Microsoft’s Nuance Communications Launches AI-Powered App for Healthcare Professionals
ChatGPT has exploded in popularity in just three months, becoming the fastest-growing application in history. This has sparked a viral wave of medical TikTok tutorials, new research policies, and countless studies. OpenAI’s latest triumph, GPT-4, is now available to a select few, marking a significant advancement in deep learning capabilities. Microsoft is also in on the action, with its subsidiary, Nuance Communications, releasing a cutting-edge note-taking app for healthcare professionals. By incorporating ChatGPT and other OpenAI technologies into their software, Microsoft is revolutionizing healthcare services through innovative tech solutions.
OpenAI’s GPT-4 Improves Doctor-Patient Care
OpenAI’s latest generative AI model, GPT-4, has been shown to significantly improve medical knowledge self-assessment tools for physicians. According to OpenAI, GPT-4 scored 75% on the Medical Knowledge Self-Assessment Program (MKSAP), up from GPT-3.5’s score of 53%. However, experts like Robert Pearl, MD, of Stanford University believe that the true potential of generative AI in healthcare has yet to be fully realized.
Despite this, Microsoft subsidiary Nuance Communications has launched DAX Express, an AI-powered clinical documentation app that uses OpenAI’s GPT-4 model to help reduce physicians’ administrative workload. The app, which combines conversational and ambient AI, is supported by Microsoft Azure and intended to simplify the note-taking process for healthcare providers.
Nuance claims that DAX Express is a significant step forward in AI technology adoption and will provide healthcare organizations with an accessible entry point to scale up the use of AI-powered applications. The app is available to more than 550,000 Dragon Medical users and is part of Microsoft’s broader integration of OpenAI technology in Office, Edge, and Bing.
Moreover, Bionic Health has raised $3 million in seed funding to develop an AI-driven health clinic that uses OpenAI’s GPT-4 and other large language and machine learning models to provide personalized insights to patients based on their bloodwork and other diagnostics. The aim is to build out preventative health services rather than primary care, and eventually extend into all aspects of doctor-patient care. Bionic Health’s first clinic will have human doctors working alongside the AI to train and provide feedback on the technology.
The company’s co-founders have a track record of building successful AI startups. Yet, some experts caution about the risks of AI in healthcare.
On the other hand, OpenAI’s GPT-4 technology was introduced in its ChatGPT Plus version on March 14th, 2023. Users can select the technology they want to use while having a conversation with ChatGPT in the Plus version. GPT-4 is proficient in almost 26 languages, including Afrikaans, Italian, Turkish, Telugu, and Marathi. It has outperformed GPT-3.5 in 24 languages, including English. Nevertheless, GPT-4 does not have knowledge of events that occurred after September 2021 and does not learn from its experience.
In terms of sensitivity to disallowed content, GPT-4 responds to such requests only 29% of the time, a decrease of 82% compared to GPT-3.5. It also responds only 29% of the time to sensitive requests related to medical advice and self-harm.
How Virtual Education is Changing the Game
ChatGPT, a consumer application based on generative AI technology, has achieved remarkable success since its launch. Within the first few days, it had already crossed one million users, as announced by Sam Altman, CEO of Open AI. Within a month, the application had attracted 57 million users, and as of January 2023, it has crossed 100 million users, making it the fastest-growing consumer application in a short period of time. ChatGPT is also receiving over 13 million daily visitors.
Generative AI is already having an impact on medical research, according to Vikram Savkar, a senior vice president and general manager at Wolters Kluwer. It can help non-English speaking scientists improve their research paper writing and increase acceptance rates at journals that have strict writing standards. Although AI-generated papers will not replace the quality of research, this technology can help researchers communicate their findings effectively and reach a global audience. Michiel Schinkel, MD, of Amsterdam University Medical Center believes that as the technology improves, more healthcare professionals will become comfortable with it.
Plus, Generative AI can be a useful tool for physicians. It can help with documentation processes by creating more concise and properly sourced notes, and by writing letters for patients about disease summaries, medication overviews, or even patient visit summaries without requiring the time and focus typically needed. Physicians can also use it as a medical knowledge assistant to provide ideas for differential diagnoses, lists of potential symptoms, and recommendations for specific tests related to those symptoms. Some physicians have even reported using ChatGPT to write prior authorization letters and rebuttals to insurance coverage denials.
While generative AI technology still needs to be developed and implemented properly, experts suggest that using it to write a first draft can improve efficiency in medical research and patient care. As the technology continues to improve, it is expected that more healthcare providers and researchers will adopt generative AI tools like ChatGPT.
In summary, Nuance’s Dragon Ambient eXperience (DAX) Express is a new application that combines voice, AI, and cloud technologies to create draft clinical notes from physician-patient encounters. While this is a promising development, it’s important to keep an eye on emerging technologies like GPT-5, which have the potential to significantly advance the use of AI in healthcare and revolutionize the way we approach medical diagnosis and treatment guidance.
Dr. Robert Pearl, the former CEO of The Permanente Medical Group, did say, “We reached a tipping point with AI. There’s no way the genie is going back in the bottle”.
