Augmedix CEO talks partnership with Emergency Services Inc.

Emergency Services will launch Augmedix Go ED, a GenAI medical documentation product, to physicians

Paperwork is a huge burden on doctors, causing them to spend three to four hours a day filling it out, or two minutes on the computer for every minute they spend with a patient. 

Augmedix is a provider of ambient AI medical documentation and data solutions that aims to cut down on doctor paperwork with EHR-integrated AI documentation for every ambulatory and acute specialty, including the ED.

On Thursday, the company announced a partnership with Emergency Services Inc., a physician owned emergency medicine services group located in Columbus, Ohio.

Through this collaboration, Augmedix will be introducing Augmedix Go ED to physicians in the emergency department at the second-largest healthcare system in central Ohio. Augmedix Go ED, which the company launched in April, is a fully automated, generative AI (GenAI) powered medical documentation product for EDs. 

Manny Krakaris, CEO of Augmedix, spoke to VatorNews about Augmedix Go ED, what problem it addresses, and how it will help Emergency Services Inc. 

VatorNews: I've covered Augmedix in the past but not for a few years. How do you position yourselves in the market right now?

Manny Krakaris: Augmedix is positioned as an industry-leading, ambient AI medical documentation company that provides solutions to alleviate administrative burdens for clinicians, so they can have more time to focus on patient care. Our products are designed to be flexible for various workflows and care settings, including the emergency department (ED), providing a continuum of service levels based on cost and needs. 

VN: Tell me about Augmedix Go ED. How does this product differ from your other offerings?

MK: Augmedix Go ED is the industry’s first fully automated, generative AI powered medical documentation product for emergency departments nationwide. It is the latest product in Augmedix’s portfolio, and the only ambient AI product designed around the unique workflows, challenging ambient environment and unpredictability of emergency departments. 

Augmedix Go ED produces draft medical notes in just moments, making it easy for clinicians to document patient encounters and focus on the patients while the technology is capturing the important Medical Decision Making (MDM) details. The mobile app is hands-free and works by seamlessly and clearly capturing conversations with a Bluetooth mic. It uses novel AI capabilities to distinguish voices, draft medical documentation, and upload the notes into the electronic health record (EHR). Additionally, clinicians can be onboarded in just five to seven minutes, showcasing its user-friendly interface and seamless integration into their workflow.  

VN: Give me a few use cases and how Augmedix Go ED is deployed.

MK: Before launching our partnership with Emergency Services Inc., Augmedix Go ED was developed through a pilot program with HCA Healthcare, one of the nation’s leading healthcare providers. During this pilot, emergency department physicians in four HCA Healthcare hospitals used Augmedix Go to automate their medical documentation, with the product instantly drafting their medical notes from patient encounters. Based on the success of our pilot, Augmedix Go ED was made available to emergency departments across the country in Q2 2024. 

VN: Why was this the most logical next step for the company?

MK: When Augmedix was founded over a decade ago, ambient documentation solutions within hospitals and health systems did not exist. Augmedix pioneered the space to fill this important gap and the practice of ambient documentation in both acute and ambulatory care settings.

It also happens to be the most challenging care setting to address. As the pioneer of this market, it was important for Augmedix to demonstrate our commitment to innovation in the industry by developing a solution where no one else has. As the emergency department represents the primary entry point for the in-patient care setting, winning in that area can provide a launch pad to other important care settings in hospitals. Augmedix’s partnership with HCA Healthcare led the organizations to explore an emergency department initiative beginning in 2022 to address these challenges while reducing documentation time and errors. This partnership and the growth in GenAI led to the development of Augmedix Go ED. 

VN: What gap are you filling for Emergency Services Inc.? What will they be able to do now that they couldn't before?

MK: Clinician workflow in the emergency department, unlike in the ambulatory care setting, is non-linear, and patient inflow is unscheduled. Clinicians typically have multiple encounters with the same patient and in many cases, more than one clinician will contribute to the patient’s care during that patient’s ER visit. All of this occurs at a relatively rapid pace. Moreover, vital information that needs to be reflected in the medical note is often not articulated during the encounter. This can include lab and imaging results, as well as other information from disparate sources that can assist in the clinician’s thorough investigation of a patient’s underlying condition. Augmedix Go ED has been specifically designed to address the non-linear workflow, incorporate additional information from multiple sources and do so in a noisy, fast-paced environment so that clinicians in the ED can practice at the top of their license.

VN: What will success look like for you Augmedix in terms of this deployment? What results are you hoping to see?

MK: Although it is still early into the launch of Augmedix Go ED, we have physicians reporting a significant reduction in administrative and cognitive burden, noting the product’s high accuracy and comprehensiveness. 

Our entire product suite is focused on unburdening clinicians, thereby reducing burnout. Through accurate, comprehensive medical notes that we supplement with robust structured data, we expect our customers to experience a positive impact on reimbursement levels. Finally, reducing the administrative burden on clinicians allows them to focus more on their patients, which we have seen results in higher patient satisfaction. We really do live by our tagline, “See the Patient, Trust the Technology.”

VN: Is there anything else that I should know?

MK: Recent data on Augmedix Go, a related product to Augmedix Go ED that focuses on ambulatory care settings, found that physicians save up to one hour or more per clinic day. Additionally, 94% of physicians surveyed reported that it helped them better focus on their patients, which in turn, leads to higher patient satisfaction.

Finally, Augmedix has been proven to reduce burnout, and therefore, decrease the rate of fractional quitting—the healthcare industry’s term for quiet quitting. In a study evaluating 1086 providers, researchers compared Augmedix users to non-users, analyzing changes to full-time equivalent positions (FTE). The study aimed to determine if Augmedix users are less likely to engage in fractional quitting than non-users. The researchers found that Augmedix users were 25% less likely to reduce their number of FTE hours while in clinic or seeing patients than non-Augmedix users. This suggests that Augmedix reduces burnout and allows providers to have an improved work-life balance.