Business Solutions: AI's Transformative Power in Healthcare Workflows
Download MP3Well, hi, everyone. Welcome to the MGMA Business Solutions Podcast. I'm your host, senior editor, Daniel Williams. Today, we're exploring how artificial intelligence and technology are helping health care providers streamline workflows and reconnect with the joy of practicing medicine. Our guest to help explore that topic is Doctor.
Daniel Williams:Erin Reinke, a board certified family physician and director of clinical informatics at Newport Hospital in Health Services. Doctor Reinke, welcome to the show.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:Thank you. Glad to be here.
Daniel Williams:Yeah. You and I were talking offline. We were talking about what this particular delivery system is like. You are in a different delivery system in a practice. And so the way you interact with your patients, well, it's a little different here with us interacting with our MGMA audience, but we're gonna share the information that you have and your interaction with the practices and how technology has helped that.
Daniel Williams:So before we get there, let's just talk a little bit about your background in health care, how you got interested in both medicine and technology.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:Yeah. Thank you. So, well, I'm a family medicine physician, as you mentioned. I'm in a rural community, so in a rural community access hospital. And I actually started before medicine, I was an engineer.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:So I did a lot of civil environmental engineering. It kinda gave me a different mindset, workflows, and operations. And and then after medical school, you know, getting into just how medicine works and and witnessing how that happens for the time as a medical student, you see that things work very different in medicine than they do in a lot of the other industries, you know, like in pipe flow systems and manufacturing. There's a lot more precision, a lot more automatization of protocols in medicine. They've incorporated some of that, right, with with timeouts and and surgery, but I was kind of surprised by by that and startled by how much there's a little there's just so much art to medicine.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:And so yeah. Anyway, we switched from that engineering mindset into into medicine and have since used that and incorporated that with technology to see, hey. How is how is medicine able to integrate some of those protocolizations, automizations, and and now AI to try to engage and get rid of that, you know, that burden, that EHR burden, the documentation burden that physicians are struggling with now.
Daniel Williams:Yeah. That's really interesting. I've interviewed quite a few people in health care. We I was telling you offline, we've done about five to 600 of these podcast episodes. You may be the person that had an engineering background that I've interviewed.
Daniel Williams:Is that a rare do you bump into some former engineers in your health care world?
Dr. Aaron Reinke:Yeah. There are actually quite a few. Like, in at least where I went to medical school, I had several buddies who were engineers prior to medical school too, and some of them have patents in biotechnology, and some of them just did something completely different with with engineering. Like, I was doing water and wastewater sanitation, which was more of a public health kind of period. And I have other friends who they designed, you know, systems for various manufacturing companies that had nothing to do with health care anyway.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:So yeah.
Daniel Williams:That's that's really cool. I love getting people's background and just hearing a little bit more about that journey to their current healthcare role. So let's talk about that healthcare role. You were talking a little bit about your practice. Tell us a little bit more about it, the size and scope of the practice, and what you see as your role there as the director of clinical informatics.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:Yeah. So we're in a small critical access area. We're in the mountains in the Pacific Northwest. I'm still doing the rural country doctor thing. So I still do c sections, deliver babies, do colonoscopies in hospital, out hospital.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:So I get to have a lot of fun with a big scope of practice. We have about 15 p 15 other providers in our group. So fairly big group for a small place. Right? We only have maybe 3,000 in our town and maybe 15,000 in the county that we serve, but we have high speed Internet, which is kinda rare for some rural places, although becoming more common.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:But that does give us an opportunity to to use some of the technology things in a remote place that some other places maybe didn't have access to. We use we use Epic system right now, which we we added on a few years ago, and we partner with a local bigger group like a Providence Health System that's nearby that kinda helps us support that. So it's a really fun place to work because we're in the mountains, so we have all the the fun toys and extra recreational activities that we have, but we also get that full scope for family medicine, which keeps just keeps you interested and keeps, you know, keeps that rewarding part of medicine really there.
