Los Angeles-based Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai is going all in on artificial intelligence to improve heart care, patient experience and provider wellbeing.
Here are just five ways the facility is harnessing AI to get results:
1. In outpatient care, it is using AI voice and text chat to triage patient requests for initial care and advice. This has improved patient experience and access, Joanna Chikwe, MD, chair of the department of cardiac surgery at the institute, told Becker’s.
2. In hospital care, Smidt uses AI to diagnose and screen conditions that may need surgery, including aortic aneurysms and severe valvular heart disease. The AI models use existing EHR data from CT scans and automated diagnostics.
3. Across the system, physician AI-generated avatars are used to provide personalized patient video education in any language. These avatars help patients understand and select treatment options, and prepare for procedures and discharge.
“Early data suggest this may enhance patient access, satisfaction, compliance, clinical outcomes, including readmission and potentially clinical trial enrollment,” Dr. Chikwe said.
4. AI voice chat is also being used informally for therapy and teaching, which is helping fill care gaps in underserved communities. These AI voice chats allow patients to better understand their symptoms and evaluate care options.
5. For providers, AI has also been helping generate patient letters, summarizing visits, history, tests and treatment options that only require light editing. The system is also testing this feature for discharge letters and operation notes.
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