In the latest issue of Catholic Health World, the news publication of the Catholic Health Association, an article by editor Lisa Eisenhauer outlines separate projects by SSM Health physicians Ann Cappellari, MD, and Heather Schmidt, DO, demonstrating how their work uses artificial intelligence to identify stress and prevent burnout.
Health systems have been grappling with staffing issues among front-line caregivers prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the shortage continues to be a challenge. Dr. Cappellari, who is SSM Health’s chief medical information officer, has long been a pioneer in conjunction with Microsoft’s Nuance technology, which allows a physician to focus on their patient – not a computer screen – in the examining room. Through this AI technology, physicians are able to finish their work at the clinic with their notes composed – all without touching a keyboard.
Ann Cappellari, MD
For Dr. Cappellari, the AI assistance is simply about easing the load on overloaded providers:
“Cappellari says she, Schmidt and the others involved in introducing the new tools to predict burnout or ease stress among care providers are following the clinicians' maxim: First, do no harm. Their intention is not to invade doctors' privacy or prod them to do more, but rather to make care providers' work lives less taxing.”
Heather Schmidt, DO
Dr. Schmidt, SSM Health’s system medical director of employee well-being, is working with Xi Hu, a researcher from the Center for Labor and a Just Economy at Harvard Law School. Hu is one of the founders of Atalan, which developed the technology that SSM Health is piloting. Schmidt and Hu have presented at numerous national conferences on their collaboration, which can predict provider burnout as much as a year in advance, thus allowing employers a chance to intervene and retain the physicians and nurse practitioners.
From the article:
“When she first discussed the dashboard with a group of physicians who agreed to champion the project, Schmidt says she worried that it might be seen as threatening because the analysis could get to the individual level. To her surprise, the physicians were eager to have a means to predict burnout. ‘Most of them said, “You know what? Actually, I would love it, because then we can actually do something about it,” ‘ she recalls.”
