AI-Powered Scribes Aren’t Perfect

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AI-Powered Scribes Aren’t Perfect

A recent study found that speech-to-text engines meant to transcribe medical conversations between doctors and their patients to create visit notes do not accurately record clinically relevant nonlexical conversational sounds (NLCS).

As companies and practices attempt to decrease physician burnout, these new tools are being developed to streamline the examination process, reduce unnecessary staffing, and make the physician's job easier.

One of the biggest problems noted with these services was the failure to recognize NLCS such as “uh-huh” and “uh-uh.” Kai Zheng, PhD, professor of informatics and emerging medicine at the University of California, Irvine, says these terms “carry essential information.” He also notes that it will be a long time before an artificial intelligence (AI) platform can transcribe a patient visit and produce the corresponding documentation automatically because of such issues and the natural human behavior of backtracking when telling a story. (Read more.)

My Two Cents

Although I could never imagine living without my human scribe double-checking—and often triple-checking—my work and what I’m doing in the exam room, if and when AI-powered scribes become readily available, they could significantly improve efficiency in the exam room and in documentation. Could you imagine a system where we call significant findings to a computer and an AI system correctly puts the information in the corresponding examination area? Our clinic would look at implementing this if it proved to provide exemplary patient care and help to reduce costs in an already diminishing reimbursement environment.

CAN YOU RELATE

February brought the beginning of our NOVA student’s final rotation, and allowed us to welcome our last extern from the class of 2023, Vi Nguyen. One thing I adore about our externs is that they bring such great energy and a positive attitude to the clinic. These men and women are excited to finally practice and do what they’ve dreamed of doing for the better part of a decade.

My challenge to you is to think about how excited you were to get out there and see patients when you were a student. Think back to all those long nights studying ophthalmic optics, binocular vision, and ocular anatomy, and realize that where you are now is where you dreamed of being years ago.

OUTSIDE THE LANE

Cardiovascular Youth Linked to a Single Gene

Has humanity discovered the fountain of cardiovascular youth? A study published in Cardiovascular Research found that the longevity-associated variant (LAV) of the BPIFB4 gene is associated with a longer lifespan in humans and has protective effects in rodent models of cardiovascular disease. This may function by promoting the formation of new blood vessels while reducing/eliminating the number of vessels that have become less functional.

These findings lead to the hypothesis that LAV-BPIFB4 can reduce the adverse effects of aging on cardiovascular function, with the study showing that the expression of LAV-BPIFB4 in aged mice led to improvements in cardiac health, which, when correlated with human health, would be equivalent to a reduction of a heart’s biologic age by 10 years. (Read more.)

Modern medicine is wild, and these study findings are mind-blowing. As eye doctors, doesn’t it excite you to think about any potential developments that could improve age-related ocular issues? Think about how significant it would be if we could turn back the clock on the progression of macular degeneration, for example.