Microsoft and Epic Join for Healthcare AI

Today, technology holds the possibility of helping us overcome some of the largest problems we face, and nowhere is generative AI more necessary or maybe more influential than in the field of healthcare. The advancement of generative AI in the healthcare sector has been made possible by Epic and Microsoft. Together, we are tackling some of the most critical requirements, such as staffing shortages and workforce burnout, in order to assist doctors better serve their patients.

To solve many contemporary difficulties affecting physicians, we merged Epic’s in-depth knowledge of the healthcare sector and clinical procedures with Microsoft’s expansive cloud and AI technology. Today, we’re announcing the extension of our strategic commitment to integrate conversational, ambient, and generative AI technologies throughout the Epic electronic health record (EHR) ecosystem and deliver AI to healthcare at scale. The initiative will broaden secure access to AI-powered clinical insights and administrative tools within a variety of Epic modules to improve patient care, boost operational effectiveness, enhance patient experiences, and support the financial integrity of health systems globally. Its goal is to accelerate the development of solutions for healthcare’s most pressing needs.

As health organizations struggle to address the pressing personnel, budgetary, and clinical access problems they now face, we are collaborating to swiftly deploy hundreds of copilot solutions that safely harness the potential value that the Microsoft Cloud and our AI technologies offer. At its annual Users Group Meeting today, Epic will highlight several of these fresh features that expand on our Azure OpenAI Service and Nuance DAX Express solutions, including:

• Using note summary to increase clinician productivity: The new technologies are intended to increase clinical efficiency for doctors and nurses, assisting them in becoming more efficient in their everyday clinical workflow. They build on the previously announced AI-assisted Epic In Basket. The solutions’ recommended content and in-context summaries will promote quicker documentation and evaluation.
• Embedded ambient clinical documentation to increase physician productivity: Utilizing Dragon Ambient eXperience (DAX) technology from Nuance, which has already been implemented with hundreds of Epic customers and is currently supporting thousands of physicians, Epic will demonstrate this DAX Express AI technology integrated into the native Epic Hyperdrive platform and Haiku mobile application, further enhancing a seamless workflow experience for users. Furthermore, Epic has designated Nuance as one of the initial Partners in its Partner and Pals third-party vendor program.
• Increasing administrative efficiency by reducing labor-intensive, manual processes: One of the many areas where generative AI may significantly increase efficiency is revenue cycle management. In order to increase accuracy and streamline the whole coding and billing processes, Epic will, for instance, show off an AI-powered solution that gives medical coding staff recommendations based on clinical record in the EHR.
• Medical advancements for better patient outcomes: In order to fill in any gaps in clinical evidence using real-world data, investigate uncommon illnesses, and more, Epic is now providing generative AI exploration via SlicerDicer for an initial group of customers. This is done by utilizing Azure OpenAI Service.

Our efforts to incorporate Nuance ambient technology and Azure OpenAI Service into the Epic ecosystem demonstrate how more extensive strategic partnerships may significantly speed up the availability of practical AI-driven solutions for healthcare companies and the patients they serve.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services projects that there will be a 90,000 physician shortfall nationally by 2025. Additionally, between 40% and 60% of clinicians claim to be burnt out. In addition to these difficulties, healthcare practitioners must manage their finances while still providing high-quality treatment. Nearly 25% of U.S. national health spending is allocated to administrative expenditures, which might be decreased through technology, according to McKinsey & Company.

Additionally, a recent UPMC Center for Connected Medicine/KLAS Research poll of 58 executives from provider and payor companies again emphasized the critical need to increase operational and clinical efficiency. According to the poll, health systems will prioritize spending on artificial intelligence (AI) solutions over the next two years with a focus on operational efficiency, illness management and prediction, population health management, value-based care, patient engagement, and clinical research.

The expanded partnership between Epic and Microsoft will build on the integrations we recently announced, such as the integration of SlicerDicer, Epic’s self-service reporting tool, with the Azure OpenAI Service to enable interactive data analysis and to automatically draft message responses. Additionally, Microsoft and Nuance have worked together to integrate the Nuance® Dragon® Ambient eXperienceTM Express (DAX ExpressTM) solution into the Epic platform with a thorough approach to adding a wider range of AI-powered features for clinical and administrative users.

Epic’s strategy for utilizing Microsoft’s technology and infrastructure is unique in both its length and breadth. In order to solve the current difficulties affecting healthcare, we are all working together to bring generative AI to healthcare at scale as soon as possible, ethically, and in collaboration with providers.