Many doctors pursue a career in medicine because they want to help patients. Immediately’s healthcare system demands that doctors dedicate numerous hours daily to administrative tasks – reviewing electronic health records, creating documentation, coding and billing, securing authorizations, and managing resource utilization, often exceeding the time devoted to patient care. The prevailing situation yields a trifecta of negative consequences: physician exhaustion, bureaucratic ineffectiveness, and ultimately, compromised care for patients.
Atmosphere Healthcare is pioneering innovation by developing an AI-driven platform designed to streamline clinical workflows before, during, and after patient encounters.
Atmosphere’s CEO, Mike Ng, a 2016 alumnus of the prestigious MBA program, confidently asserts that his company constructs co-pilots designed to endow clinicians with AI-driven superpowers, alongside co-founder Nikhil Buduma, also an MBA graduate from 2017. “Our platform seamlessly integrates with EHRs, freeing clinicians to focus on what matters most: delivering exceptional patient care.”
Atmosphere’s comprehensive merchandise portfolio features pre-charting capabilities that leverage AI-driven scripting, thereby streamlining the process of identifying relevant insurance coverage billing codes amidst the vast array of guidelines. The platform is capable of providing post-visit summaries to patients and their families in a range of languages, ensuring seamless communication and transparency throughout the recovery process.
Atmosphere’s technology is now utilized in approximately 40 large-scale healthcare institutions, including prominent organizations such as the University of California San Francisco Health and Memorial Hermann Health System, along with St. Healthcare organizations such as Luke’s Wellbeing System, John Muir Health, and others utilize Atmosphere in numerous languages across over 100 medical specialties and subspecialties, operating seamlessly in environments including emergency departments, inpatient hospitals, and oncology units.
The founders claim that clinicians using Atmosphere conserve two to three hours daily on documentation, report a decline in burnout rates, and cultivate more robust, high-quality relationships with patients.
Following a back fracture in 2012, Ng gained a firsthand perspective on the healthcare system while working in finance. Initially misdiagnosed and placed on an unsuitable care plan, he stumbled upon a wealth of information regarding the U.S. Within a well-being system, clinicians’ days are often consumed by documenting patient visits, selecting billing codes, and completing various administrative tasks. While clinicians typically dedicate approximately 27% of their work hours to direct patient care?
In 2014, Andrew Ng made the decision to apply to the MIT Sloan School of Management. During his inaugural week, he participated in the “t=0” entrepreneurship celebration hosted by MIT’s Martin Belief Heart for Entrepreneurship, where he forged a strong connection with Buduma. The pair quickly became study buddies, enrolling in courses like 15.378 (Building an Entrepreneurial Venture) and 15.392 (Scaling Entrepreneurial Ventures).
“When attending MIT, I had the unique opportunity to develop my understanding of what drives a successful company and learn the essential skills for building a profitable business,” Ng says.
After grappling with the complexities of the healthcare system through his own personal experience, Buduma emerged with a keen understanding of its shortcomings. After immigrating to the U.S. As a toddler in India, he witnessed his parents struggle to adapt to life in the U.S., beset by persistent health issues that further complicated their quest for a new normal. medical system. As he completed his undergraduate degree at MIT, he immersed himself in the AI research community and authored a pioneering textbook on modern AI and deep learning.
In 2016, Ng and Buduma founded their first company, Treatment Wellbeing, in San Francisco, establishing a proprietary AI-powered healthcare platform of their own. As they ventured into the realm of hiring clinicians, ensuring the optimal care of patients, and investing in their own technological proficiency, they cultivated a profound respect for the intricate complexities faced by healthcare entities.
During this period, participants also gained insight into the latest developments in artificial intelligence. Dr. Jeff Dean, Google’s Chief Scientist and prominent investor in Treatment and Atmosphere, spearheaded an analysis team at Google Brain that developed the groundbreaking transformer architecture. At Treatment, Ng and Buduma were early pioneers in implementing transformers to support their clinical staff. As a natural progression, several colleagues and former housemates went on to found the prominent language model team at OpenAI. The work of their peers laid the analytical groundwork that ultimately gave rise to ChatGPT.
“At a decisive turning point, it became evident that our efforts had reached a plateau from which we could expect exponential growth in the development of versatile fashion trends,” Buduma notes. “While acknowledging our initial findings, we also noticed a significant gap between the standard designs and those that could effectively withstand the demands of a clinical setting.” In 2020, Mike and I reached the conclusion that it was essential to establish a dedicated team focused exclusively on refining healthcare and medication-related fashion standards.
Established to revolutionize healthcare documentation, Atmosphere’s pioneering effort commenced with the development of an AI-driven scribe designed specifically for seamless integration with mobile devices and laptops. This innovative solution automates the tedious process of recording doctor-patient visit details within a secure, HIPAA-compliant framework that safeguards patient privacy at all times? As the need arose, they swiftly recognized the necessity to refine fashion guidelines for each specific medical setting, prompting a gradual, multi-year process of introducing specialized coverage options one by one.
The founders also recognized that their scribes would need to adapt to supporting back-office functions such as medical coding and billing, in addition to their primary roles.
“According to Buduma, documentation serves a dual purpose: it’s essential for clinicians, but equally crucial for income cycle staff.” We were compelled to revisit and rework every algorithm in our arsenal, ensuring each one was attuned to the nuances of coding best practices. There exist countless coding guidelines, fluctuating annually and varying depending on specialty and contractual requirements.
The founders developed formats for clinicians to facilitate referrals and transmit comprehensive visit summaries to patients.
“When patients departed earlier care settings like Atmosphere, caregivers often relied on patient recollections, however fleeting, as the primary record of events.” Physicians often favor this approach because it enables them to craft the highest quality care experience for patients and their families. As individuals enter the designated parking area, they are already equipped with a solid understanding of the discussed topics and the shared decision-making process surrounding access to their personalized portal.
By amplifying doctors’ productivity, the founders aim to alleviate pressure on the healthcare system by addressing the long-standing shortage of clinicians expected to worsen in the years to come?
“In healthcare, talent acquisition remains a significant challenge,” Ng states. Individuals residing in rural areas face a staggering 40 percent higher risk of preventable hospitalizations, with nearly half of this disparity linked to limited access to specialized medical care.
With Atmosphere’s existing success in supporting wellbeing programs operating on razor-thin margins through efficient administrative management, its founders now aim to leverage their expertise for a more ambitious long-term goal: enhancing nationwide access to cutting-edge scientific knowledge.
“There’s a compelling opportunity to democratize healthcare experiences at many premier medical institutions across the United States,” Ng notes. Currently, there is a significant shortage of qualified specialists in the United States. to assist our rural populations. We aim to facilitate national-scale growth of main care specialists’ data through a cutting-edge AI infrastructure layer, as these models continue to become increasingly clinically sophisticated.
