UW Health nurses are testing AI tools for patient messaging

As part of a joint artificial intelligence pilot program with Microsoft and Epic that initially launched in 2023 – and in response to a growing need to address workforce shortages and growing healthcare demands – UW Health nurses have begun testing how a large language model could help prepare responses to patient questions sent through the health system’s patient portal.

“It is critical that we as nurses are part of the conversation when it comes to using this technology to care for patients,” said Rudy Jackson, chief nursing officer at UW Health.

WHY IT MATTERS

Posts created using the LLMs are reviewed and edited, the Madison, Wisconsin-based health system said in its June 6 announcement.

Since September, more than 75 UW Health nurses have started using generative AI to create more than 3,000 patient messages across more than 30 departments.

Patient information accessed by the generative patient is kept private and secure within the electronic health record system, UW Health said.

The nurses call it ‘fascinating’.

“I found it helpful to have a concept to get started, and I’m glad I could provide feedback on improvements and features to ensure this can be a good tool for nurses and have a positive impact on our patients,” Amanda Weber, registered nurse clinic supervisor for UW Health, said in a statement.

UW Health said it aims to shape how AI can benefit patients, nursing and the healthcare industry as a whole and take its academic nursing programs to the next level.

“We are eager to try innovative methods to ensure our nurses have the tools they need to focus on caring for their patients,” Jackson added.

THE BIG TREND

UW Health is also working with Epic on a new effort to democratize health AI validation, with the goal of standardizing the process of testing AI models against local population data.

“Most healthcare organizations today don’t have the capabilities or staff to test and monitor local models,” said Mark Sendak, chief of public health and data science at Duke Institute for Health Innovation and leader of the Health AI Partnership. Healthcare IT news last month.

UW Health is working with the Multi-Stakeholder Peer Learning and Collaboration Group to test Epic’s first open source tool and create guidelines for using AI in healthcare.

The effort “is one of the things that’s going to increase trust among end users,” said Brian Patterson, UW Health’s director of medical informatics for predictive analytics and AI.

ON THE RECORD

“It is critical that we as nurses are part of the conversation when it comes to using this technology to care for patients,” Jackson said in a statement. “It’s exciting to see our nurses researching this technology and making observations and recommendations to improve it.”

Andrea Fox is editor-in-chief of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.