If you don’t already know him from the critically-acclaimed Netflix docuseries, Lenox Hill, Dr. Langer is Chair of Neurosurgery at Lenox Hill and cofounder of the AI-driven clinical platform, Playback Health. In healthcare’s current wave of AI introduction and integration, Dr. Langer has a unique perspective as a practicing neurosurgeon actually using an AI platform that he himself helped develop. 

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We sat down with Dr. Langer to talk about the Playback platform, AI in healthcare, and how exactly AI helps him be a better doctor. 

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The Idea for Playback

Back in 2007, Dr. Langer was already thinking of ways to make and deliver video instructions to his neurosurgery patients. In his line of medicine, patients aren’t always capable of retaining all of the pertinent medical information delivered to them. Dr. Langer saw the need for patients to possess a mobile copy of their medical records and instructions so they could play back everything important they needed to hear. 

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“Originally the idea was to bring the form and function of consumer IT to hospitals. That was when I first started thinking about this - in the late 2000s. My kids were using iPhones to FaceTime and text. Then I’d go to the hospital and none of that tech existed - between doctors or their patients. So the idea was if all these free apps are out there, why can’t we use them in a hospital? That was sort of the initial aha moment.”

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When Playback developed its own HIPAA-compliant mobile cloud technology, it opened the gates for secure use of mobile devices on the platform. Dr. Langer’s dream of using his own phone to communicate more efficiently with his patients was realized. Around the same time, patient experience became a Medicare target with the introduction of HCAHPS and other hospital satisfaction scores gaining prominence. By connecting providers and patients like never before, Playback presented a solution to several healthcare problems all at the same time. 

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How AI helps Dr. Langer be a better doctor

Today, Playback is a fully functional clinical platform driven by an AI that helps automate clinical notes instantly with ambient listening technology. Put plainly, Playback does the busy paperwork for clinicians without the need for dictation. By automating clinician notes, clinicians save up to 3 hours a day which adds up to precious time to do what they do best: care for their patients.

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We asked Dr. Langer how Playback’s AI functions transformed his practice. 

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“It does a of couple things. One, it guarantees accuracy because I don’t forget anything. If I’m talking to you AND trying to remember everything you’re saying, my entire body language and brain is different. I can’t do two things at once. So what I end up missing is empathy. I can’t have the same emotion if I’m too busy trying to take notes or write stuff down or put something into a computer terminal. [Playback] frees up my brain to be a doctor again. I can focus on the patient. I don’t mind asking questions about their kids or what NFL team they like because I don’t feel like I’m losing any time. When I don’t have to worry about remembering, I’m a human being again.”

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A doctor’s day should be spent juggling the complexities of their cases with their hard earned and learned expertise - not completing routine, repetitive paperwork. It’s time to use the transformative technology available to help a life-saving industry work more efficiently. 

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When clinicians have the attention to spare, it can go back where it belongs - to their patients. 

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AI in Healthcare

With every industry scrambling to figure out how AI fits into their daily operations and if it helps more than harms, Dr. Langer thinks healthcare is uniquely situated to benefit greatly from its assistance. 

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“The ease of record transference, the mobility of information, the speed of record-making, the increase in empathy - it’s all totally changed by the AI. I think it’s probably one of the better uses of AI out there, given what we’re up against. It’s such a transformative thing; it radically changes the way we practice medicine. Making notes is really drudgery for doctors and nurses. This turns us back into healthcare providers rather than scribes.”

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Because Playback’s use of AI is hyper-focused on note automation, the results are irrefutable. By saving clinicians time, increasing medical record accuracy, and making more room for empathy between providers and patients, Playback proves that AI is a welcomed, transformative addition to daily healthcare operations. 

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Playback Health’s AI-driven clinical platform helps clinicians work smarter, faster, and savvier. Get started today. 

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