Administrative tasks and workflow inefficiencies strain medical practices, impacting providers and staff alike. Dr. Michael Blackman, Chief Medical Officer at Greenway Health, recently joined the MGMA Business Solutions Podcast to share how automation addresses these challenges and creates opportunities for improved efficiency and patient care. He also provides insights on how automation tools can streamline operations while offering a clear perspective on what medical practices can expect as these technologies evolve.
EHRs Evolve: Automation at the Core
Electronic Health Records (EHRs) have advanced beyond simple documentation tools, shifting toward automation to improve efficiency and reduce workload. Dr. Blackman describes Greenway Health’s goal of creating an “automated healthcare practice,” where technology supports clinicians by managing repetitive tasks and allowing them to focus more on patient care. This vision aims to refine workflows without removing the human element so that providers and staff spend less time on administrative burdens.
Ambient Documentation: A Tangible Solution
One key emerging technology in healthcare is ambient documentation, an AI-powered tool that records patient interactions and automatically generates clinical notes.
Dr. Blackman explains the immediate benefits of this tool: “Ambient documentation turns creating notes into a byproduct of the work you’re actually doing. It listens to the conversation between the patient and the clinician, and then creates a note.” This approach not only saves time but also improves note accuracy while enhancing the overall patient care.
Enhancing Patient Engagement
Automation tools can also address a critical component of healthcare: patient engagement. By reducing the need for constant interaction with a computer during appointments, providers can give their full attention to patients.
According to Dr. Blackman, this improvement goes beyond the technology itself. “Patients like it because the doctors focus on the conversation,” he notes. “They’re not constantly looking at the chart … That it lets one focus on the conversation and focus on the person in the room is really beneficial.”
The Role of Interoperability
Interoperability remains a challenge for many practices, as systems often struggle to share data efficiently. Dr. Blackman acknowledges this issue, noting that while progress is being made, practices must focus on how they approach both technology and patient communication.
As Dr. Blackman explains, “Think about something relatively simple – sending a patient's problem list, their allergies or their medication list, all of which are sort of key to that basic understanding of the patient. If you send them across in a way that the other systems can consume, that's really great.”
Emerging Technologies and Future Developments
AI, predictive analytics, and decision-support tools are integrating more into practice workflows. Technologies like Greenway Clinical Assist demonstrate how AI can handle tasks such as documentation and medical coding, reducing repetitive workloads without sacrificing quality.
Dr. Blackman insists these tools are meant to assist, not replace, providers. “People talk about predicted decision support ... I think there's a key in that statement, which is decision support, not decision making.”
Adoption Challenges
Practices adopting new technologies can often struggle with change management. Providers and staff may be hesitant due to past experiences with tools that increased workload rather than decreasing it. Demonstrating value is key to helping practices overcome this common hurdle.
“We have to be able to say, ‘here's the value’ and show it … and some of the things we've talked about, I think, really do that – whether it's time savings, better outcomes, or ideally a combination of both,” Dr. Blackman says.
What This Means for Medical Practices
Automation is no longer an abstract concept. For practices, it represents an opportunity to reallocate time and resources toward higher-value activities. Reducing provider burnout and improving patient engagement are some of the more evident benefits.
As these technologies advance and are further implemented, leaders must assess which solutions align with their operational goals and invest in training staff to maximize their effectiveness.
Resources:
- For further insights into automation technologies and implementation strategies, visit MGMA.com.
- Information about Greenway Health’s solutions can be found at the Greenway Health website.
- View the benefits of Greenway Clinical Assist
- NEJM study: Ambient Artificial Intelligence Scribes to Alleviate the Burden of Clinical Documentation
