Precious hours: Dr. Korivi cites a more authentic connection with his patients, more time with family since adopting DeepScribe

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Burnout is often a trending topic in the healthcare community, and for many physicians, a contributing factor is the time demands of maintaining their electronic health record systems. Busy practitioners like Giri Korivi, M.D., a family medicine physician based in Clarkesville, TN, have started looking for ways to streamline their documentation processes while increasing their focus on patient interaction.

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Listening technology fosters human relationships

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Dr. Korivi began investigating alternatives to his documentation workflow when his frustration was mounting over keeping up with notes on up to 28 patients per day. The system was not only time-consuming, but also detracted from what he felt was his mission as a physician. “Most of us get into this field because we like human interaction, we like relationship-building,” says Dr. Korivi. “We like eye contact, we like reading each other’s feelings. You can’t do all of that when you’re looking at a computer screen.”

He searched through various programs, from medical scribes to dictation software, before landing on DeepScribe, an AI-powered medical scribe solution that uses a combination of real-time ambient listening and medical scribes to allow physicians to focus on patient care by having a natural conversation. 

“The real-time aspect was important to me,” says Dr. Korivi. “We’re in this [profession] for human interaction.” DeepScribe was easy to set up and learn, and allowed him to have conversations with his patients without his face buried in a computer screen. It also made his notes easier. Dr. Korivi claims DeepScribe captures the essential elements of his patient visits at 90+% accuracy. Combined with a seamless integration with athenahealth, reviewing and making minor edits to DeepScribe’s notes is a quick process, taking only a few minutes before signing off. “By the time I’m done with my second or third patient, the first patient’s notes are back in,” he says, noting the time savings of such a quick turnaround.

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By the Numbers

Patients per day: 22–28

Average appointment time: 10 minutes

Turnaround time on notes (avg): 45 minutes

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“Most of us get into this field because we like human interaction, we like relationship-building. We like eye contact, we like reading each other’s feelings. You can’t do all of that when you’re looking at a computer screen.”

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Precious hours at work and at home

Dr. Korivi is clear that for him, the most important benefit of DeepScribe is the human element—making genuine connections with patients that build trust and positive rapport. After nearly 20 years as a practicing physician, he feels connecting with patients on a personal level is especially satisfying. DeepScribe takes him away from the computer screen and enables him to have authentic conversations with patients as he examines them. But the time savings from the DeepScribe platform adds up to much more: It also gives him more time with family and time to decompress.

Using DeepScribe, Dr. Korivi gets at least an hour back in his day, which he likes to use on the softball field with his kids, playing video games before bed to relax, and enriching his personal life. “DeepScribe has been a great experience for me,” he says. “I’m hoping to continue to share my experience with other physicians in the group so they can benefit as much as I have … for me, it’s all about the joy of delivering care.” 

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