Ochsner Health First to Use Epic’s Ergo Visit

Laurentia Nicosia, MD, a primary care physician at Ochsner Health in Louisiana, had a last-minute appointment added to her schedule. Before she walked into the exam room, she asked Art, Epic’s AI assistant for clinicians, for a summary of the patient’s record, and within a few seconds she was looking at the clinically relevant points, each one linked to the note behind it. Quickly brought up-to-speed on their history with the aid of technology, she was ready to talk with her patient about their current needs. 

A redesigned approach to the office visit 

Nicosia is one of the first clinicians to adopt Ergo Visit, a redesigned approach to the outpatient visit that helps clinicians prepare for appointments, stay present during the conversation, and wrap up documentation quickly. At the beginning of the visit, focused insights from the chart help clinicians get up to speed on the patient record. Epic’s native ambient AI, Chart with Art, listens to the conversation between the patient and clinician and anticipates what the clinician might need to look up in the chart, showing some information on the screen automatically. Throughout the visit, the system drafts the note and tees up other documentation for the clinician to review. 

“Our goal was to redesign the office visit as we would build it if we were starting from scratch, with all of the technology we have available today,” said Garrett Adams, senior vice president of R&D at Epic.  

Ochsner accelerates an upgrade to bring latest technology to physicians and patients  

On August 3, four clinicians in family and internal medicine at Ochsner Health in Louisiana became the first to use Ergo Visit in the clinic. Ochsner worked closely with Epic to kick off the pilot as soon as the new feature was ready, moving a planned system upgrade by three weeks to start using it sooner.  

“It’s been a collaborative effort to get Ergo Visit in the hands of our doctors, and they are really excited. It’s only been a short time and already we can see that it’s going to make a big difference,” said Amy Trainor, RN, system vice president and CIO at Ochsner Health. 

Orders and answers already on the screen 

Amanda Martin, PA-C, one of Ochsner’s initial Ergo Visit users, consulted with a patient recovering from open heart surgery. She spent the first fifteen minutes of the visit inspecting the patient’s incisions, taking photos for the surgeon, and walking through dietary recovery tips. Art drafted the orders for the ointments and medications she had discussed with the patient and presented her with notes ready for review, allowing Amanda to focus her time and attention on her patient. 

Stephen Lambert, MD, used Ergo Visit’s focused insights to find out whether a patient with persistent stomach pain had been tested for cyclospora or put on antibiotics. The feature quickly pulled links to notes from past visits and had them ready on the screen when he opened the visit workspace. 

“It’s like the way a GPS can direct you around traffic. You know how to get there, but this tool can help you get there the fastest,” said Lambert.