Following a recent move enabling users to manage personal health by connecting their medical records to ChatGPT, OpenAI is integrating with the widely used Epic electronic healthcare records (EHR) platform so providers can perform common tasks within a ChatGPT discussion.
OpenAI is also delivering a plugin for direct access to widely used healthcare datasets. Together, the developments make it easier for healthcare provides to bring the systems and information sources they rely on day in and day out into their ChatGPT experience.
“OpenAI now touches both sides of the encounter,” said Joey Meneses, a healthcare CIO, in a LinkedIn post referring to the support for patient and healthcare provider experiences. “Nobody else in this race – not Epic, not Microsoft, not Abridge – has both ends of that loop yet.”
He also noted that the read-only nature of the Epic connector ensures OpenAI drives clinical usage from ChatGPT “without taking on the liability of touching the legal medical record yet,” while adding that read only is a “stepping stone, not a destination.”
Epic is the leader in EHR market, with over 40% share, analyst organizations indicate.
Streamlined Interface, Reduced Silos
By connecting with Epic, ChatGPT can now bring together relevant information from an authorized patient record, summarize important developments, and point back to supporting chart information. Instead of searching across appointment notes, laboratory results, medications, and specialist documentation, clinicians can prompt Epic and receive required information inside ChatGPT.
They can ask questions such as: What has changed since this patient’s last visit? Which recent lab results should I review before today’s appointment? Have there been medication changes or new specialist recommendations?
“By bringing relevant information together more quickly and comprehensively, the technology has the potential to reduce time spent synthesizing data and give clinicians more time with patients,” said Suresh Gunasekaran, President and CEO, UCSF Health, an OpenAI pilot partner for the Epic connector.
The connector also enable ChatGPT to be integrated directly into an EHR layout, enabling AI assisted workflows without leaving the patient chart, in supported deployments. EHR layouts include chart sections and widgets, role-based workspaces, and templates organized by medical specialty.
Public Data Connections
Clinicians regularly draw on current research and official information about medications, coverage, clinical trials, and providers. The OpenAI Healthcare Public Data plugin makes it easier to compare and verify precise information such as trial eligibility criteria, medication identifiers, coverage policy versions, and provider records without searching each source separately.
The plugin brings together connectors to nine public healthcare sources including ClinicalTrials.gov, CMS Coverage, RxNorm, DailyMed, and PubMed.
With the plugin, a research team could use ClinicalTrials.gov to identify actively recruiting trials and compare eligibility criteria, while a pharmacy team could use DailyMed to confirm the latest warnings for a given medication. A population health team planning a diabetes-prevention program could bring relevant research, active trials, and Medicare coverage information together, helping leaders evaluate options and identify open questions.
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Tom Smith
Analyst
Cloud Wars, Agent and Copilot
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