Use of Abridge AI in Physician Notetaking Significantly Improves Patient and Clinician Experience at UChicago Medicine

Promising results from a pilot program using a generative AI platform to help with clinical documentation show improvements in both patient and clinician experiences at the University of Chicago Medicine. UChicago Medicine will now expand the program to more than 800 clinicians across the academic health system.

Over a six-week period, about 200 UChicago Medicine physicians used Abridge’s technology to transform medical conversations into structured clinical documentation in real time, capturing conversations with patients. Patients were surveyed during the pilot by Press Ganey, a provider of experience measurement, data analytics, and insights to health systems. Survey responses revealed improvements across multiple areas of patient experience, including:

• 4.4 percentage point increase in “concern shown by the provider”
• 3.6 point increase in satisfaction with “explanations about the patient’s problem or condition”
• 3.0 point increase in the perception that they are “included in care decisions”

“This shows that technology has the power to ease burdens that our clinician colleagues have been experiencing,” said Sachin Shah, MD, Chief Medical Information Officer at UChicago Medicine. “Half a percent increase year-over-year in these scores is generally considered an accomplishment—we saw nearly an eight-fold improvement over that standard in just six weeks.”

According to a study surveying clinicians prior to the pilot and then following 30 days of use:

• 90% agree that the introduction of Abridge makes them feel more valued by UChicago Medicine
• 90% of clinicians provided undivided attention to patients (up from 49% before Abridge)

“We’re seeing the direct impact of a more focused patient-clinician conversation in improving clinician satisfaction and a better overall patient experience,” said Dr. Shiv Rao, CEO and Founder of Abridge. “We’re looking forward to our continued partnership with UChicago Medicine to scale the platform across all specialties.”