EHR Vendor athenahealth Launches Voice-Driven Tech to Cut Clinician Burnout

EHR vendor athenahealth has announced the release of athenaOne Voice Assistant Powered by Nuance, a voice-driven application that aims to alleviate clinician burnout and enhance the patient experience.

Voice Assistant is a natural command-based virtual assistant developed and built by athenahealth and powered by Nuance's Dragon Medical technology. Using the technology, providers can document exams, create draft orders, retrieve clinical data, and review their schedules.

The technology is available for use with the athenaOne mobile app and athenaOne Dictation Powered by Nuance, which allows providers to dictate clinical documentation naturally and accurately.

In a recent survey by athenahealth, 92 percent of physicians reported one or more issues that cause them to feel burned out on a regular basis. The leading cause of regular clinician burnout is excessive documentation requirements, according to the survey results.

As an AI-driven technology, Voice Assistant will become even smarter and more efficient with widespread use, athenahealth officials said.

“We are delighted to expand our provider mobile app capabilities with Voice Assistant as we continue to transform the provider and patient experience,” Paul Brient, chief product officer for athenahealth, said in a public statement. “Clinicians should be able to experience technology at work just like they do in their everyday lives, and Voice Assistant brings us one step closer to that.”

Brient noted that with clinician burnout and patient expectations increasing simultaneously, the EHR vendor is focused on accelerating product innovation through AI to help solve some of the industry’s greatest challenges.

“As our data show, administrative requirements are taking too much time and attention away from providers, and it’s the responsibility of all EHR companies to decrease that burden so providers can spend more face time with patients,” he said.

Clinicians using Voice Assistant have reported more efficient clinical documentation, allowing them to use their time for other high-priority tasks.

“I started using Voice Assistant because I’m curious about tech and AI, and I wanted to see if it would help me be more productive,” said Terence M. Grogan, DO, FAAFP, of Grogan Family Medicine. “Because I can so easily document anywhere, anytime, I’ve found it to be very useful and convenient, and it helps me make better use of my time. I wouldn’t want to work without it now.”