Blue Shield of California Subsidiary to Implement Wearable Tech for Doctor-Patients Visits

Altais, a health services company that is a subsidiary of Blue Shield of California, will be using intelligent automation supported by an Apple Watch to document physician-patient interactions.

Technology from Notable Health, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered healthcare solutions company, aims to reduce administrative overhead and enhance patient-clinician interactions through better data collection and transfer, company officials noted.

Patients using the platform can potentially benefit from a streamlined check-in process using their smartphone—starting with appointment reminders and insurance eligibility checks to self-assessment health surveys that can be pre-populated within a patient's chart, according to officials.

And during the patient encounter, physicians no longer must type in reams of content to the electronic health record (EHR). Instead, they can use Notable's wearable technology supported by an Apple Watch, to document physician-patient discussions.

“The technology uses machine learning and natural language processing to parse the conversation down to its relevant pieces and accurately insert facts onto the patient's electronic file. Post-visit, the artificial AI-powered technology optimizes charting efficiency by ensuring the proper entry of orders and procedures to generate clean claims,” officials attested.

Altais was created earlier this year by Blue Shield of California to help support physician practices. The company, named after a star, has been in discussions with potential partners to launch services and tools to help physicians and their practices reduce administrative burden and spend more time with patients.

"Our goal is to help physicians seamlessly leverage technology to improve the health and well-being of their patients—all while reducing administrative hassles and enhancing their professional gratification," Jeff Bailet, M.D., president and CEO of Altais, said in a statement. "Notable Health will help us get there with its digital assistant technology that automates manual tasks across any electronic health record."

Together, the parties are collaborating to leverage Notable's technology designed to bring workflow innovation to physicians, beginning with Blue Shield of California's network physician partners. The two companies will continue collaborating together to expand joint functionality over time, officials noted.

For example, doctors at the Paradise Medical Group (PMG) in Paradise, Calif., will soon begin using the Apple Watches and Notable technology to support patients' visits. PMG is the first Blue Shield partner to use the services, which are now available to network physicians.

"As a general internist taking primary care of an elderly population with multiple complex illnesses, I will now have a maximally efficient workflow, streamlined data entry, and patient input pre-built into each of my patient encounters, and that is extremely exciting," said Richard Thorp, M.D., president and CEO, Paradise Medical Group.