For every hour spent with patients, doctors spend two hours on paperwork, according to a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine. This added administrative work reduces productivity, limits collaboration and contributes to burnout.
This experience is why Tampa General Hospital partnered with technology company Nuance to provide more than 400 of its affiliated physicians with access to the Dragon Ambient eXperience (DAX) Copilot. The artificial intelligence (AI) tool uses ambient listening to eliminate hours of clinical documentation during patient exams.
“With the power of emerging technologies like AI and ambient listening, we can relieve our physicians and providers from this administrative burden and allow them to focus on what they do best at Tampa General: deliver world-class, patient-centered care,” said Dr. Nishit Patel, vice president and chief medical informatics officer at Tampa General.
Far surpassing traditional voice-to-text transcription, DAX Copilot uses AI to convert multiparty conversations into specialty-specific clinical summaries in seconds. It identifies voices, captures patient history and symptom details, detects key observations and experiences, summarizes takeaways, and works seamlessly with the system’s electronic medical record platform to reduce documentation time by half.
Dr. Laurie Rothman, concierge physician with Palm Beach County-based TGH Concierge Health, a service of TGH Primary Care, said she’s impressed with the program’s accuracy and its ease of use.
“DAX Copilot has enhanced my ability to provide efficient, high-quality patient care,” Dr. Rothman said. “It allows me to focus more on my patients, ensuring I can listen attentively, while I’m confident it’s recording and documenting everything accurately.”
According to Nuance, 70% of physicians who use DAX Copilot reported less burnout and fatigue, and 85% of patients said their physicians are more personable and conversational.
Dr. Patel notes that Tampa General physicians currently care for more than 2,100 patients per week utilizing DAX Copilot. In the coming months, the technology will expand to Tampa General’s emergency department and inpatient units. “Over the next few years, patients will benefit immensely from doctors and nurses using this technology throughout our health system,” he added. “It’s an exciting time.”
Since 2020, Tampa General has been creating a framework of state-of-the-art services for patients in Palm Beach and Martin counties, with the expertise and innovation of a preeminent academic health system. Tampa General is also the primary teaching affiliate of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine at the University of South Florida, and is one of the largest hospitals in the nation.
For more information about Tampa General’s network of services in the Palm Beaches, visit TGH.org/ThePalmBeaches or call (561) 739-4TGH (4844
