Electronic health records stand out as an oft-cited source of stress that contributes to the burnout in physicians. Now, Stanford Medicine says it is working with Google Research on an idea that could help.

Some medical practices, including the Stanford family medicine clinic on the Stanford campus, use human scribes to enter information into electronic health records systems, allowing physicians to concentrate on patients, rather than the computer. But what if a device could interpret each office visit and—using speech recognition and machine learning tools—automatically enter the information a medical records system?

Stanford family medicine doctor Dr. Steven Lin and Google are now launching a pilot study to investigate such as system, which they are calling a “digital-scribe.” A digital-scribe could save physician time, lessening the need to enter data. It could also improve the visit for patients, who would again have the full attention of their physician, Lin says.

“We’re hoping this benefits everybody,” he says.

The nine month study will include nine doctors at the family medicine clinic where patients will have the option of participating. Researchers will take steps to ensure patient privacy is protected, by removing patients’ protected health information from data that is used in the study, Lin says.

The doctors will wear a microphone and record the visit. Researchers will then use machine learning algorithms to detect patterns from the audio recordings that can be used to automatically complete a progress note, which is the primary electronic health records document that describes the office visit. Progress notes include everything from vital signs and symptoms to a diagnosis and treatment plan, Lin says.

“This is really new and we’re in the early stages of this technology,” Lin says. The pilot study will identify challenges and indicate whether a digital-scribe is feasible, he says.

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