Providence, a multi-state healthcare network, has developed a generative AI tool called Provaria to prioritize incoming messages from patients and support medical assistants in responding. The tool is designed to ensure that patients with more urgent needs receive immediate attention, such as those experiencing a mental health crisis. Provaria also provides resources for medical assistants to help them craft appropriate replies to patient messages, suggesting referrals, including links to departments, and prompting questions about red flags that may indicate a more urgent situation. The system aims to improve patient care and reduce the time spent on administrative tasks for providers and medical assistants.
After a slow rollout, Providence recently deployed Provaria to manage messages for all 4,000 of its primary care, family medicine, and internal medicine providers. The system has already reviewed and categorized more than 500,000 messages, with early research suggesting positive outcomes. In Southwest Washington, a subset of employees reported a 50% reduction in median turnaround time when using Provaria, reducing response times from four days to two. Dr. Ford Parsons, Providence’s chief operations analytics, emphasizes that there is always a human in the loop when using Provaria, as it does not generate replies to patients on its own.
Providence’s development of Provaria was a quick process, taking less than three weeks from the rollout of the Azure OpenAI Service to the launch of the tool within the Providence system. The technology underwent thorough testing and evaluation within the Providence network, involving experts from various fields such as clinicians, ethicists, and spiritual care providers, due to Providence being a nonprofit Catholic organization. Provaria is currently available to primary care providers in the seven states where Providence serves patients and is not intended for commercialization. There are plans to expand the tool to pediatricians and continue developing resources for suggested responses that can be easily modified to accommodate new ailments or updates.
Overall, Providence aims to use AI in a responsible manner to empower caregivers to focus on providing the best possible care for patients. By leveraging technology like Provaria, the healthcare network seeks to improve patient outcomes, reduce administrative burdens on providers and medical assistants, and ensure that individuals with more urgent needs receive timely attention. The success of Provaria in streamlining message management and improving response times demonstrates the potential for AI tools to enhance healthcare delivery and support healthcare providers in their crucial roles.
