Main image courtesy of Pulse Today.

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AI medical scribes are quickly becoming one of the most popular applications in medical settings today. From large enterprise-level hospitals, to smaller private practices, it seems that clinicians of all kinds of specialties are taking advantage of the advanced technology that’s available. There has been a boom in the AI scribe market, and you’ll find that there’s lots of options out there to choose from. But how are you supposed to know which one is best for your practice? And are they really as effective as studies say? In order to help you narrow down your options, we’ve decided to compare two ambient medical scribes that are popular with practitioners, Abridge vs. Suki AI.

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• We’ll be covering:
  
  • Why AI scribes are quickly becoming indispensable
  • What Abridge AI is
  • What Suki AI has to offer
  • Abridge vs. Suki AI: which one is right for you?

Why AI scribes are great for medical practices

Lots of clinicians are relying on AI scribes to help make their days more productive

Most providers love the clinical parts of their job that entails caring for patients and providing treatment plans that allow them to live to their fullest. Along with the clinical side, clinicians are also required to complete administrative tasks that, while important, can take up a large part of their day when they could be helping other patients. Catching up on charting patient information has started to become such a burden that it’s leading to a lot of burnout and dissatisfaction with their jobs. 

To help alleviate some of the strain of these clerical tasks, companies have used advancements in NLP and machine learning to create AI scribes that can listen to encounters with patients and assist providers with notes and other documentation tasks. There are a lot of benefits to using an ambient medical scribe, including:

• They reduce the administrative workload. AI scribes help clinicians reduce their clerical workload because they can transcribe the conversation from a patient appointment. The provider just turns the application on and can then focus all their attention on the patient, and not on creating a comprehensive note about the situation and patient information. The AI summarizes all the pertinent information and creates a more accurate note that can easily be uploaded to an EHR system. With a few swipes or voice commands, the practitioner can order prescriptions, additional treatment, create reminders for appointments, or schedule follow ups.

• Streamline office processes. When all patient information is streamlined in the application and then to the EHR, all team members have access to the most up to date information. Sharing information is easy, which can lead to faster diagnoses and better outcomes for patients. The AI scribe will also include all appropriate codes for the medical treatments, which can then immediately be sent on and start the billing process.

• Help doctors give better care. Better care comes from doctors who are not burned out, and who can give their undivided attention to patients. When they no longer need to choose between really listening and creating a note simultaneously, they are more engaged. The time spent with administrative tasks can leak into after hours, creating more work for clinicians who would rather focus on patient care.

• A practical solution for modern medical facilities. If there’s a solution that can limit practitioner burn out, streamline office processes, help providers give better care, and reduce cognitive capacity, why wouldn’t healthcare teams be interested in it? AI scribes are a great solution to this problem, and most are easy to use and sync up with a variety of  EHR systems. 

What is Abridge AI?

Abridge AI is a popular ambient medical scribe for large facilities

Abridge AI was founded in 2018 by Dr. Shiv Rao, who wanted to create a solution that would allow larger scale organizations provide the same level of customized care that smaller practices can. This AI scribe transforms the conversation between doctor and patient and puts it into accurate, structured notes in real time. Now healthcare teams can sync information across multiple facilities, which could be game changing for larger medical campuses that often include hospitals and other inpatient/outpatient buildings. The scribe integrates with existing EHR systems, and is a straightforward easy to use application.

In their effort to continue to decrease the cognitive load of providers, help physicians feel more fulfilled, reduce burnout, and have less after-hours work daily, Abridge is continuing to improve upon its scribe. After winning the Best in KLAS for ambient speech, Abridge has introduced the Contextual Reasoning Engine that can produce more clinically useful and billable notes at the point of care. It is designed to reduce costs and administrative inefficiencies, and allow doctors to focus more on patient care and less on worrying about getting notes and billing codes correct. 

The scribe populates the information using language that will align correctly with the appropriate billing codes more likely to get approval. It also helps create more personalized notes that include additional information based on patient records, previous notes, and the preferences of clinicians to create accurate and complete documentation. The Contextual Reasoning Engine will reduce inefficient processes and unproductive and unnecessary steps that occur throughout the revenue cycle. The billing cycle for a lot of practitioners can be complicated and challenging, and often gets delayed due to inaccurate codes or incorrect information. By tackling this issue, Abridge is not only freeing up doctors to focus more on care, but they’re streamlining a process that is inefficient at a variety of levels. 

Pros and cons of Abridge

Abridge has a lot to offer clients, and it’s no wonder that a lot of large healthcare enterprises work with them, including UNC Health, Mayo Clinic, and UChicago Health. But like any AI scribe, there are pros and cons to Abridge.

