Healthcare providers frequently struggle with documentation, spending significant time on medical notes outside of work hours. Athenahealth is addressing this issue by incorporating Abridge’s AI-powered note-taking technology into its athenaOne platform. This collaboration aims to assist clinicians by automatically capturing and structuring patient-physician conversations for direct integration into electronic health records (EHRs). The move follows a growing industry trend where multiple companies are developing similar AI-driven solutions to alleviate administrative burdens on healthcare professionals.
Several years ago, Nuance, now owned by Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), was one of the few major players in AI-powered medical documentation. However, the market has since expanded, with as many as 50 companies now offering similar services. Microsoft’s launch of Dragon Copilot, which also converts patient-physician dialogues into structured clinical summaries, represents a competitive challenge. Athenahealth, which serves about 10% of U.S. healthcare providers, is positioning itself within this competitive space by offering multiple AI-powered documentation tools, including Abridge, Suki, and iScribe.
How Will AI Improve Clinical Documentation?
Abridge’s AI listens to consultations and generates structured notes, reducing the manual workload for physicians. These notes can be reviewed by doctors before being saved in the EHR. Additionally, the system supports multilingual transcription, allowing conversations in one language to be documented in another.
“Writing notes is something that has been a pain point for physicians since time began,” said Paul Brient, Chief Product Officer at Athenahealth. “Artificial intelligence has gotten to the point now where it can listen to a provider-patient conversation and generate a note for the physician.”
What Other AI Applications Are Being Explored?
Beyond note-taking, Athenahealth is exploring additional AI-driven functionalities. These include tools for recognizing diagnoses from conversations and suggesting treatment plans. AI integration into outpatient documentation processes is also a focus, with the ability to digitize and extract data from unstructured medical records such as faxes and lab results.
“A lot of the data coming into the EHR is unstructured. We get a lot of faxes,” Brient stated. “The good thing about AI is it can actually read those faxes. It can pull all the data out and put them in discrete form.”
Athenahealth is also looking at AI solutions for revenue cycle management, including automation of billing, insurance claims processing, and appeals for denied coverage. AI-driven virtual assistants could further enhance efficiency by handling appointment scheduling and answering patient inquiries.
As AI adoption in healthcare expands, cost reductions may drive increased utilization. The monthly cost of AI-powered note-taking has dropped significantly, from around $2,000 per physician to between $100 and $400, making the technology increasingly accessible. Some healthcare providers are even experimenting with AI-driven virtual assistants for patient follow-ups, such as reminders for lab tests or medication refills.
While AI-driven documentation tools offer potential benefits, challenges remain, including accuracy concerns and physician workflow integration. As healthcare technology companies continue refining AI solutions, the focus will likely shift toward enhancing efficiency while maintaining patient care quality. With a growing number of AI vendors entering the market, providers will have more options to select the tools that best fit their needs.
