Duke Health in Durham, N.C., has selected Abridge as its generative AI partner to capture clinical conversations.
The new partnership follows a pilot that began in October 2024 at Duke, in which 160 physicians and APPs put the ambient AI clinical documentation tool to use and shared real-life feedback. The health system now plans to extend access to 5,000 clinicians across more than 150 integrated practice and primary care clinics as part of the partnership.
Among the pilot users was Duke Medicine Chief Health Information Officer Eric Gon-Chee Poon, MD, who tested the tool himself in his primary care and internal medicine practice at Duke Primary Care at Riverview.
"The note comes back really well organized, both in terms of the history and assessment and plan," Dr. Poon told Becker's. Naturally gregarious with patients, he explained how previous documentation processes often distracted him from fully engaging in conversation.
"But since I started using ambient technology, I've really felt that I can have more direct conversations with patients and I can really interact with them directly without having my mind's attention be directed away by having to be a court transcriptionist and typing telegraphic notes along the way," Dr. Poon noted.
Duke Health leadership received overwhelmingly positive feedback during the pilot, with some users calling the tool "game-changing." According to Dr. Poon, many expressed concern that it might be taken away, a reflection of how quickly it demonstrated its value.
Abridge Founder and CEO Shiv Rao, MD, understands this impact on a personal level. A practicing cardiologist himself, Dr. Rao is deeply familiar with the burden of clinical documentation.
"Healthcare professionals go to medical school and nursing school, and it is not an easy journey. What motivates them in the first place, I think, has to be a mission — otherwise they wouldn't make it through. Having this opportunity now to help them return to some of those principles that inspired them in the first place is the ultimate honor for us," Dr. Rao told Becker's.
The returns might be measured in documentation satisfaction scores or minutes saved, but those numbers and effects are far-reaching. When clinicians leave work on time, they can reconnect with their families, pursue personal interests or simply rest — opportunities that not only rejuvenate them but also enrich the patient experience. "That's an incredible upside," Dr. Rao said.
Duke Health — which encompasses the Duke University Health System's four hospitals, outpatient clinics, affiliated physician practices, and medical and nursing schools — views the partnership as the beginning of a broader journey. "Clinical documentation is only the beginning of what this partnership can achieve," said Dr. Jeffrey Ferranti, senior vice president and chief digital officer at Duke University Health System.
Dr. Poon said Duke Health looks forward to extending the tool to settings beyond ambulatory care, with the emergency department up next and inpatient settings after that.
Duke Health joins other leading academic health systems embracing Abridge's technology. Earlier in January, UChicago Medicine announced it is expanding its relationship with Abridge, following a successful pilot involving hundreds of physicians. The expansion includes deployment in emergency departments and a goal to double physician users to 1,000 by early 2025. Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine partnered with Abridge in December, with plans to make the tool available to 6,700 clinicians across six hospitals and 40 patient care centers.
For Dr. Rao, each partnership offers a chance to grow even more connected to the product and its real-world applications. "I think one of the greatest benefits is being able to learn osmotically from so many people who are far smarter than I am, while also having my skin in the game and staying hands-on with everything we’re building," he said. "After all, I’m an end user myself. Just last night, I was on call at the hospital, and I still take a weekend shift every month. I directly benefit from the ideas we develop together and the products we create as a team."
Back in Durham, Dr. Poon sees patients on Friday afternoons. He had grown accustomed to a routine in which he spent a couple hours every Friday evening finalizing his notes and cleaning up his telegraphic typing. "Now I leave clinic at 5:30, 6:00 with all the notes done, and I wonder what I can do with all that time on Friday evening."
On this particular Friday, the answer was clear. Dr. Poon began his morning at the clinic as usual, but by evening, he was heading to the Durham Performing Arts Center to attend a production — free from the nagging worry of unfinished documentation. A low-key pleasure that once felt out of reach.
"We have lots of challenges in modern medicine today, and what a great moment to reimagine the art of the possible," he said.