Teladoc expands AI partnership with Microsoft
Whole-person virtual care leader Teladoc Health has announced that it is going to further its collaboration with Microsoft to integrate the Nuance Dragon Ambient eXperience (DAX) and Azure Cognitive & OpenAI Services into its Solo platform. Microsoft completed its acquisition of Nuance in March last year.
Teladoc first teamed up with Microsoft in 2021, when they needed their virtual care tech and administrative processes to be streamlined. At the time, the company integrated its Solo platform within Microsoft Teams and broadened virtual health capabilities for Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare.
Teladoc says that during virtual exams, the automatic creation of clinical documentation by the Microsoft integrated solutions will help alleviate the pressure on its healthcare staff and concurrently improve the shared medical information’s quality and the related care.
The Teladoc Health Medical Group — which owns several healthcare brands, including Teladoc Health — too intends to use Nuance DAX Express for the care visits Teladoc will directly provide.
Teladoc chief medical officer Dr. Vidya Raman-Tangella commented, “Administrative burden and staff shortages are major reasons why clinicians are leaving the profession.”
She added, “We are focused on using AI to reassert and build the doctor-patient relationship at a time when technology frequently does the opposite. We are proud to partner with Microsoft and Nuance to break new ground.”
According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, there will be a shortage of 90,000 physicians in the country by 2025, due to professional burnout as a result of the demands of electronic paperwork. The American Medical Association says that for each hour of care-providing work, physicians spend two hours on administrative tasks.
“Teladoc Health’s integration of Azure OpenAI Service and Nuance DAX gives clinicians the tools they need to deliver quality, coordinated care, easing administrative burdens and allowing them to spend more focused time with their patients,” said Tom McGuinness, corporate vice president of Global Health & Life Sciences at Microsoft.