Daniel Williams:There have been there are a lot of unique challenges in those rural settings. Talk about the role that technology has played in helping you meet those patients where they are, whether it's AI tools or other technology tools so you can really serve those patients.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:Yeah. I think there's probably two components of that. I think one is how do patients interact with technology. Right? In a rural place, even telemedicine can be really challenging because the only place that a patient has signal is on top of the hill on their 30 acres, And so they're outside with their phone trying to to do telemedicine with you, and that's really sometimes challenging.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:And then we have a lot of aging population just like everywhere in The US. And in in a rural place, I think a lot of the aging population there's a reason why they're still they wanna be isolated, and they're very suspicious of technology. Mhmm. And so incorporating some of the more advanced stuff like AI into our day to day business practice, it's always interesting to see what the acceptance is from a patient perspective. You know, we say, hey.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:We're using AI for a scribe service, for example. You know, how accepting are they gonna be of that? And I think they're getting more and more so, but there's still some suspicion that the government's listening in or tracking them. And and so you have to, you know, try to do your best in messaging and and reassuring patients that this is truly trying to help everybody in what they do. And then the part of that is the providers themselves because there's a huge range of provider comfort with technology.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:You know, medicine doesn't exactly train you on how to be really good at using a computer, but somehow you're supposed to be kind of an expert at, you know, conglomerating all the pieces of the patient, you know, experience and then documenting it and and almost orchestrating this thing on a computer when, really, you're just trained to be an expert at diagnosing something and connecting with a person and treating them. And you you have to gain this skill on the backside. And some physicians, for a variety of reasons, have different experience and background and really some excel and some really struggle with technology for all those reasons.
Daniel Williams:Yeah. I was wondering about that. I was in a meeting yesterday with some clinicians and some administrators, and one of the doctors who was in that meeting said he was talking about himself and many other doctors knows that technology isn't just secondhand for them. It's not very easy to adapt. You come from that engineering background.
Daniel Williams:Where would you put yourself in that field? An early adopter? Someone that easily accesses technology?
Dr. Aaron Reinke:For sure. Early adopter. I think part of my generation as well. Right? I grew up in the age where technology was really accelerating quickly.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:So, like, it was normal for me to be part of video games and to be part of computer softwares and instant messenger and see how that was evolving and learning how to evolve with it versus, I know, colleagues even five, ten years older than myself struggle because they didn't have that kind of evolutionary growth as they went through their training. They were really focused on a different piece. And so but, you know, I have also found that there are several physicians who are in their sixties who are phenomenal with technology. And so, you know, there's there's such a huge variety, and I think it just plays to the strengths of how someone thinks and what they're into. And but it does make it challenging when you're trying to implement a new technology or trying to get some early adopters and late adopters.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:And even with, like, simple things, not just AI, but just, you know, regular use of an EMR. Right?
Daniel Williams:I think
Dr. Aaron Reinke:that can create some big challenges and and we have to come up with some different types of solutions for every type of learner and and age gap there.
Daniel Williams:Yeah. It's it's interesting. I'm kind of sandwiched in. I've got parents who are in their nineties who think I'm a technology savant, and I've got a a daughter in college who thinks I don't know anything about technology. So it's sometimes it's just perspective.
Daniel Williams:Right?
Dr. Aaron Reinke:Yeah. I think what's so sad though is that, like, if it's not your strength Right. Medicine right now really creates a huge administrative burden. And so if it's not your strength, then you are really punished in your in your ability to to care for patients, not only to get access to the information to see them and document what you need to document, but your life after work. It may be spent doing a large majority of work because you're just not as efficient, and so you spend hours and hours after work.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:And that, I think, contributes to, you know, physician burnout, And we see that a lot with our providers. It's like AI will really help with that for a lot of them and and just escalate and improve their ability to utilize just the technology instead of it being a burden.
Daniel Williams:Yeah. Let's talk about that burden. That was actually one of the next questions I wanted to ask you about. We have seen studies. I've had interviews with clinicians here on the on the podcast about those administrative burdens, people, physicians, and others in health care being weighted down by EHR tasks.
Daniel Williams:So with that said, where have you seen technology in your practice utilized to try to lessen some of those burdens?
