Pittsburgh, Penn. & Northern Calif.– Today, Abridge and Sutter Health announced they will make Abridge’s generative AI tool for clinical documentation available to groups of its physicians across California. Sutter Health expects the broad deployment to improve patients’ experiences by helping support more focused face-time with clinicians.

The large not-for-profit, integrated health system sees innovation as a way to transform the entire healthcare landscape and appreciates fellow innovators focused on technology that can benefit physicians and those in their care.

“There is tremendous momentum behind our collective efforts, and it has the ability to change lives for the better,” said Warner Thomas, president and CEO, Sutter Health. “We are highly focused on innovation as a lever to help us achieve our vision and mission of delivering safe, high quality, equitable care to all of our patients. Sutter is equally committed to the thoughtful integration of emerging technologies like AI in healthcare that support our physicians to help deliver on that mission.”

For physicians and advanced practice clinicians, Abridge generates a draft note in real-time based on the clinical conversation that flows directly into the electronic health record. Once clinicians review and verify the note, their paperwork is complete. Abridge is available in more than 14 languages and over 50 specialties, which is a unique advantage as Sutter serves one of the most diverse patient populations in the U.S.

“The technology is designed to fit easily into our teams’ day-to-day workflows inside Epic and will help us better serve our patients by eliminating the burden of clinical documentation that can detract from patient-clinician interactions,” said Laura Wilt, chief digital officer, Sutter Health.

At Sutter Health and all across the country, physicians spend significant time outside of work on administrative tasks like writing clinical notes. Less cognitive load has been shown to directly correlate with reductions in clinician burnout.

“We want to support our clinicians so they can sustainably serve our patients,” said Dr. Albert Chan, chief health information officer, Sutter Health. “Reducing administrative burden by two to three hours a day with Abridge can reduce ‘pajama time’—the time that our clinicians have historically spent away from their families—and help our providers recharge and be the best versions of themselves when caring for patients.”

A patient visit summary sample

Sutter also shares Abridge’s passion for rapidly developing and deploying innovative new solutions. For example, Sutter will partner with Abridge to integrate patient-facing summaries into the electronic medical record. Studies have shown that 40-80% of the medical information patients hear during office visits is forgotten immediately, and that clinical documentation does not always cover the details from medical encounters that patients wish to revisit and better understand.

“Clinicians often don’t have time to write detailed patient Instructions and summaries that reflect the details from their conversation that would most benefit the patient,” said Dr. Shiv Rao, CEO and founder, Abridge. “This is a prime use case for generative AI, and it’s a privilege to team up with those from Sutter Health on this new patient-centered initiative.”

This news follows successful deployments of the Abridge technology at Yale New Haven Health System, UCI Health, Emory Healthcare, The University of Kansas Health System, UPMC, and dozens of other health systems. Most recently, Abridge announced a $150M Series C financing, which includes a strategic investment from NVIDIA, that will allow them to accelerate their bold research and development plan. This work will power improvements to Abridge’s existing product lines, and also enable a new wave of possibilities in the future.

Sutter Health recently announced the launch of a new innovation center – a dedicated space to foster creative solutions to some of today’s biggest healthcare challenges. Located in San Francisco, this space will serve as a dynamic hub for creative solutions that will shape the future of healthcare.