To improve workflows and reduce burnout for both residents and clinicians, Ascension Saint Thomas invests in AI-powered Suki Assistant to reduce time spent on administrative work
Suki, the leader in artificial intelligence (AI) technology for healthcare, and Ascension Saint Thomas, the leading health system in middle Tennessee and part of Ascension, one of the nation’s leading non-profit, faith-based healthcare organizations, today announced a first-of-its-kind partnership to improve the resident experience with AI. Suki joins Ascension Saint Thomas’s recent tech investments including AI-powered cardiovascular care, robotics to support the diagnosis of lung cancer, and more.
Suki, an AI healthcare assistant that lifts the administrative burden from clinicians, will now be available to Ascension Saint Thomas’s second and third-year internal medicine residents, as well as its clinicians, with the goal to roll out to all residents over time. This integration marks one of the first in the country to provide AI technology as part of a residency program, signaling a major shift toward the well-being of healthcare professionals.
Documentation is a well-known culprit of clinician burnout, with studies showing clinicians spend an average of two hours on clerical tasks for every hour of patient care. One of the skills residents learn during training is to create clinical documentation, which often consumes hours each day. This time-intensive task not only detracts from crucial patient interactions but also other important educational activities. With Suki, residents can significantly reduce the time spent on administrative tasks like documentation, allowing them to focus more on patient care.
"Suki has completely changed how I care for patients,” says Dr. Missy Scalise, Program Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program and Chair of the Clinician Well-Being Committee at Ascension Saint Thomas. “It has cut down on my documentation time dramatically, saving me hours per week, but most importantly, it allows me to focus more on my patients and less on the computer during visits. All of this combined has improved my well-being and given me more time with my family. I couldn’t be more thrilled for our residents to experience this cutting-edge solution.”
"As residents, we take care of patients with significant needs and complex medical problems. Having the assistance of AI for documentation is game changing and will improve our experience and efficiency in the clinic,” says Sophie Lawrence, a PGY2 internal medicine resident at Ascension. “I know for me personally, it will play a pivotal role in my future career decision. I am grateful that Ascension has invested in this technology and included residents in the rollout."
In addition to residents, Ascension Saint Thomas will also be making Suki available to its 700+ clinicians. Due to its deep bidirectional integration with all of the major electronic health record (EHR) systems - Epic, Oracle Cerner, Meditech, and Athena, Ascension Saint Thomas’s EHR - Suki easily fits into clinician workflows and unlike other documentation solutions, does not require copying and pasting of notes. Ascension clinicians can prechart in the EHR and finish a note in Suki or vice versa as well as view and pull in the latest patient information and live data such as lab tests, allergies, and vitals from Athena. Additionally, Suki supports clinicians in all care settings and requires minimal IT resources to implement.
“Suki’s mission to make healthcare technology invisible and assistive so clinicians can focus on patient care perfectly complements Ascension’s commitment to delivering personalized care to all,” says Punit Soni, CEO and founder of Suki. “Ascension Saint Thomas has been a key partner of Suki for years - their innovative, forward looking leadership team saw the potential in AI early on. We are proud to expand our partnership with Ascension Saint Thomas and support their residents and clinicians in delivering the best possible care.”
To learn more about Suki, visit www.suki.ai.
About Suki
Suki is a leading technology company that provides AI voice solutions for healthcare. Its mission is to reimagine the healthcare technology stack, making it invisible and assistive to lift the administrative burden from clinicians. Its flagship product is Suki Assistant, an AI assistant that uses generative AI to automatically create clinical documentation by ambiently listening to patient-clinician conversations. Suki helps clinicians complete notes 72% faster on average, assists with other tasks including coding and answering questions, and generates incremental revenue for organizations, delivering a 9X ROI in year 1. Suki also offers its proprietary AI and speech platform, Suki Platform, to partners who want to create best-in-class ambient and voice experiences for their solutions. 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.
About Ascension Saint Thomas
Ascension Saint Thomas is a leading healthcare system with a 125-year history of providing care to the community, and is the only faith-based, non-profit health system in Middle Tennessee. Today, the health system offers a highly comprehensive system of care, with more than 250 sites of care that cover a 45-county area in Tennessee consisting of 13 hospitals and a network of affiliated joint ventures, medical practices, clinics and specialty facilities. Across the state, Ascension Saint Thomas and its partner organizations employ more than 13,000 dedicated associates who care for millions of patients each year. Ascension Saint Thomas is part of Ascension, one of the nation’s largest faith-based healthcare organizations committed to delivering compassionate, personalized care to all, with special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable. Ascension includes approximately 134,000 associates, 35,000 affiliated providers and 140 hospitals, serving communities in 19 states and the District of Columbia. Visit www.ascension.org.
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