Published Date : 27/05/2025
Artificial intelligence startup Ambience Healthcare has made a significant leap in medical coding with the announcement of a new AI model that outperforms physicians by 27%. The model uses AI to draft clinical notes in real-time as doctors consensually record their patient visits. Ambience leveraged tools from OpenAI to build this advanced model, further solidifying its position in the competitive healthcare technology market.
The healthcare industry has been grappling with staff burnout and overwhelming administrative workloads. Ambience's new model addresses these challenges by listening to patient encounters and identifying ICD-10 codes, which are internationally standardized classifications for diseases and conditions. There are approximately 70,000 ICD-10 codes, and they are regularly updated to facilitate billing and other reporting processes in healthcare.
According to Ambience, the new ICD-10 model can reduce billing mistakes and enhance the efficiency of clinicians and professional coders. The model achieved a 27% relative improvement over physician benchmarks, as reported in a press release. Brendan Fortuner, head of engineering at Ambience, emphasized that the company is not replacing doctors or coders but rather liberating them from administrative tasks and improving healthcare outcomes.
Documenting ICD-10 codes is a critical but labor-intensive task in healthcare. It is essential for tracking outcomes, mortalities, and morbidities in a standardized manner. Dr. Will Morris, the chief medical officer of Ambience, highlighted the importance of ICD-10 codes from a data perspective. He stated,
Q: What is the new model developed by Ambience Healthcare?
A: Ambience Healthcare has developed a new medical coding model that uses AI to draft clinical notes in real-time and identify ICD-10 codes, significantly outperforming physicians by 27%.
Q: How does the new model help healthcare professionals?
A: The new model reduces administrative burdens by automating the ICD-10 coding process, which can help reduce billing mistakes and improve the efficiency of clinicians and professional coders.
Q: What are ICD-10 codes and why are they important?
A: ICD-10 codes are internationally standardized classifications for diseases and conditions. They are crucial for tracking outcomes, mortalities, and morbidities in a standardized manner and are essential for billing and reporting processes in healthcare.
Q: How was the new model validated?
A: The model was validated by testing it against a 'gold panel' set of labels established by expert clinicians who evaluated complex clinical cases. It was then compared to the performance of 18 board-certified doctors, showing a 27% improvement over the physician baseline.
Q: When will the new ICD-10 model be available to customers?
A: The new ICD-10 model will be rolled out to customers over the summer, aiming to improve healthcare documentation and management.