few visits to get the workflow down between the mobile app, the desktop app and Epic, but it works incredibly well.

How is the quality of the clinical notes Abridge produces?

Abridge generates notes in a problem-based format and is very good at picking up issues covered during the visit from context in the conversation. I do have to be a bit more conscious about mentioning problems that are well-controlled, or they sometimes won’t make it into the note, but it’s getting better all the time.

How long does it take to receive the AI-generated notes?

Notes are available for review and editing within 30 seconds of the completion of the visit recording. They’re almost always available by the time I return to my workspace between visits.