Author: Jerome Andres

Area of Concentration (Petal): Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Keywords: Dictation device, electronic medical record, medical innovation

Background: Healthcare providers dedicate significant time on data entry of vitals, demographic information, and medical decision making. In the United States alone, millions of hours are lost each year on navigating electronic medical records (EMRs). Providers and patients alike are dissatisfied with long clinic waits contrasted with exceedingly truncated interfacing time. Dictation devices have streamlined the data entry and note-writing process already, but these devices still require dedicated time outside of the typical provider workflow.

Objectives: The objective of this innovation is to expedite the medical data entry process into EMRs to increase time for patient care while improving healthcare quality. This product is a compact, user-friendly wearable device which integrates seamlessly into their existing workflow. The product uses AI technology to parse through natural patient-provider conversations and automatically enters relevant data into the chart.

Impact/Effectiveness: Preliminary evaluation data is limited as technology and hardware are currently in development, but this innovation has the potential to save countless hours and dramatically improve the quality of patient care. WingNote will be piloted among nursing floors in select East Coast institutions to assess effectiveness of workflow integration, efficiency metrics, and user perspectives.

Lessons Learned: A key challenge to development is the increasingly competitive market for medical devices. Although this product offers a unique wearable product that offers a novel solution not currently available, it is difficult to penetrate the rapidly evolving medical innovation landscape. Therefore, it is imperative to develop a robust marketing campaign and form intentional business partnerships to build brand recognition.

Summary: By streamlining navigation of EMRs, an AI-powered wearable dictation device can potentially revolutionize the healthcare workflow, improve quality of care, and reduce healthcare costs. Future directions include refinement of the technology based on user feedback and collaboration with established market players for more seamless integration.