Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine is advancing 10 ongoing transformation projects aimed at improving efficiency, reducing provider burden and enhancing patient outcomes.
Here is a look at Penn Medicine’s current transformation strategy, according to a March 31 news release:
- Care at home: The health system has launched the PATH program, which shifts acute care from hospitals to homes for conditions such as pneumonia, reducing hospital congestion and improving patient satisfaction.
- Ambient AI: Penn Medicine is using AI-powered ambient listening technology to transcribe clinician-patient conversations in an effort to lower the documentation burden on providers.
- Dementia care: The health system rolled out its GUIDE program, an initiative that offers holistic dementia care — including 24/7 support, care coordination and respite assistance — to ease caregiver burden.
- Automated appointments: Penn Medicine implemented Switchboard, a text-based system aimed at optimizing scheduling and reducing no-show rates.
- Refill Express: This program automates prescription refills via a texting platform, with a goal of reducing manual labor for pharmacists by 90% and expediting medication access.
- Coordn8: This initiative replaces fax-based medical record transfers with AI-powered smart forms and e-consent tools. The health system said it has saved more than 5,000 staff hours and improved efficiency.
- High-risk follow-through: This program uses technology to identify and complete missed follow-ups. It currently focuses on pulmonary nodules, with plans to expand.
- ORACLE program: Penn Medicine uses this AI tool to optimize surgical scheduling, which the health system said has reduced errors by 55%.
- Speeding up science: This initiative is designed to shorten the time from research to clinical practice.
- COBALT platform: This platform supports clinician mental health through peer coaching and AI-driven well-being interventions.