Pros

• The transcription of notes and summaries appear in real time, so edits can be made and the patient can also review the note if they want to
• Billing codes are added in automatically once the note is created
• Clinicians can choose to create follow up appointments or reminders 
• Syncs immediately with the EHR system for up to date information
• Can be scaled for large healthcare establishments
• Captures EHR integrated outputs
• HIPAA compliant and offers Single-Sign On

Cons

• Because it’s designed for larger facilities, the cost might be too much for smaller establishments
• All notes and documentation require physician review

How does Abridge stack up to Playback Health?

If you like how Abridge sounds, why not see how it compares to another AI scribe that could be priced more competitively? Playback Health is a full-service ambient medical scribe whose mission is to help reduce the administrative workload of clinicians, streamline healthcare offices’ workflow, and automate the patient journey. It can accurately transcribe and summarize an encounter and produce a note with 99% transcription accuracy. Providers who have used the scribe reported a 20% increase in productivity, not to mention a reduction in their cognitive workload and the increased capacity to see patients. Playback Health’s AI scribe can save practitioners around 3 hours a day because they are no longer tied to the computer updating notes.

That extra time means they can spend more of the day seeing patients, and providing the best care possible. But what are some of the advantages and disadvantages of going with Playback?

Pros

• Creates accurate notes in real time
• Providers can use templates and design their notes to meet their preferences
• HIPAA and SOC 2 compliant
• Competitively priced
• Shares and syncs with EHR systems seamlessly
• Highly customizable

Cons

• Only two tiers of pricing
• Volume discount applies with those that require more than 10 seats

Suki AI has a lot to offer

Suki AI is another great choice for an ambient medical scribe

Another option you have for ambient medical scribes is Suki AI, which was designed by Punit Soni in 2017 to address the ongoing crisis of clinician burnout. The application gives healthcare providers the tools to more efficiently complete administrative tasks so that they can instead concentrate on providing patients with care. Suki can be used for ambient listening so that patient encounters are transcribed and then turned into personalized notes. It can also be operated for dictation, coding medical treatments and problems during the visit, and can answer provider questions using a library of sources. But Suki doesn’t just create notes, it can also be blended with all major EHR systems, which will provide essential patient content across a facility’s entire system. Data from prior notes can easily be pulled, and additional information can be dictated in.

Users of Suki AI find that the ROI is quick, thanks to its ability to correctly group and code for billing purposes. Streamlining this process at the point of care ensures that all issues are billed for, and that proper follow up treatments and visits are scheduled for the patient. This AI scribe can support clinicians across specialties and includes support for 81 languages. Suki sees the benefit in meeting healthcare facilities where they are, which is why they offer two levels of their service, Suki Assistant and Suki Compose, so that clinicians can decide which one would benefit their particular practice more. 

Because it was designed to help lessen the clerical burden of practitioners, Suki is easy to use and users can be onboard and fully operational in less than an hour. In case there are issues, they’re proud to stand behind their product and offer support 24/7/365, because caring for patients never takes a day off. Health systems that have integrated Suki find that not only is it easy to create templates and personalize forms, but it’s very accurate, reduces the time they spend charting, and seamlessly works with their already existing EHRs.

Pros and cons of Suki AI

If Suki AI sounds like something you’d be interested in, it’s a good idea to go over the pros and cons.

Pros 

• Suki does transcription, documentation, coding, and dictation
• It is HIPAA and SOC 2 compliant
• Can work with all major EHR systems 
• Offers lots of technical support
• Can be scaled to benefit large or small facilities
• Highly customizable 
• Offers templates

Cons

• Pricing plans are customized and there’s no flat fee
• Depending on the EHR you have, it may be more difficult for complete integration

Abridge vs. Suki AI

Abridge and Suki AI are both great choices for ambient medical scribes that can also act as a full assistant. Which AI application you go with will depend on your budget and the size of your medical establishment, as well as what you’re hoping to achieve by purchasing an AI scribe that will assist with the clerical functions of providers. Both options seem to help clinicians get back some of their time so they can focus on patient care, as well as improving cumbersome processes like coding and billing that can delay the revenue cycle. 

Which AI scribe will you work with?

It’s a step in the right direction to consider adding an AI scribe to your healthcare practice. Studies have shown that they can help providers be more present and engaging with their patients, which leads to less work overload and burnout. Choosing an ambient medical scribe depends on a variety of factors, so make sure you get a well-rounded view of what’s out there before committing to one. It’s sure to change your relationship with patients and workload for the better!