Microsoft and Epic Systems have recently joined forces, partnering to integrate OpenAI’s powerful GPT-4 language model into the healthcare field. The aim is to partially automate time-consuming tasks for healthcare professionals, such as drafting message responses to patients and analyzing medical records in order to detect trends. The Azure OpenAI Service, provided by Microsoft, will make it possible for Epic’s medical system to access OpenAI’s large language model.
Chero Goswami, Chief Information Officer at UW Health in Wisconsin, believes that GPT-4 technology being used in this way will help free up staff, giving them more time to focus on the really important tasks. Additionally, the natural language query tool that is being used with Epic’s SlicerDicer software will make the self-service reporting process easier and more intuitive. It can be used to find patterns among patients, such as an increasing number of side effects related to a particular medication, and can also be used to identify ways to reduce hospital costs.
This move comes at a crucial time for the healthcare sector in the US, with thousands of hospitals struggling financially from workforce shortages and increased labor expenses. Microsoft Corporate Vice President Eric Boyd thinks a collaboration between Azure OpenAI and Epic’s industry-leading technology is a must for the urgent and critical challenges faced by healthcare systems.
Though the opportunities brought by this partnership sound promising, not everyone is on board. OpenAI’s LLMs, such as GPT-4, have been known to generate false information and display bias, raising potential concerns when applied to such a sensitive field. Even with the securities and tests needed for a successful implementation, the use of artificial intelligence in this way is not without its risks.
Microsoft is an American multinational technology corporation with headquarters in Redmond, Washington. Since its foundation in 1975, Microsoft has become one of the most influential companies in the technology industry, providing ground-breaking solutions, such as the Windows operating system, Xbox gaming console, and Office suite of software. The scope of the company has also extended to cloud computing and artificial intelligence, as seen in their partnership with Epic and OpenAI.
Chero Goswami is the Chief Information Officer at UW Health in Wisconsin. Goswami has extensive experience managing the day-to-day operations of complex and distributed IT departments, such as the one that exists at UW Health. With a passion for leveraging new technologies to solve business challenges, Goswami is an ideal leader for this partnership between Epic, Microsoft, and OpenAI.
