top of page
Writer's pictureAvodahMed Social

Innovative Solutions Yield Greater Gains Through Technology Ethics

Updated: Jul 5, 2023

We can drive healthcare technology progress responsibly


by Devin White, AvodahMed chief technology officer


Innovative Solutions Yield Greater Gains Through Technology Ethics - AvodahMed

It's easy to understand why many physicians are wary about adopting new technology. After all, it can be hard to envision the total impact to a practice.

Here’s an example. Moving from paper-based record keeping to electronic health records (EHRs) brought sweeping efficiency improvements. At the same time, it also placed a higher burden on physicians to learn and use the EHR systems. Now, physicians often blame time-consuming, cumbersome EHR documentation tasks as contributors to burnout.

Healthcare advances raise ethical concerns


As a technologist, I’m passionate about technology ethics — how we use ethical principles to address the practical implications of technology. Advancements in technology provide ever-greater capabilities that require us to make decisions and provide better support for people who use our solutions.

When evaluating how best to deliver value to physicians and staff, we must consider the ethical impacts. In creating significant efficiencies, we must also aim to:

  • prevent workload burden

  • reduce physician burnout

  • overcome weighted bias or discrimination

  • ensure patient accessibility

  • prioritize privacy

We can achieve those goals and more with our standard technologies and advanced ones, such as machine learning (ML). When viewed through an ethical lens, these next-level options enable technologists in healthcare to solve clinical, operational, and business problems in innovative ways.

Auto transcription accelerates data, reduces costs


Also known as automatic speech recognition (ASR), auto transcription is an excellent example of the innovation that artificial intelligence (AI) brings to the industry. Auto transcription empowers providers to process live or recorded conversations and automatically transcribe them into text.

Since computers can interpret and process speech much faster than humans, this approach removes any gaps in conversation — gaps that you’d find when a human scribe technician transcribes manually. Medical practices of all sizes can save time and reduce costs associated with human transcribers, improve the quality of patient records, and accelerate their data capture.

Physicians often keep solutions like auto transcription at arm's length because they perceive the systems will increase time and expense for their practices — but that could be a costly mistake. Auto transcription can bring leapfrog gains to any practice, including in speed, cost, and quality.

Transcription and translation demonstrate proven ROI in healthcare. As we develop solutions that deliver those services, often we can achieve greater, faster ROI by incorporating AI.

However, while AI and ML propel us in the right direction, these technologies on their own are not the answer. We have a responsibility to build problem-solving software in an ethical way — for example, by removing bias — and we can’t overlook ethical concerns in favor of automating workflow, saving time, or reducing costs.


Improve health for your patients, your practice, and you


AvodahMed provides solutions that help you enhance patient care, drive revenue, reduce costs, and improve efficiency.

We’re taking new and emerging technology to the next level by using natural language processing (NLP), natural language assessment (NLA), and natural language generation (NLG). Our solutions reveal hidden revenue opportunities through ancillary insights.

Explore how AvodahMed can help your practice thrive. Download our solution sheet or book a demo with our team today.


###

35 views
bottom of page