Healthcare Gains Ground on Bureaucratic Burden: Innovative Solutions Emerge
A pilot program by Corewell Health West, a health system based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has shown significant promise in reducing administrative tasks for primary care physicians. The program, dubbed the "inboxologist" initiative, assigns registered nurses to sort through patient portal messages and direct more complex inquires to advanced practice providers.
Data from the program reveals that since its launch in 2019, primary care physicians experienced a staggering 330% increase in in-basket messages – requests for non-urgent medical information, visit follow-ups, and concerns about medication or test results. However, through this pilot, patients' messages related to these topics were automatically routed to registered nurses, who responded with clinical guidelines and education. The RNs also scheduled in-person visits using electronic health records.
Furthermore, the RNs forward complex messages requiring advanced clinical decision-making to advanced practice providers, reducing the burden on primary care physicians. Over several months of the pilot, core results showed that:
- Corewell's primary-care physicians handled 41% fewer patient messages
- They spent an average of 47% less time responding to patient in-boxes
- Time to resolution decreased by a remarkable 93%
Understandably excited about this innovative approach, Dr. Greg Taylor, Medical Director at Cooper Care Alliance, believes that the inboxologist model will become the norm within five years, yielding benefits for both patients and providers.
Beyond Corewell's efforts, various health systems are leveraging AI-powered solutions to manage patient queries. More than 15,000 doctors using MyChart patient portal communications platform can now utilize a tool called In Basket Art – an AI-powered messaging draft generator that crafts responses based on context from previous interactions.
Other notable healthcare organizations have also adopted this technology:
- Johns Hopkins Medicine introduced a chatbot to simplify appointment-related functionality.
- Community Health Systems implemented a conversational AI tool for rapid phone authentication, query capture, and agent-assisted assistance within its patient access center – offering notable efficiency gains.
One recent study shows nurses who utilize these AI-generated MyChart messages appreciated the solutions' efficiency, tone and clarity, while minimizing workload shift to themselves.
But what's next? With healthcare navigating increasingly complex administrative realities, innovative tech tools have come of age to deliver a more effective, smoother patient-centric experience.