AI in healthcare: How local hospitals and national programs are using the technology

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - Mercy Hospital in Springfield is using a program called Aidoc to help doctors evaluate patient needs and determine what should be addressed first, according to Dr. John Mohart, Mercy's executive vice president and chief operating officer. Mohart said AI has become an asset for diagnosing and treating patients by allowing Mercy to prioritize clinical cases. He said that in the past, when a patient came into the emergency room and received imaging such as a CT scan, the images went into a waiting queue. Now, AI reads the images instantaneously and can escalate care to the top of the list if the case is urgent. 'So it's absolutely impacting time to treatment and quality outcomes, as well as finding incidental findings and other findings on the images,' Mohart said. Mohart said that when images such as X-rays, CT scans and ultrasounds are taken, they are stored and placed in a queue for a radiologist, and some can sit for a few days, but AI reads the image in less than a minute after it is uploaded and can flag high-risk cases. 'You could find lung clots and things that you weren't expecting. It'll flag that instantaneously and bring it up for the radiologist with a flag saying 'read me now',' Mohart said. Mohart said Mercy has scaled Aidoc to every location where imaging is performed, including emergency rooms and outpatient facilities. He said the AI system identifies 'incidental findings,' or additional issues found on an image beyond what a scan was originally ordered for. Mohart said Mercy found more than 50,000 additional incidental findings over five months. He said those findings can include lung nodules that need follow-up, or coronary calcium that indicates heart disease, even when a scan was ordered for an unrelated reason. 'So we're able to report on those and navigate patients to the next best treatment,' Mohart said. 'So they're followed up on and not lost in a file.' Mohart said protecting patient privacy is a priority at Mercy, saying all AI algorithms go through extensive privacy and security review before installation, the same process used for any other attachment to Mercy's electronic system. 'It's private and does not get shipped out or sold to anyone data. It's the patient's record and we have great respect for that,' Mohart said. Mohart said AI has improved efficiency for radiologists, a field he said has a limited workforce. He said the technology allows lower-level reads, such as basic chest X-rays, to be reviewed by other physicians with an AI over-read, freeing radiologists to handle higher-level images. 'If this can make you more efficient, take care of mundane tasks that you can focus on the more important, higher level task and communication with patients, then it works for both,' Mohart said. Mohart said physicians and providers will not be replaced by AI. He said Mercy evaluates every AI deployment by asking how it helps the patient and how it helps the provider. Mohart said reduced turnaround time and improved efficiency allow providers to spend more time with patients. 'We've shown that by reducing turnaround time and improving efficiencies, you actually can spend more time with patients, which is why we all went into medicine,' Mohart said. He said AI can also help automate administrative work and documentation. 'It also can help with faster decisions that improve outcomes and quality, and then getting rid of some of the mundane administrative work and documentation and the care coordination,' Mohart said. 'It makes the provider's lives so much better, but also then the patient's experience better and more reliable.' Mohart said one of the biggest challenges is getting acceptance from providers that the technology improves workflow without compromising quality or patient safety. 'I think the biggest challenges are you have to get acceptance from the providers that this doesn't compromise quality or patient safety,' Mohart said. To report a correction or typo, please email digitalnews@ky3.com. Please include the article info in the subject line of the email.