As a part of persevering with efforts to scale back burnout amongst healthcare employees, the U.S. Division of Veterans Affairs is internet hosting a 120-day Tech Dash to develop ambient dictation for scientific encounters, and a complicated document-processing system for its Group Care program.
That system should be capable of export standardized, structured information to the VA’s digital well being data.
WHY IT MATTERS
The Division of Veterans Affairs Discovery, Schooling and Affiliate Networks workplace, in partnership with the Nationwide Synthetic Intelligence Institute, SimLEARN and the Workplace of Main Care, introduced the government-sponsored synthetic intelligence problem this week following the discharge of the newest AI Govt Order from the Biden Administration.
The AI Tech Dash for Documenting VA Scientific Encounters and Integrating Group Care Information problem seeks collaborative groups from academia, trade and nongovernmental organizations to work with VA consultants and stakeholders to pioneer burnout-busting improvements to assist the company’s healthcare employees.
Lowering burnout is a prime precedence for the VA as the most important built-in healthcare system within the nation, based on the company. Not solely is the VA liable for huge quantities of knowledge, however it says it trains the most important variety of nurses and docs in the US.
Along with “hiring staff at file charges,” the VA mentioned within the announcement, using reliable AI is essential to “delivering extra care and extra advantages to extra veterans than ever earlier than.”
The VA mentioned it wants “excessive constancy, traceable data of supplier encounters” from a platform that may additionally interoperate with VA well being system info.
Such an AI-driven platform that may hear and take notes throughout medical appointments “should additionally function a excessive diploma of safety, compliant with VA privateness and safety requirements relating to the safety of affected person information,” it mentioned, whereas producing patient-facing go to summaries and adhering to scientific documentation compliance requirements.
The second monitor is for synthetic intelligence that helps documentation for healthcare offered to veterans from neighborhood suppliers and paid for by the company. Group Care companies embody emergency medical care, house well being and hospice, international medical care, fertility remedy for service-connected circumstances and extra.
The VA mentioned on the problem’s web site that it wants a scalable AI-driven system able to ingesting various sources of Group Care data – starting from affected person encounters to complicated medical paperwork – that spotlight important occasions from episodes of care and are searchable.
The system reigning in and integrating Group Care information must be engineered to combine the VA’s CDW Delta Lake and different information sources and “ought to function superior entity recognition and medical textual content summarization capabilities that adjust to VA sources and enterprise know-how monitoring programs,” the company mentioned.
The VA mentioned it wants superior options like supply vetting, and to extract structured information components that may be built-in into VA’s EHR and Summit Information Platform Well being Data Alternate. These structured information components may embody CPT codes, SNOMED CT codes and/or LOINC codes.
Functions shut January 5, 2024, and the dash kicks off on January 26. Each tracks provide a first-place prize of $300,000, $150,000 for second place and $50,000 for third.
THE LARGER TREND
Earlier this 12 months, the VA awarded hundreds of thousands for AI-driven improvements that may stop veteran suicide.
ReflexAI used AI to assist the Veterans Disaster Line practice and keep a staff of responders whereas the Battle Buddy app makes use of conversational AI and content material from VA’s Suicide Security Planning program for day by day check-ins. Cease Soldier Suicide’s Black Field Challenge developed machine-learning fashions that may determine beforehand unknown threat patterns and pair them with evidence-based, suicide-specific intervention companies.
The VA’s new tech dash effort falls below President Biden’s new government order on Protected, Safe, and Reliable Synthetic Intelligence, which seeks to mitigate the harms and maximize the advantages of AI for employees.
The actions “are important steps ahead within the U.S.’s method on protected, safe and reliable AI,” the White Home mentioned within the government order. Biden’s order additionally requires federal officers to provide a report on AI’s potential labor-market impacts.
“Extra motion will probably be required, and the Administration will proceed to work with Congress to pursue bipartisan laws to assist America paved the way in accountable innovation.”
“AI applied in a accountable method has huge potential to profit our nation’s veterans, by enhancing affected person care and the belief veterans have within the companies they obtain,” the VA mentioned on its web site.
ON THE RECORD
“AI options might help us cut back the time that clinicians spend on non-clinical work, which can get our groups doing extra of what they love most: caring for Veterans,” mentioned Dr. Shereef Elnahal, the VA undersecretary for well being, in an announcement. “This effort will cut back burnout amongst our clinicians and enhance veteran healthcare on the identical time.”
Andrea Fox is senior editor of Healthcare IT Information.
Electronic mail: [email protected]
Healthcare IT Information is a HIMSS Media publication.