Electronic health records (EHRs) are useful, but did you know that they could be even better? It’s true. But usually, this improvement isn’t a solo effort. Artificial intelligence (AI) could provide the tools your practice needs to fully use and appreciate your EHR. Here’s how. https://eyecareleaders.com/improve-ehr-with-ai/

1. How to Improve EHR with the Help of AI
Electronic health records (EHRs) are useful, but did you know that they
could be even better?
It’s true. But usually, this improvement isn’t a solo effort.
Artificial intelligence (AI) could provide the tools your practice needs to fully
use and appreciate your EHR. Here’s how.
Extract data
First and foremost, electronic health records are records that contain data.
Despite all their potential applications, EHRs are worthless if medical
providers aren’t able to access the data within them.
Different software systems incorporate artificial intelligence in different
ways. Some use machine learning (ML), a component of AI that uses
algorithms and technologies to locate patterns and develop determinations.
Researchers have found that processing EHR data could help machine
learning systems recognize and use such information.
For example, ML tools could use algorithms to find and analyze information
about social determinants of health, which are environmental conditions
that could influence people’s health, well-being, and quality of life.
Document information
Finding data is important. So is documenting it.
After all, if medical practices don’t record information, it’s very difficult, even
impossible to use. Professionals won’t know where their patients are in
their treatments, won’t be able to reference data in the future, might end up
repeating their work, or might unintentionally do things that hurt patients
because they lacked any warnings.
Some EHR systems use AI speech-to-text (also known as speech
recognition) functions. Speech-to-text tools convert language spoken out
loud into written language on a page.
AI and EHR tools might record interactions between medical providers and
patients. The AI applications automatically add information into the patients’
records even as their conversations continue.

2. Such recording processes gather and store information, enabling
practitioners to use it in the present moment and in the future. By shifting
some work to technology, it also eases notetaking and paperwork burdens
and could help prevent professional burnout.
Maintain accuracy
Recorded conversations also provide other benefits.
They ensure accuracy. Clinicians could check recordings to learn what
patients actually said during their appointments instead of trying to
construct their conversations from their memory.
It works the other way, too, as professionals could study recordings and
transcripts to see what they said and did (or didn’t say and do). This could
motivate them to contact the patients again and take further action.
Using AI to record conservations and gather health data compiles data
directly from patients with no one in between. Such direct contact
eliminates the possibility that people mishear, misunderstand, or mis record
vital health information.
Recordings from appointments might also contradict other information in
patients’ files. If there are differences, medical professionals could correct
inconsistencies in patients’ records or investigate if there are issues, they
need to address further.
Customize usage
Incorporating AI in EHR systems could also create customized solutions for
specific practices and issues.
Customization is necessary in so many aspects of the medical field.
Doctors receive different kinds of training, work with different types of
conditions, and prescribe different kinds of treatments.
Using one type of EHR system–or one type of anything–for every kind of
medical practice isn’t practical. So customized solutions incorporate AI,
EHR, and other tools for specific instances.
One study used an AI model to group patients who were experiencing the
same disease in similar ways and then analyzed patterns in their
treatments and outcomes.

3. After that, the model compared the groups with similar disease experiences
to specific patients, which helped predict how different treatments could
determine possible outcomes.
This study used AI to predict the success of certain drug regimens for
people with type 2 diabetes. It helped select medications for the majority of
the study’s patients, even if they required multiple medications. Since
EHRs list medications, conditions, and other health information, combining
them with AI could help providers access, store, retrieve, and apply
pertinent data.
Diagnose conditions
AI tools and EHRs could do more than predict treatment success. They
could also diagnose conditions and predict their progression.
As with other AI applications, diagnostic models use algorithms. The
algorithms could compile patients’ symptoms, asking why the symptoms
are occurring and which conditions could be causing them.
By using existing data from patient records and knowledge about
conditions, the AI tools could help doctors make quick, accurate diagnoses.
This diagnostic ability could be especially useful in remote situations or
areas that don’t have enough doctors to see patients in-person.
Predictive models could help medical professionals:
 Make educated guesses about the probability of conditions and
determine if they should conduct additional testing.
 Only test patients at high risk of developing certain conditions.
 Determine whether to begin treatments, use different
approaches, delay care, or study the cost-effectiveness of
certain types of treatments.
Professionals could use EHR and AI tools to make predictive models that
analyze different outcomes.
Function intelligently
EHR and AI aren’t static entities. People are wondering how to improve
electronic health records and their applications and are working to produce
these changes.
Including speech-to-text functions is one such way. So are EHR AI tools
that try to predict the way people think and use information.

4. It’s not science fiction or a Big Brother scenario. Researchers have
developed a program that functions as a smart EHR system.
When a medical professional types a word such as “cancer” into the
system, this information will be linked to other relevant information, such as
lab results, prescriptions, and data from other records that could help the
practitioner learn what’s happening with the patient.
By seeing the big picture of a patient’s health, a practitioner has quick, easy
access to information that could help them diagnose, understand, discuss,
and treat.
Create agency
AI and EHR could also help patients learn and decide.
Being diagnosed with cancer or another life-changing condition is scary. AI
tools could help patients determine if they’re likely to develop certain
conditions and how well certain treatments would treat them.
Patients would have more data at their disposal. Such information could
help them decide if they want to undergo tests, submit to additional tests, or
attempt certain treatments.
With AI tools, patients have more knowledge, which could help them obtain
more agency over their health. This confidence could provide hope and
strength, assisting them mentally during a challenging time physically.
Artificial intelligence and electronic health records could help medical
professionals and patients. Contact us, Eye care leaders to learn about
EHRs and how they don’t just store information but transform it.