Oracle has announced new generative AI services for healthcare organisations in the form of a new Oracle Clinical Digital Assistant, enabling providers to leverage the power of generative AI together with voice commands to reduce manual work and place more focus on patient care.

Integrated with Oracle’s electronic health record (EHR) solutions, the Clinical Digital Assistant makes it easy for patients to take self-service actions such as scheduling appointments or checking clinical information at their convenience using simple voice commands.

While EHRs have helped reduce errors and enhance the continuum of care, patients are often left feeling disconnected, unheard and unsatisfied when a provider spends the majority of the appointment staring at a screen.

The generative AI-powered Oracle Clinical Digital Assistant alleviates this issue to enable physicians to give their full attention to patients while dramatically simplifying administrative tasks.

The multimodal voice and screen-based assistant participates in the appointment using generative AI to automate note taking and to propose context-aware next actions, such as ordering medication or scheduling labs and follow-up appointments.

Suhas Uliyar, senior vice president of product management at Oracle Health, said: “The EHR should be a provider’s best ally in delivering engaging, personalised care to the patients they serve.

“By bringing comprehensive generative AI and voice-first capabilities to our EHR platforms, we are not only helping providers reduce mundane work that leads to burnout, but we are also empowering them to create better interactions with patients that establish trust, build loyalty, and deliver better outcomes.”

The Oracle Clinical Digital Assistant responds to conversational voice commands from providers who can ask questions such as ‘show me the patient’s latest MRI results,’ to look up elements of a patient’s EHR record during an appointment.

The information and images are then delivered in a relevant order that helps the physician gain insight into the appropriate treatment path without requiring a multi-menu, multi-step interaction with the EHR. The new solution will be available in the next 12 months.

Earlier this month, Digital Health News reported that Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust is to design and develop a new electronic patient record (EPR) system with Oracle to replace several digital and paper-based systems, with a launch expected in Spring 2025.