Oracle Cerner adds generative AI to its EHR platforms
Like the Oracle Health Conference kicking off this week in Las Vegas, the company has made a number of new announcements around its Cerner electronic health record, including a big announcement about a new artificial intelligence integration.
WHY IT MATTERS
The new Oracle Clinical Digital Assistant technology aims to help providers use generative AI and voice commands to reduce manual work and documentation burden, the company says, allowing them to focus more on patient care.
The generative AI behind Oracle Clinical Digital Assistant aims to improve physicians’ EHR experience, allowing healthcare providers to devote their full attention to patients while simplifying administrative tasks.
The multimodal voice and screen-based tool “joins the appointment,” Oracle said, to automate note-taking and suggest “context-aware next actions,” such as ordering medications or scheduling labs and follow-ups.
Providers can use the tool — which will be available in the next 12 months, the company says — to verbally access elements of a patient’s EHR record during an appointment, eliminating the need for “multi-menu, multi- step’ interactions with the software are avoided. .
On the patient side, the tool’s NLP capabilities will make it easier to book appointments via voice, ask billing questions, review their own personal health information and ask questions about their medical care and treatment, Oracle said.
Providers can also use it to send information and reminders to patients via web chat embedded in their patient portal.
THE BIG TREND
Other news announced Monday at the Oracle conference includes new healthcare-specific analytics capabilities from Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications Suite, designed to help healthcare systems gain new financial insights and build stronger supply chains as they improve their care delivery.
The company also unveiled new workforce management capabilities for its Oracle Fusion Cloud Human Capital Management tool, aiming to help healthcare organizations adapt to changing labor markets and better attract and retain employees to meet consumer expectations .
It has been a time of change and evolution at Oracle Health, more than a year since the historic $28 billion acquisition of Cerner closed in June 2022.
Since then, the company has closed two major campuses in the company’s longtime home of Kansas City, and several rounds of job losses and sold some parts of the company.
Oracle’s focus has been on interoperability and innovation for its healthcare products, as CEO Larry Ellison announced major plans for a national EHR database to address the challenges of data fragmentation.
The company has renegotiated its flagship VA deal and there is hope it can resume next summer. Still, despite adding new international customers, the company has recently lost two major customers in the US, while others have expressed concerns about the company’s future plans.
ON THE RECORD
“The EHR should be a healthcare provider’s best ally in delivering engaging, personalized care to the patients they serve,” said Suhas Uliyar, senior vice president of product management at Oracle Health.
“By bringing comprehensive generative AI and voice-first capabilities to our EHR platforms, we are not only helping healthcare providers reduce the mundane work that leads to burnout, but also enabling them to have better interactions with patients that create trust, build loyalty and deliver better results.”
Mike Miliard is editor-in-chief of Healthcare IT News
Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS publication.