TL;DR:
- Abridge, an AI-powered medical scribe startup, revolutionizes doctor-patient note-taking.
- It records and transforms spoken words into comprehensive notes, saving time for doctors.
- A recent $30 million Series B funding round values Abridge at $200 million.
- Investors include Spark Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, CVS Health Ventures, and others.
- Abridge competes with Nuance Communications in the AI medical scribe market.
- Collaboration with Epic, a major EHR company, enhances Abridge’s position.
- Abridge focuses on transparency and auditability to build trust.
- The healthcare market increasingly embraces AI solutions to ease administrative burdens on doctors.
Main AI News:
In the realm of healthcare, the arduous task of documenting patient visits has long been a source of frustration for doctors. Dr. Alistair Erskine, Chief Information and Digital Officer at Emory Healthcare, vividly recalls the struggles of meticulously recording every patient interaction to meet various medical record, legal, and billing requirements. “Documentation has been the bane of our existence since I went to medical school,” he confesses.
Advancements in technology, such as dictation software, have provided some relief, allowing doctors to speak their notes into a microphone and receive typed transcriptions. However, this method required them to painstakingly dictate punctuation, ensuring accuracy with phrases like “comma, period, next line.” The inefficiency and time-consuming nature of this process persisted until a groundbreaking solution emerged.
Enter Abridge, an AI-powered medical scribe startup that has revolutionized the way doctors document patient interactions. Alistair Erskine is among the many medical professionals who have embraced this innovative solution. Abridge’s app listens to doctors as they engage with patients, instantly transforming their spoken words into comprehensible notes. Dr. Erskine shares his satisfaction, stating, “Not only does it capture what I want to say, it also captures the stuff that I don’t either have time to write in the note or that I forgot.” In a strategic move, he signed a partnership deal with Abridge to introduce this software to the extensive network of doctors at Emory Healthcare.
What sets Abridge apart is its complete automation—no human intervention is required in the process. The technology behind this transformation relies on large-language models utilizing “transformers,” a term akin to the “T” in the widely recognized ChatGPT. Doctors simply launch the Abridge app on their smartphones, record their conversations with patients, and within seconds to minutes, a comprehensive note is generated. Furthermore, doctors have the option to seamlessly integrate these notes into their patients’ electronic health records.
Abridge began its journey with a free app that has attracted 500,000 patients since 2019, allowing them to record their doctor’s visits and receive transcripts with basic explanations of medical terms. However, the true challenge lies in expanding this solution to accelerate the laborious task of medical record entry. Shiv Rao, the CEO, and co-founder of Abridge, shares his vision for the company, stating that it was a much more complex technical endeavor.
The recent announcement of Abridge’s successful $30 million Series B funding round, led by Spark Capital, marks a significant milestone. This funding round underscores the growing interest among investors and healthcare professionals in leveraging machine-based solutions to alleviate the administrative burdens placed on doctors. Rao compares the current momentum in the healthcare sector to a tornado, signifying the urgency and demand for such innovations.
The valuation of Abridge, now standing at $200 million, is a testament to its progress since its inception in 2018, raising a total of $62.5 million. Bessemer Venture Partners, CVS Health Ventures, Kaiser Permanente Ventures, Mayo Clinic, and UC Investments are among the prominent investors participating in this round.
While Abridge’s funding and valuation may appear modest compared to other generative AI startups, it positions the company competitively alongside its publicly-traded peer, Augmedix. Augmedix, a provider of AI note-taking software to hospitals, went public in 2021 with a market cap of approximately $190 million.
In the competitive landscape of AI medical scribes, one major player looms large—Nuance Communications. Microsoft’s acquisition of Nuance for $18.8 billion in 2022 solidified its position in the dictation software domain. Although Nuance has a head start, it recently unveiled fully automated medical note-taking technology, eliminating the need for human oversight. Consequently, the race to dominate the AI medical scribe market remains fiercely contested.
With approximately one million doctors practicing in the United States, the potential market for AI medical scribes is substantial. Experts like Sharon Hakkennes, a healthcare analyst at Gartner, envision a future where robot medical scribes listening to patient exams become a fundamental and expected function in healthcare. Success in this arena, Hakkennes notes, hinges on companies expanding their capabilities to enhance doctors’ lives, from simplifying billing code entry to facilitating imaging orders and prescriptions.
Currently, around 5,000 doctors are utilizing Abridge, including those at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the University of Kansas. Nuance, on the other hand, boasts “thousands of clinicians” using their fully automated scribe, DAX Copilot, at institutions like the University of Michigan Health West and Atrium Health in North Carolina.
Abridge’s strategic advantage in challenging Nuance lies in its collaboration with Epic, one of the largest electronic health records companies in the United States, used by over 2,700 hospitals. In a head-to-head competition, Epic selected Nuance as its first “partner” and Abridge as its first “pal” due to the size disparity between the two companies. Epic’s recent program, “partners and pals,” offers selected companies an enhanced level of integration with its software, creating a competitive edge. Abridge’s direct availability within Epic’s app is imminent, eliminating the need for doctors to open a separate application. This seamless integration holds immense promise for doctors striving to manage their workload efficiently.
Beyond its partnership with Epic, Abridge boasts a distinctive feature in its tech stack—a mechanism to counteract “hallucinations.” This safeguard prevents large language models from inserting fabricated information that may sound plausible. Abridge’s “auditability” feature enables users to trace every detail in the note back to its source in the conversation. For instance, users can click on a term like “diabetes” and access the transcript with a playback of the original recording where the term was mentioned. In contrast, Nuance provides the transcript but lacks a recording playback feature.
This commitment to transparency is pivotal in earning doctors’ trust that Abridge’s models generate accurate and reliable notes. In a future where Abridge’s transcripts form the basis for critical medical decisions, this trust is indispensable. Will Reed, a general partner at Spark Capital, emphasizes the significance of the medical note in healthcare, asserting, “We have a theory that the medical note sits upstream of so much that happens within healthcare.” From coding and billing to enhancing clinical decisions, Abridge aims to empower doctors to deliver exceptional healthcare services.
Conclusion:
Abridge’s $30 million funding round and its strategic positioning in the healthcare sector, including a collaboration with Epic, signal a growing market demand for AI-driven medical scribe solutions. The emphasis on transparency and auditability underscores the importance of trust in AI-generated medical notes. As healthcare continues to adopt AI technologies to streamline processes, Abridge is well-positioned to compete in this evolving landscape.