Dr. Aaron Reinke:Yeah. I think there are so many tools to doing this right now, you know. And with Epic, at least, there's quick actions and smart phrases and smart tools, but you have to be relatively sophisticated to put that all together to actually save you time. You know, Dax Copilot, which is a tool that we use Mhmm. As a scribe service, which is really expanding even beyond scribing, that takes a lot less of it takes a lot of the guessing game out for a lot of providers, and it it almost evens the playing field as far as just trying to get your documentation done in a in a faster time sense without a lot of training.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:Right? Like, when I do a lot of actually advising with physicians who struggle with technology and other hospital systems, and so we'll spend a lot of time teaching all these different tools and trying to integrate them all together, how to use Dragon and automate all these buttons, and there's a lot of training to do that. And with Dax Copilot, what's really nice is you just say, hey. Just press this record button before and then press it after. And within, you know, with a couple, I don't know, maybe five minutes of setup, you can have them rocking and rolling to dramatically reduce their their just typing burden.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:Right? They're still chicken pecking on the keyboard. Now suddenly they can have a thousand character HPI that would have taken them an hour to write or even dictate, and now it's it's already done in a way that's really well done and in a way that's satisfactory for a physician because doctors can be picky on their documentation. And I think, you know, Dex CoPilot has really pushed the the envelope. They're really leading on the quality of the of the HPI as well as the assessment and the whole the whole output is really impressive.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:But it's so plug and play for them that it takes those physicians who have really a hard time with technology and just gives them this great tool that they can plug and play really easily.
Daniel Williams:Yeah. And then when you have those conversations with patients about Dragon or Dax Copilot, how does that go? Because you were talking about some patients may be a little bit wary about technology and and what that might mean. So how do you have that conversation and just ease their Right. Any kind of stress they may have?
Dr. Aaron Reinke:Yeah. I think transparency is key. And the the more I mean, even in the last year, the acceptance rate has really gone way up because patients are more familiar with it. They they're seeing it's integrated on their iPhone already. They're seeing it in lots of places, and so they're just more familiar with it.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:I think familiarity is the key to trust. And and then you just have to have a few different kind of phrases that you say. Like, hey. You know, this recording is not kept for more than so many days and having some your own expertise on, hey. What's the safety on this?
Dr. Aaron Reinke:What's the HIPAA compliance so that you can reassure them, hey. This isn't being tracked. It's not going anywhere. This is to make this interaction better for you and me so that I can spend more time with you, and I can actually look you in the eyes. And almost everybody is on board for that.
Daniel Williams:Yeah. For sure. Well, let's drill down then. Tell us a success story where AI or workflow optimization has measurably improved by using these different tools?
Dr. Aaron Reinke:Yeah. I think one of I was thinking about this the other day, which is one of the ways that we get behind and your day can really get ruined is say, I'm seeing 20 patients. And on patient three, it's a really hard visit. Someone brings up 10 extra problems, and and, you know, I try to have my notes done after every single encounter. And I know if I do that, I can go home at 04:00 that day or 05:00.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:But if I don't do that, then I'm behind the rest of the day, and I can't get any of my notes done. It's this weird phenomenon. Any provider who's seeing patients knows what I'm talking about. What's nice about Dex CoPilot and just any scribe like, really good scribe services, if you have that really hard patient, then you don't have to be burdened by, oh my gosh. That note is gonna take me so long to do, and then the rest of the day is ruined because it keeps up with you every time, and so it just accelerates that speed.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:So for me, if I really just allow it to do its thing, then I can continue to focus on on the patient. And it helps you you know, I have patients bring up all sorts of little things. Hey. I've got this ingrown toenail. Hey.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:I've got this rash. And I think the other part is half the time, I don't put that in the note because it's oh, it's you know, hey. Just put that in Epsom salts. It'll be fine. It's not worth documenting, but we might document a lot more pieces, which helps us as a rural hospital capture more, charge in capability so that we can up code and actually not up code illegally, but to show what we're actually doing and get credit for that.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:And that helps us with our reimbursement as well as a rural facility that's always struggling financially. We can help capture that stuff that we're doing for our patients. So those two big pieces. Right? Getting us home earlier and helping our revenue cycle has been huge for us.
Daniel Williams:Yeah. Now earlier, you mentioned that your patients seem to be getting adjusted or accustomed to AI and Dragon and Dax Copilot. What are some of the misconceptions then about AI in health care, whether it's from the patient perspective or from your colleagues and your staff, how they feel about it?
