Primary Care Physician Elizabeth Goff, M.D. Shares Her Experiences with Administrative Burden and How a Voice Assistant Helped Bring Joy Back into Practice

Suki, the leader in voice artificial intelligence (AI) technology for healthcare, announced today the release of a mini-documentary that features the real-life challenge of a family physician facing burnout and how a voice assistant helped alleviate the negative impact of administrative burden. “From Burnout to Balance” provides an intimate view into Dr. Elizabeth Goff’s struggles with work-life balance and how the use of a voice assistant provided the margin needed to keep her in practice full-time.

One in five physicians plans to leave the medical profession in the next two years, according to the American Medical Association (AMA). Notably, the correlation with excessive documentation and burnout is so strong that the AMA, American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), and other healthcare professional advocacy groups have recently rolled out new initiatives focused on easing administrative burdens and reducing burnout.

“I love what I do, but all the extra stuff made it not worth it,” Goff said in a recent interview. “My kids aren’t getting the best of me. My patients aren’t getting the best of me. So, the option would have been going part-time.”

Based in Lynchburg, Va., Goff, a physician and parent of two very young children, considered dropping back to part-time hours because she was forced to choose between personalized interactions with her patients — which would require her to shelve her laptop during their visits — and time at home with her family. When she adopted Suki Assistant in 2021, her daily workflow improved substantially, allowing her to stay in practice full-time.

“For me, it’s about trying to find that balance, so I feel that joy and that I’m giving,” Goff said. “The dictation part [of Suki] is really nice, but there are other parts that help [my workflow go] smoothly. The Suki note pulls in the vitals, the medications, the past problems [from the EHR]. Those seconds and minutes add up. And very quickly in the visit the computer gets pushed aside and I get to talk to the patient, so I’m connecting with the patient during the visit. I’m not looking at the screen. Patients are getting better care.”

Suki Assistant harnesses advanced natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to deliver an accurate and responsive experience for physician documentation and other tasks. A pilot study conducted by the AAFP Innovation Lab found that family medicine and other primary care users of Suki Assistant realized a 72% reduction in their median documentation time per note.

“Too many of today’s physicians are losing their joy in practicing medicine due to the heavy weight of administrative burden. At Suki, we want to change the mass exodus of skilled physicians leaving the medical profession due to burnout,” said Punit Soni, Founder and CEO of Suki. “Nationwide, 62.8% of all physicians faced burnout in 2021, which hurts every one of us as the quality of healthcare we receive suffers. Physicians spend 25% of their time seeing patients and half doing paperwork. We appreciate Dr. Goff’s vulnerability and willingness to show the real-life impact of burnout and how the right workflow can provide a sustainable, fulfilling career.”

Already in 100+ health systems and clinics across three dozen specialties, Suki works on mobile (iOS and Android), web, and as a native Windows application. New features are rolled out every two weeks -- a testament to the urgency of the issue and Suki’s commitment to solving burnout. For more information about Suki Assistant, click here.

About Suki

Suki is a leading technology company that provides AI-powered voice solutions for healthcare. Its mission is to reimagine the healthcare tech stack, making it invisible and assistive to lift the administrative burden from physicians. Its flagship product is Suki Assistant, an AI-powered, voice enabled digital assistant that helps physicians complete documentation and other administrative tasks 72% faster on average. Suki also offers its proprietary voice platform, Suki Speech Platform (SSP), to partners who want to create a best-in-class voice experience for their solutions. SSP uses the latest in natural language processing and machine learning to provide industry-leading accuracy and natural and fast voice experience. Suki is backed by premier investors such as Venrock, First Round, Flare Capital Partners, March Capital, and Breyer Capital. To learn more, visit suki.ai, or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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