Lia : a major step forward in updating medical records
Introduction
Managing medical records is a constant challenge for healthcare professionals. Treatment errors and missing information can lead to serious consequences for patients and considerable financial losses for healthcare institutions. In the United States, a recent study found that electronic health records are often incomplete, costing hospitals millions of dollars each year in missed insurance reimbursements.
It is in this context that Instamed developed Lia, an artificial intelligence designed to revolutionize the management of medical records. Lia automates the extraction and integration of essential information from medical documents, ensuring that records are constantly and accurately updated. Using advanced natural language processing (NLP) algorithms, Lia analyzes textual and structured data, automatically integrating it into electronic medical records. Health professionals can then validate this data to ensure its accuracy, while enriching Lia's algorithms using machine learning.
This innovation not only improves the precision and quality of care, but also significantly reduces the time spent on administrative tasks. With medical records that are always up to date, doctors can make informed decisions and provide personalized care to their patients.
The problem: the incompleteness of medical records
Incomplete medical records are a major problem in health systems in both the United States and France. In the United States, a study by the University of Central Florida showed that electronic medical records are often partially completed, leading to processing errors and financial losses of 5 to 8 million dollars per year for hospitals. The main causes are human errors, poor communication between patients and caregivers, and the complexity of electronic systems.
In France, Instamed has acquired solid experience in the migration of data from multiple information systems of its customers, whether they are hospitals or private doctors. Very often, their records mostly contain documents and unstructured consultation notes, leaving the structured fields of the medical records empty. Overworked health professionals often do not have time to update records manually, due to lack of time or training, increasing the risk of medical errors. In fact, a British study revealed that 15% of emergency admissions were due to missing or incorrect information, while recent studies have shown that medication errors remain a major problem due to the incompleteness of electronic records.
The solution: Lia
In this context, Instamed has developed Lia, an artificial intelligence designed to extract information useful for patient care from documents found in medical records. Lia can manage a multitude of data: medical history, pathologies, current and past treatments, symptoms, allergies, age, weight, reasons for consultation, physical activity, and much more.
Lia uses advanced natural language processing (NLP) algorithms to analyze textual and structured data found in medical documents. Thanks to this technology, Lia is able to extract relevant information and automatically integrate it into the patient's electronic medical record. This process ensures that medical records are constantly and accurately updated, eliminating errors and omissions that may occur during manual data entry.
Once the data is extracted, healthcare professionals can manually validate the information integrated by Lia. This validation step is critical to ensure data accuracy. It also reduces the risk of potential AI errors. In addition, this validation contributes to enriching Lia's algorithms through machine learning. By learning from the corrections and validations made by professionals, Lia is continuously improving her ability to interpret and integrate future medical data.
Concrete examples
1. Follow-up of an oncology patient:
Imagine an oncologist specializing in breast cancer who sees a patient for a follow-up consultation. During this visit, the doctor notes crucial data such as the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatments, new symptoms reported by the patient, and the results of recent blood tests. Lia analyzes this information and proposes to update the patient's medical file. It identifies personal or family history, changes in weight since the previous consultation, side effects of treatments as well as any other element that may appear in the file. The doctor then validates these suggestions, guaranteeing the accuracy of the information while allowing Lia to refine her algorithms thanks to this expert validation.
2. Migration of old medical documents:
Let's imagine a patient uploading their old medical documents to the Instamed application. Lia then goes into action and analyzes these documents thoroughly, extracts relevant information, and offers suggestions for updating the patient's medical record. For example, if she detects a radiology report from 2015 that indicates a fracture in her right arm, Lia suggests adding that information to the patient's medical history along with the date, type, and name of the history. If a document mentions taking medication for hypertension in 2020, Lia suggests updating the list of past treatments also in a structured way.
3. Fast consultation and medical decision making:
Now let's imagine a patient consulting with their doctor. After waiting several minutes in the waiting room, the doctor goes through his documents and only has a few minutes to make a decision that can have a significant impact on the patient's daily life, especially with regard to medication intake, side effects, and overall quality of life. During this short period of time, the doctor must make sure that all the parameters have been taken into account so that his decision is the right one. Sometimes the doctor makes a mistake, which is why Lia's help is so important. By having a constantly updated medical file, Lia ensures the safety of the patient and avoids contraindications.
Data privacy and security
Lia works on Instamed servers, based in France and HDS (Health Data Hosting) certified, guaranteeing that no data ever leaves Instamed. This allows healthcare professionals to use Lia with confidence, knowing that the security and confidentiality of their patients' information is fully respected.
Conclusion
Lia from Instamed represents a major advance in the management of medical records. By automating the updating of data and ensuring its accuracy, Lia improves the quality of care, reduces medical errors, and saves healthcare professionals valuable time. Thanks to this innovation, medical records are becoming a powerful and reliable tool for modern medical practice, allowing for more personalized and effective medicine. This advance, which may seem anecdotal, is in fact revolutionary for the medical sector.
sourcing
- “Incomplete medical charts: impacts and possible solutions”, Cambridge University Press, 2022.
- “Study shows Electronic Health Records improving but safety concerns remain,” The Pew Charitable Trusts.
- “Medication errors and patient electronic health records.” Gray Ritter Graham, 2020.
- “What Happens If Your Medical Records Are Incomplete?” UCF College of Medicine, 2022.