Stanford Health Care has introduced ChatEHR, a new tool that lets clinicians speak naturally to access patient records—much like chatting with ChatGPT. Born from the idea of a medical student, this system now plays a key role in busy emergency departments by cutting chart review times by 40% during critical handoffs. If you’ve ever felt bogged down by routine record searches, you’ll appreciate how much smoother this makes the process.
With many physicians spending up to 60% of their time on administrative tasks (often extending into personal hours, sometimes called ‘pajama time’), ChatEHR offers a clear benefit. It streamlines data enquiries and even drafts patient message responses for review, which helps reduce cognitive load and enhances communication without sidelining the human decision-making that remains at the heart of care.
Another smart feature is the system’s use of agents, particularly useful for complex cases like cancer, where pulling together diverse sources—ranging from imaging to genomic information—can transform care planning. And with the launch of SecureGPT, a secure portal that gives users access to 15 different AI models, Stanford Medicine is showing its commitment to a balanced, collaborative approach between proprietary and open-source technologies.
Behind these advances is a multidisciplinary team of data scientists, informaticists, and medical information officers, all working together to integrate AI into everyday clinical practices effectively. Whether you’re a clinician or part of the support staff, these tools are designed to bring you closer to what really matters: patient care.
