VA Primary Care Group Expands Artificial Intelligence Partnership

Virginia-based CVFP Medical Group and medical artificial intelligence (AI) company Navina have expanded their partnership, which aims to improve provider experience, clinical outcomes, and value-based care performance through AI-driven patient data extraction. 

According to the press release, Navina’s AI is designed to extract and integrate patient data from multiple sources—including structured and unstructured notes, labs, and imaging data—into a ‘Patient Portrait,’ which helps clinicians gain a more comprehensive understanding of a patient’s health status.  

CFVP began using the tool in 2022, reportedly finding that the AI helped improve care quality and reduced clinicians’ administrative burden. During the tool’s deployment, the medical group used it to prepare for 80 percent of patient visits, and the AI pulled more than 50 percent of new data from external sources to improve coverage of patient health history, the press release states. 

"When we implemented Navina into our daily routine, it became clear that this AI was going to transform our processes and improve the patient experience," said Jarrett Dodd, MD, medical director of CVFP Medical Group, in the press release. "Navina has provided us with the ability to extract data in a more efficient way, ensuring higher quality care and a simplified work experience for clinicians, giving our team more time to focus on the patient." 

These newly extracted data, sourced from lab results and specialty consultations, helped flag previously undocumented health conditions, such as obesity, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes once integrated into clinical workflows. 

"Navina is actively improving our systems functions while also decreasing the burden on our physicians when it comes to patient data," said Shawn Crawford, CEO of CVFP. "We are excited to make cutting edge AI available to our clinicians. Navina has helped pursue our value-based strategy with point of care evidence, and at the same time increases satisfaction for physicians."  

As the link between primary care and improved population health outcomes becomes more evident, more health systems are turning to AI- and analytics-based tools to assist primary care providers and take a more proactive approach to care. 

In July, HealthITAnalytics interviewed Ed Helvig, patient access manager at Central Ohio Primary Care (COPC), to learn how the organization is using data analytics to streamline referrals and improve the primary care experience.