HCA Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: HCA) announced it is partnering with Augmedix (Nasdaq: AUGX) on AI-powered ambient documentation products for acute care clinicians, helping to streamline hospital workflows. The goal is to turn clinician-patient conversations into medical notes that physicians and nurses can review and finalize before they are transferred to the EHR.
For-profit HCA Healthcare, which has 180 hospitals, is pilot testing Augmedix’s technology stack, which includes automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology and natural language processing (NLP) algorithms, in the emergency department in two hospitals, and plans to expand the pilot in emergency departments in two additional hospitals in the first half of the year.
HCA also is making a financial investment in Augmedix to accelerate progress in Augmedix’s artificial intelligence research efforts to generate fully automated ambient documentation products that function within the complex acute care setting.
“We are excited to partner with Augmedix to develop ambient documentation in the acute care setting,” said Michael J. Schlosser, M.D., M.B.A., senior vice president, HCA Healthcare’s department of Care Transformation and Innovation, in a statement. “This technology has the potential to revolutionize the way documentation occurs at the point of care, and this partnership and investment is part of our broader strategy to use technology to support our physicians and nurses and enhance patient care.”
Schlosser added that the pilot testing is an example of HCA Healthcare’s strategy of working closely with clinicians to design and integrate innovative technology into patient care. “This Augmedix proof-of-concept is not a complete solution, which is by design. We are capturing direct feedback from and ongoing collaboration with physicians and nurses to mold and develop the solution to meet their needs," he said. During the pilot, HCA Healthcare plans to gather data – including critical physician, nurse, and patient feedback – to determine the potential for use at additional HCA Healthcare hospitals.
