AI-Powered Clinical Registry Reporting: White Plains Hospital Partners with Layer Health

White Plains Hospital, a 292-bed facility in Westchester County, New York, has announced a multi-year partnership with health tech company Layer Health to implement an artificial intelligence platform for automating clinical registry reporting. This collaboration aims to streamline the traditionally labor-intensive process of chart review and data submission, potentially revolutionizing how healthcare providers manage quality reporting and improvement initiatives.

Addressing the Challenges of Clinical Registry Participation

Clinical registries play a crucial role in improving care quality, supporting research, and guiding best practices in real-world settings. However, participation in these registries often requires significant resources and manpower. White Plains Hospital, which currently participates in 15 clinical registries, has been grappling with the growing demands of this process.

Dr. Rafael Torres, Chief Quality Officer at White Plains Hospital, highlighted the issue: "We have 15 clinical registries that we participate in, and 25 FTEs [full-time equivalents] at the moment." With the hospital's growth trajectory showing no signs of slowing down, the need for a more efficient solution became apparent.

Layer Health's AI-Driven Approach

Layer Health, an MIT spin-off company, has developed what it claims to be the first comprehensive chart review algorithm in the market. The company's AI platform is designed to read through patient medical records, understand patient journeys, and automate the answering of clinically nuanced questions typically required for registry reporting.

David Sontag, Ph.D., CEO of Layer Health and a professor at MIT, explained the technology's capabilities: "What Layer Health is building is AI for chart review which can read through a patient's medical record and understand a patient's journey just as well as the best care team that has infinite time to read that patient's medical record."

The platform not only provides answers but also offers supporting evidence from the medical record, potentially reducing the time and effort required for manual chart review significantly. Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network, another early adopter of Layer Health's technology, reported a reduction of more than 65% in the time required for quality data abstraction.

Implications for Healthcare Quality and Efficiency

The partnership between White Plains Hospital and Layer Health represents a significant step towards leveraging AI in healthcare administration. By automating the chart review process, the hospital aims to maintain its high standards of care while improving operational efficiency.

White Plains Hospital has received numerous accolades, including a five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for three consecutive years, a third Magnet designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, and an "A" Safety Grade from the Leapfrog Group for over a decade. The implementation of AI-driven chart review is expected to support the hospital's efforts to maintain and improve upon these achievements.

Dr. Torres emphasized the potential benefits: "This allows clinicians and nurses to focus on care rather than focus on hunting and pecking through a chart." He also noted that the technology could enable faster interventions and improvements in care by reducing the delay in processing registry data.

As the healthcare industry continues to explore AI applications, the collaboration between White Plains Hospital and Layer Health may serve as a model for other institutions looking to enhance their quality reporting processes and ultimately improve patient care.