Clinical decision platform improves specialty referrals, boosts productivity, and reduces clinician time spent in EMR

Research published in the New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst reports that MedPearl, a Providence-developed clinician-built clinical decision platform, improves primary care clinician productivity, decreases time waste on administrative tasks and improves the quality of referrals sent to specialists.

The paper details operational outcomes from MedPearl's use among more than 4,000 active monthly clinician users and shows statistically significant improvement in total productivity, after-hours time spent in the EMR and incremental margin per referral among top users.

"The data shows that human-centered design tools can help ease the burden on clinicians and ensure that only patients who require a specialist are ultimately referred," said Eve Cunningham, M.D., founder of MedPearl and chief of virtual care and digital health at Providence, one of the nation's largest health systems.

"At Providence, clinicians spent two years developing the MedPearl platform, a comprehensive library of actionable clinical guidance carefully mapped to patient data relevant to a clinical context—bringing knowledge and patient data together on a single screen. Today, our front-line primary care clinicians can access patient management and referral information for over 730 conditions, thereby super-charging clinical decision making."

Seventy-two percent of clinician users said the platform improved their clinical management and workups, according to the study. Following system-wide integration, MedPearl achieved a 95% success rate in matching queries to relevant guides, and maintains a high user retention rate, with about 75% of users returning month-to-month.

Founded by Cunningham and made possible by the combined research and development efforts of hundreds of clinicians and engineers at Providence, MedPearl is health care's first intelligent clinical decision engine, created to provide immediate and actionable medical knowledge at the point of care. Leveraging artificial intelligence and a no-code environment, combined with EMR integration, Providence implemented MedPearl across its eight-state footprint.

More information:
A Clinician-Created Platform to Speed Clinical Decision-Making and Referral Workflow, NEJM Catalyst (2024). DOI: 10.1056/CAT.23-0401

Provided by Providence Health & Services