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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 23 M A R C H 4 , 2 0 2 4 F O C U S L I F E S C I E N C E S / B I O T E C H records the conversation during an office visit and then produces the clinical documentation for the patient's medical record. Early on, the project was identified as an important tool to address burnout. "e app sits on your phone and records the conversation that you have with your patient, and the AI technol- ogy generates the clinical notes from that recording," says Dr. Rebecca Hemphill, MaineHealth's chief medical information officer. e technology is able to process ele- ments of the conversation — such as the physical exam, data review and discus- sion of the patient's health care plan—as organized clinical notes. "at conversation doesn't necessar- ily happen sequentially over the course of your visit," Hemphill says. "e AI is able to pull out what needs to be there and what needs to be in the right place. Sometimes the conversation strays and you talk about your vacation and your kids or the dog. e AI removes the kids and the dog and the vacation." Surveys conducted during the pilot found that patient/provider experi- ence is improved, because the provider isn't spending time typing notes. And it reduces the time providers spend com- pleting the documentation. However, AI-generated notes are not perfect and require provider review and edits. "It can make mistakes, so you do have to review it and make corrections," says Hemphill. She continues, "But overall it still saves time. We get comments from our providers who are using this saying this has been life-changing." e technology is now being expanded to more providers. "e hope, ultimately, is that anybody who wants to use it will be able to," she says. "ere's a lot of interest. Other projects in the works use AI to review patient portal messages and craft suggested responses that can be used and/or edited, and to evaluate and categorize messages that come in from patients and route them to the right department. In general, says Hemphill, there's excitement across the organization about AI's potential for a variety of uses. At the same time, there's caution. AI is only as good as the data set being used and can make mistakes. Keeping patient health information secure is also key. "It's critically important that any tool is able to maintain security," she says. "As an organization, we've created an AI advisory group made up of lead- ers across the health system, and we're trying to educate ourselves about AI — both the pitfalls and the benefits," says Hemphill. "We're trying to identify areas where AI can be safely and ethically and effectively leveraged to help in the care of our patients." L a u r i e S c h r e i b e r , M a i n e b i z s e n i o r w r i t e r , c a n b e r e a c h e d a t l s c h r e i b e r @ m a i n e b i z . b i z TURN YOUR VISION INTO REALITY Bring us your inspiration and you'll work with one of our Drafting Specialists to professionally plan your project! A Division of HAMMONDLUMBER.COM 22 LOCATIONS ACROSS MAINE & NEW HAMPSHIRE Inclusion Maine Conference May 1st - 3rd Portland Sheraton Registration: Inclusionmaine.org/conference 50% OFF Registration Fee! Learn more at registration. Maine needs 75,000 workers by 2029. Join us in attracting and retaining talent. P ROV I D E D P H O T O / M A I N E H E A LT H Rebecca Hemphill of MaineHealth says AI-enabled "ambient listening" technology produces clinical notes, reducing the time providers spend completing documentation. We get comments from our providers who are using this saying this has been life changing. — Rebecca Hemphill MaineHealth

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