WILMINGTON, DE — Orchid unveiled its latest innovation this week, Orchid AI, a HIPAA-compliant, AI-driven clinical notes solution designed to alleviate administrative burdens for mental health clinicians. By automating note-taking, Orchid AI aims to allow clinicians to focus more on patient care.
Orchid AI integrates seamlessly with its own electronic health record (EHR) system and other EHRs via a user-friendly Chrome extension. “EHRs for mental health professionals haven’t progressed much for decades,” said Joseph Pomianowski, CEO and founder of Orchid. “Often built on antiquated technology, they tend to be inflexible, clunky, and incompatible with newer technology like AI. Orchid created an EHR for clinicians that’s simple, contemporary, and intuitive. The addition of our AI-powered clinical notes solution is a significant advancement and advantage for clinicians.”
The pandemic has worsened an already critical shortage of mental health clinicians, leading to long wait times for care. Most clinicians, with 70 percent operating independently, dedicate at least one day per week to administrative tasks, limiting their capacity to see more patients.
Clinical notes, essential for tracking patient history, are among the primary administrative tasks. Clinicians often struggle to balance accurate note-taking with being present for their patients. Different insurance plans also impose unique requirements, making the process even more cumbersome.
Orchid AI addresses these challenges by automating much of the note-taking process. Clinicians can record patient sessions with permission, dictate, or type high-level notes while Orchid handles the details. The AI uses existing templates like SOAP and DAP notes or can adapt to a clinician’s unique style. It can summarize medical histories, suggest billing codes and diagnoses, and provide after-visit summaries, facilitating compliance with insurance requirements.
Dr. David Halpern, a board-certified psychiatrist in Pennsylvania, praised the solution: “Orchid has helped streamline the running of my practice so that I can focus on patients, and the addition of Orchid AI is fantastic – I now spend far less time on note taking than before. Orchid understands the pressures of mental health professionals and is continually adding features and integrations that make my work life infinitely easier.”
Ada Peng, Spatial Data Analyst at Orchid and the architect of Orchid AI, highlighted the efficiency gains: “Orchid’s customers report that because Orchid AI can now draft clinical notes for them, it reduces clinical note writing from up to 20 minutes down to a few seconds per session. Orchid also greatly reduces administrative time for intake sessions, as it can pull information from intake forms to streamline note taking.”
Orchid EHR subscriptions start at $9.99 per month. The company participated in Y Combinator’s Winter 23 batch and raised $1.5 million from Y Combinator and strategic investors. Orchid has seen a 20 percent month-over-month growth in its clinician customer base over the past year.
“Our goal is to eliminate barriers to obtaining mental healthcare,” Pomianowski added. “In the future, we’ll expand our focus to adjacent healthcare specialties.”
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