When keeping up with technology really does matter
Not all scientific and medical advances are created equal. Those who develop new products and new technologies have an obvious stake in seeing them adopted as quickly and widely as possible.
But the history of technology suggests that a wait-and-see approach is often best. Google Glass, for example, was introduced in 2013 amid great fanfare, but forgotten within two years when it became clear most humans weren’t prepared to wear a computer on their face — or be seen doing so. However cool it was, it was also too expensive.
Or remember the 2016 debut of Juicero, the $700 juicer that required pricey, branded juice packs and did what any human with opposable thumbs could do quickly and easily for much less money? No? You’re not alone. It was quickly squeezed out of the marketplace.
Why healthcare IT is different
Consumer electronics and household gadgets can indeed be hit-or-miss propositions, but healthcare IT innovations tend to be surer bets for two key reasons.
First, documenting patient care, understanding disease patterns, and properly sorting, storing, and making sense of patient data is an enormously complex and important task. While it is possible to document everything on paper, it simply isn’t practical. No practice that hopes to grow and compete in today’s U.S. healthcare marketplace can realistically do so without an EHR. In short, medical practices needs technology — lots of technology.
Second, healthcare itself is highly competitive, with practices striving daily to attract new patients and strengthen ties with existing ones. One of the most cost-effective ways to strengthen engagement turns out to be replacing manual systems with electronic ones.
AI Medical Scribes: Key Tech for Patients and Practices
Perhaps the most outstanding example of this in the recent history of healthcare IT is the rise of a new generation of medical scribes, powered by artificial intelligence capabilities that include ambient listening and natural-language processing.
Below, we examine the five must-have features of an AI medical scribe in 2025 and beyond. Feel free to skip ahead. But if you’re among the many practices still pondering whether an AI medical scribe is right for you, consider these additional points.
First off, it really is true that the new AI medical scribes do everything that human scribes have long done, but more cost effectively. That makes life a lot simpler for medical providers: They all face the burdens of documenting care. Every patient visit at every practice of any variety requires it. The sooner it gets done — and done right — the better for patient care and the practice. And AI medical scribes have been shown to save hours on documentation.
Let’s Clear Away Three Common Obstacles
Why, then, hasn’t every practice embraced an AI medical scribe? For many, one or more of the following reasons may apply.
They are cautious about adopting new technologies: They are familiar with the recent history of tech and quite rightly want to be sure AI medical scribes are proven solutions.
They may lack sufficient time: Some practices are so busy keeping up with their existing documentation burdens that they haven’t found time to examine new approaches.
They may face administrative obstacles: Some might be ready to implement change but must overcome doubts about whether a solution will work with their EHR.
The good news is that the best of today’s AI-powered medical scribes — as exemplified by Sunoh.ai — can easily overcome each of these obstacles.
As to caution: AI medical scribes may be relatively new, but the AI technologies they employ are very well established. Millions of us use voice recognition technology every day to speak to our smartphones. We get directions, set reminders, order dinner, and make online purchases with barely a second thought. That basic technology — only much enhanced — can now help with the vital task of clinical documentation.
As to time: Once they adopt an AI medical scribe, many practices wonder how they ever managed without one. Booking a demo with Sunoh.ai can be done with a few clicks, implementation and training are simple, and practices quickly recoup many additional hours.
As to obstacles: For the reasons detailed next, an AI medical scribe such as Sunoh.ai can be successfully employed by nearly any medical organization.
The Five Must-Have Features for 2025
OK, by now you may be ready to embrace an AI medical scribe. But it is worth sounding one final note of caution: Not all AI medical scribes are created equal. You want the best. And the best should exhibit all five of the following features.
1. Offers multilingual support
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey, an estimated 41.8 million Americans speak Spanish at home, making it far and away the nation’s leading second language after English. Of course, America’s linguistic diversity is much deeper than that, extending to hundreds of other languages, from Chinese (3.49 million), and Tagalog (1.76 million), to Vietnamese (1.57 million), Arabic (1.26 million), and dozens of others.
To be truly effective, an AI medical scribe should be able to document care in the languages commonly used by a practice’s patients and staff.
Sunoh.ai is a truly multilingual AI medical scribe, allowing providers and patients to converse in English, Spanish, Portuguese, or Arabic. And Sunoh is adding many additional languages in the coming months.
2. Works on multiple devices
Letting an AI medical scribe capture clinical details sounds great, but what if it only does so on certain devices? And what if a provider’s favorite way to document isn’t covered?
That wouldn’t work for anyone. And that’s why Sunoh.ai works on any device, allowing providers to document in a way that matches their practice habits. They can use a PC, laptop, iPad, or smartphone.
Whatever device they prefer, Sunoh.ai captures all clinical details of the encounter, allowing providers to focus on having an in-depth conversation with the patient and giving them a head start on their clinical documentation once that visit concludes.
Participating in a conversation and taking notes of that conversation at the same time can be very challenging, and that task is made even more difficult when there are three or more participants in the room.
With Sunoh, providers have a tool that handles multiple speakers — as well as accents and tones — with ease. A visit may involve the patient, a parent, a translator, or medical professional, or several such persons.
Sunoh captures each speaker’s voice and creates a transcript and summary that reflects who said what — while excluding extraneous and social talk not relevant to the patient’s case.
4. Is EHR agnostic
Sunoh.ai is not limited to those practices using a given EHR. It is an EHR-agnostic solution that can be used by alongside any EHR to create draft notes that the physician then subjects to clinical review before approving them for inclusion in a patient’s record.
Practices can realize additional efficiency by integrating Sunoh with their EHR. But Sunoh still saves practices hours of documentation time by allowing providers to focus on patients, not keyboards.
Can be customized for any specialty or workflow
Finally, Sunoh is not limited to the world of primary care or family medicine. Sunoh can accommodate custom templates or fields used in many other specialties.
Providers can, for example, dictate DAP notes as used in Behavioral Medicine, use Sunoh in dental officers for periocharting and development of treatment plans, or document observations in vision practices, cardiology, orthopedics, dermatology, rheumatology, and many other fields.
Sunoh.ai offers all five of the above features. Learn more and book a demo today!