Dr. Aaron Reinke:I think the big one is that AI is just gonna take over. There's not gonna be we don't I've seen a few LinkedIn posts from other doctors that are like, hey. In five years, we're not gonna have primary care anymore. We're just gonna use AI. And to some degree, I think there will be some things that will go away from primary care.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:You know, people will use AI a lot more to help their own self diagnosis at home, sometimes for the better, sometimes not. But I think really what AI is gonna do is just take away the administrative burden that physicians have and that patients have and really help us get back to connecting with each other where we actually can have time to do what doctors wanna do, which is to be a healer. You wanna hold hands. You wanna sit with people, pray with your patients. You wanna hug with them and go through all the emotional connections that people want and need because they, you know, they desperately need that connection, and we need that.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:And that's what we went into medicine for, not to do all the administrative burdens that we have. And so this is an opportunity for technology to take that away and bring back that human connection. So ironically, doctors have become more robotic, and we're gonna hopefully use the AI to let us be less robotic.
Daniel Williams:I love that. That is a great way to to say that. Let's talk about those practices. Maybe they're listening right now to this conversation. They're not the early adopter to AI.
Daniel Williams:Maybe they do a little bit, but they're just not fully on board. What would you say to them that this is what adoption may look like? Let's not worry about that overwhelm. This is how we just utilize this and use some best practices to use AI to the best effect possible.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:I think it would always help to have somebody hold your hand through it a little bit. So if you have an early adopter in your program who has been able to pilot something or get them something's going and they have another person who's a late adopter who's really struggling with technology, doing one on one time with them to show them the tips and tricks that work for them, I think that speaks volumes, and it gets them where they need to go way faster. Because if you just say, hey. We signed you up for this new AI service to a person who's really not comfortable with technology. They're not they're gonna abandon it faster because they're not gonna really understand it.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:And especially something as easy as, like, the Axe Code pilot, which is as bad as easy as you could get it for plug and play. If you need to have that person, whether that's a technologist or, you know, an informaticist or just another physician, there has to be a little bit of handholding and investment in that and say, hey. We need to have somebody coming back around, checking in, doing that. And then it won't be so scary because you have somebody there who can kinda show you, hey. This is how it's really impacted my life and how I know your practice style and what you will like and won't like because not everyone uses it the same.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:You know? I found a lot of technology when I'm I say, hey. You know, if you're a really high user, we'll do all these really cool things, and that'll be awesome. And for some people, they're just trying to get past the the chicken pecking on the keyboard to so that their MA isn't writing everything for them or putting in everything for them. They can kinda streamline this one piece.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:And so take it slow and and and just try to modify for the person what the next step is. So I don't they don't have to be the savant on on Epic. They can take that next step.
Daniel Williams:Okay. Last question then. We've been talking about where AI is right now in that physician patient relationship. Just looking a little bit into the future, where do you see it going? How do you see it helping grow and foster those physician and patient relationships?
Dr. Aaron Reinke:Well, think the the hope for me is that one day we'll be able to take you know, one thing a physician does is that they they click all through the chart and they have to collect they have to be the the data gatherer. And they they gather all the data about heart failure, all the data about diabetes, and then they put it together into the synopsis. And it's ninety five percent of the time collecting information and 5% thinking about it. And I'm hoping that we can get to the AI integrates with the patient information and chart, collects that, puts together for the physician, and then you can really spend a a majority of your time connecting with people again. And like I talked about before, being a healer is so important for most doctors.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:And just as humans, right, we all wanna connect with each other. It's in one of the most vulnerable times in your life when you go to a doctor and you share something that you're struggling with. Maybe it's a relationship with your spouse or maybe it's just your shame regarding your weight or whatever it is. It's such a vulnerable time. And if the physician's just staring at a screen typing, there's nothing more defeating than that.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:But instead, if we can say, hey. Listen. We are we can take that burden away. You don't have to think and worry about that. Let's focus on connecting as humans.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:Then I think, you know, we're not treating a disease anymore. We're not treating a problem on a problem list. We're treating a person, and that's the goal.
Daniel Williams:Yeah. Yeah. I love that. So doctor Aaron Reinke, thank you so much for joining us on the MGMA Business Solutions Podcast today.
Dr. Aaron Reinke:Thank you so much for having me. It was a pleasure.
Daniel Williams:Yeah. So for everybody listening, if you wanna learn more about Microsoft Dragon Copilot, be sure to visit aka.ms/healthcarefuture. I will put that in the episode show notes as well, so you can just click right through to it to learn more. And I wanna thank all of you for tuning in to the MGMA Business Solutions Podcast. Until next time, take care and be well.
