AI Dictation Software Developed by Penn Med Resident to Aid Physicians

A resident physician at Penn Medicine, Nikhil Illa, has developed a novel AI dictation tool aimed at simplifying administrative tasks for physicians. The tool, named Pocket Scribe, was created to make transcription, note-taking, and billing more seamless for healthcare providers.

Pocket Scribe: A Physician’s Handy Assistant

Pocket Scribe is exclusively designed for clinician-led dictation. It is built to be fully compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and includes significant cybersecurity measures to ensure patient privacy and physician compliance.

The tool records relevant information about a patient’s health, medical history, examination findings, diagnoses, treatment plans, and outcomes. These notes help facilitate communication between healthcare providers by describing the decision-making processes that occur for a patient, and support legal and regulatory compliance.

Advanced Features for Simplicity and Efficiency

The hallmark of Pocket Scribe is its advanced voice-to-text software trained to capture complex medical terminology, including medical terms in Latin. It can sort the transcriptions into the relevant sections of a medical note, which includes patient information, physical examination, diagnosis, and treatment plan.

Pocket Scribe also helps with billing and reimbursement, a crucial aspect of healthcare documentation. Physicians must document patients’ records as evidence for insurance agencies to reimburse patients’ visits. The software utilizes an AI “billing buddy” tool that captures billing and coding details and predicts the reimbursement for a patient visit.

Testing and Recognition

Pocket Scribe has been tested with over a dozen ER physicians and received positive feedback. It was developed while Illa was studying at Tufts University School of Medicine and now operates from an office at the Pennovation center.

The software team behind Pocket Scribe has partnered with Penn’s Venture Lab. In recognition of its innovative approach, Pocket Scribe won the Best Pitch Award at Pennovation’s accelerator pitch day last summer.