Ingolv Urnes and Eric Bender have returned from the Texas Academy of Family Physicians’ (TAFP) Annual Summit inspired by the innovative approach of many of the doctors they met, and the opportunity Florence, the AI Nurse, presents to family physicians to automate care management and so reduce workload while improving patient outcomes and satisfaction.
Texas: A Big State, Big Physician Shortage
Texas is facing a critical shortage of practicing family physicians. Retirements are outpacing new doctors entering family medicine, which, compounded with the already intense demands of an ageing population forecast to grow over 40% over the next decade, is further deepening the gap in primary care availability. Dr. Peter Valenzuela, a nationally recognized physician leader and bestselling author discussed the urgent need for technologies like AI to create more clinical capacity to alleviate the burden on clinical teams.
Value-Based Care: Also More Rewarding for Physicians
TAFP Board member, Dr Lindsay Botsford, highlighted how a shift toward value-based care (VBC) would significantly improve patient and physician experiences rewarding long-term, relationship-focused care rather than transactional interactions. There is also a financial imperative as CMS aims for all Medicare beneficiaries to be under a VBC model by 2030. However, it was also acknowledged that Texas faces some legislative obstacles to implementing VBC for commercial payers.
VBC-Enablers: Full Focus on Care Coordination & Technology
Almost every discussion they had at the conference revolved around the need for better care coordination. VBC-Enablers and ACOs in Texas, as for the rest of the US, are particularly focused on complex cases involving COPD, CHF, and CKD as these could drive up to 80% of total cost. Organizations were risk stratifying patients and applying the most appropriate care coordination – and while home visits could be used for the most complex and hardest to reach, they were acknowledged as expensive and difficult to scale. Care coordination in rural areas was also highlighted as particularly challenging. Here technology and virtual care is recognized as needing to play a big role in the future.
The Maternity Desert Crisis
Texas has the highest proportion of maternity care deserts in the US, with 47% of counties lacking adequate maternity care compared with 33% nationwide. This shortage significantly increases the risk of poor prenatal outcomes, affecting 20% of expecting Texans—higher than the 15% national average. AI-powered solutions, including telehealth options, would help bridge these gaps, facilitating better monitoring particularly in underserved areas.
COPD: Better Care to Minimize Exacerbations and Reduce Impact on CV
Dr. Ramon Reyes highlighted the devastating impact of COPD exacerbations on life quality, mortality and hospitalizations with research showing the increasing risk with each exacerbation and reduced time to subsequent events. Dr Reyes also presented data illustrating the strong link between COPD and the risk of cardiovascular (CV) events emphasizing the urgent need for comprehensive care involving both medication and non-pharmacological strategies such as smoking cessation.
Big help from Florence the AI Nurse
This conference underscores the vital role of AI-driven tools like Florence in alleviating physician burdens and enhancing patient care as Texas (and the nation) continues to confront rising demand and provider shortages.
Adding Florence, the AI Nurse, to your team will save you significant clinical and admin time while improving clinical outcomes and delivering better patient experience:
- Hypertension: Clinical time down by 75%, 10-fold reduction in admin tasks, 97% medication adherence, sustained BP control
- Diabetes: 64% less time spent by clinicians, A1c reduced by 1 point
- COPD: 70% fewer ED visits
- Heart failure: Hospital admissions reduced by over 65%
- Patient Net Promoter Score: Consistently above 75%
For further details see www.generatedhealth.com
Or contact
US: Eric Bender ebender@generatedhealth.com
UK: Kylie Dentith kylie.dentith@generatedhealth.com
Australia: John Griffiths john.griffiths@generatedhealth.com
