Streamline Your SOAP Notes with Orchid’s AI Medical Assistant

It’s no secret that mental health professionals are more overworked and under-resourced than ever these days. Especially if you’re running your own private practice, every day as a clinician is packed with something that needs your attention: face-to-face time with clients, billing and coding, marketing and business management, continuing education, and of course drafting clinical notes — that tedious process of writing a SOAP note for each client session.

In fact, according to this study in Annals of Family Medicine, “primary care physicians spend nearly 2 hours on electronic health record (EHR) tasks per hour of direct patient care.” 

That stat is super relatable to mental health clinicians as well: Draining so much time and energy into admin work like data entry consumes valuable, limited time each work week. And it pulls more and more attention away from directly helping clients — you know, the whole reason you got into mental healthcare. 

But recent innovations like AI-powered EHRs have the potential to change all of that. In fact, many already are making an impact, like Orchid’s AI-powered notes feature — the AI medical assistant you’ve been looking for. With streamlined documentation like AI-powered SOAP notes, clinicians gain more flexibility to increase their client case load or even take more time off to recharge away from the emotionally-taxing work of being mental healthcare providers. 

In this article, we’ll explore how Orchid’s AI assistant can help with updating your electronic health records and improve your clinical documentation workflow. 

Ready to transform the drudgery of drafting clinical notes into the breeziest part of your work day?

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What is generative AI in healthcare? 

When we talk about generative AI, it’s important to get on the same page about what that even means. 

Generative AI is not …

Generative AI is not anything like the advanced forms of artificial intelligence (AI) depicted in science fiction. For instance, Star Trek’s android crew member Data was an AI, but he was a sentient being driven by (fictional) artificial intelligence that far exceeds the limits of 21st century AI. That’s because, in our reality, most would agree that AI isn’t intelligent in any complex human sense of sentient intelligence.

Generative AI is …

Generative AI is a form of artificial intelligence trained on large data sets. It uses natural language processing (NLP) and predictive analytics on existing data sets in order to produce new content. In other words: Tools powered by generative AI can only output content based on the limitations of what it’s learned from human input. But the possibilities within those limitations are vast, and the speed with which it analyzes data and spits out an output is faster than ever. 

Using generative AI in mental healthcare

According to this 2023 article in The New York Times: “For now, the new A.I. in health care is going to be less a genius partner than a tireless scribe.” 

That’s the case with AI medical assistants revolutionizing clinical documentation in electronic health records, like Orchid’s AI-powered clinical notes tool. This generative AI assistant uses natural language processing to analyze a given data set, identify the most relevant points, then summarize those points within any session note template of your choice, including a SOAP note. 

How does Orchid’s AI Assistant work? 

For years, mental health professionals have been trying to find ways to streamline the process of writing progress notes, with each new breakthrough helping just a little bit more. 

Harnessing the power of generative AI, Orchid’s AI is the latest in mental healthcare technology to improve the clinical documentation process for mental healthcare professionals. Instead of manually filling out each SOAP note or other medical record after therapy sessions, Orchid’s AI gives you the option to automate that clinical documentation process. 

Here’s how Orchid’s AI assistant works: 

1. After getting your client’s informed consent, you can select Orchid’s AI tool to record your telehealth session. 
2. Orchid’s AI will generate a transcript of the call in real time. 
3. Once you end the call, Orchid’s AI will temporarily store that call transcript and also generate a few more pieces of useful data for your electronic health records: a session summary, as well as call insights like the percentage of time each person was talking. 
4. From that AI-generated call summary, you can select whichever session note template you need from Orchid’s customizable note templates library. For example, SOAP notes are the most common use case, but alternatively you can select DAP notes or any other types of clinical note templates you need for your field of work. 
5. You can then prompt the AI to use the session summary to fill out a draft in your note template. If you’re ever concerned about the accuracy of the generated summary the AI is pulling from, you can always refer to the call transcript to build more trust in the tool.
6. From there, the AI’s work is done, and you’re able to polish the note using your expert training. 

It’s important to remember: Although an AI medical assistant like Orchid’s AI helps with a lot of the heavy lifting and busywork of SOAP note documentation, you as the licensed professional are the one who is in control of the final result. Orchid’s AI is simply a (really, really helpful) assistant. 

How can Orchid’s AI assistant improve the clinician workflow? 

There are many benefits to using Orchid’s AI to assist with your SOAP notes. 

Some benefits of Orchid’s AI assistant include: 

Increased efficiency in creating SOAP notes

Orchid’s AI assistant supports and streamlines the SOAP note process. That means less time and mental energy spent on administrative work. 

As one Orchid therapist shared: 

“I love the new AI tool for SOAP notes! It has expedited the time it takes completing my notes, and I feel more motivated to do my notes now in a more timely manner, versus dreading the process because of how I struggle with knowing how to succinctly articulate what I want to convey. The AI tool has helped make my notes more efficient, clear, and concise.”

Essentially, Orchid’s AI assistant knocks down mental barriers healthcare professionals may have when it comes to dedicating time to writing SOAP notes. Instead of relying on blank templates and your memories of the client session, Orchid’s AI gives you a useful starting point to more efficiently organize your SOAP note. That also means you’ll be able to more quickly get to the important work of writing a more informed, impactful treatment plan for your client. 

Improved focus on face-to-face patient care

Orchid’s AI assistant could be particularly useful for recent graduates who don’t have as much clinical experience yet. Many seasoned clinicians don’t take notes during therapy sessions and instead rely on their memories, but it’s common for newer clinicians to experience a bit of a learning curve in remembering everything they need to from sessions, so they often turn to taking notes during sessions. 

Having an AI assistant like Orchid’s can help to relieve that burden. When clinicians know that the AI will generate a session transcript and assist them with clinical documentation later, they’re able to be more present for clients during sessions. Without the distractions in-session note-taking, clinicians can more actively listen to and engage with clients. 

In that way, Orchid’s AI tool helps put the focus of an average clinical work day back onto face-to-face patient care: dedicating much less time and energy to administrative work, and more attention to treatment planning and nurturing a therapeutic relationship. 

Learn more: The Pros & Cons of AI in a Mental Healthcare EHR

What are the challenges of working with Orchid’s AI assistant? 

Of course, if adopting new AI technology were as straightforward as all that, everyone would be on board, right? But from a patient privacy standpoint, it’s important to explore the key concerns around AI tech in healthcare. 

How Orchid addresses AI privacy concerns

Since generative AI relies on processing large amounts of patient data in order to function well, AI may call into question patient privacy concerns. 

For example, OpenAI’s ChatGPT and ChatGPT Plus are not HIPAA compliant tools. Clinicians should use GPT with caution when it comes to synthesizing patient information. 

Orchid, on the other hand, is transparent about using a secure, enterprise instance of OpenAI’s models through Microsoft Azure. That’s all to say: Orchid’s AI assistant is HIPAA compliant, using end-to-end data encryption to protect patient information and help clinicians align with patient privacy regulations. 

Streamline your SOAP notes workflow with Orchid’s AI 

You can start writing SOAP notes more quickly and clearly than ever with Orchid’s AI assistant — and at no extra cost. Orchid's AI tool is integrated seamlessly into Orchid’s all-in-one EHR software. 

Ready for private practice management that doesn’t make you dread admin work? 

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