BetterLetter: AI-Powered Coding for GP Practices

Introduction to BetterLetter

BetterLetter is an innovative AI-driven platform designed to streamline the process of clinical coding, making it faster, more efficient, and more accurate. Traditionally, coding clinical documents, such as medical letters, test results, and discharge summaries, has been a labor-intensive task, typically performed by admin staff, nurses, and GP associates. BetterLetter leverages the power of Artificial Intelligence to transform this process, saving time, reducing workloads and burnout, while ensuring high-quality, accurate data.

What is Clinical Coding?

Clinical coding is the process of translating important medical information such as diagnoses and procedures into standardised codes. These codes are vital for organising patient information in their Electronic Health Record (EHR), and these codes ensure that a patient’s medical history is readable and understandable across different healthcare providers and systems. BetterLetter uses SNOMED CT (Systematised Nomenclature of Medicine - Clinical Terms), which is a library of clinical terminology that is universally recognised.

Key Features of BetterLetter

AI-Powered Coding
‍BetterLetter’s AI follows a nuanced protocol to automatically code and annotate clinical documents. This means that coders need to simply review and approve the generated codes, reducing the need for unnecessary manual input and ensuring consistency and accuracy in every document. 

Workflow Management
After documents are coded, BetterLetter automatically suggests where they should be routed, which helps them reach the appropriate team/group without delay. 

In-App Support and Training
BetterLetter provides top-tier support within the app, including a live chat feature that allows users to ask the BetterLetter team questions that they may have. BetterLetter also has a library of articles and resources that include how-to guides to help users navigate the platform and complete tasks with ease. 

Benefits

Time efficiency
‍Traditionally, manual coding of a complex document can take up to 10 minutes to complete per document, but BetterLetter reduces this time to just 3-4 minutes. This allows the individual who is coding the letter to process more documents in less time, doubling or tripling their output and reducing any backlogs.

Improved Data Quality & Accuracy
By analysing clinical documents in the context of existing patient records, BetterLetter ensures that updates such as new diagnoses or medication changes are captured in a patient’s EHR. This enhances the quality of patient data, and supports better clinical decision-making.  

Reduction in Admin Burden & GP Burnout 
‍Automating a significant portion of the clinical documentation process reduces the administrative load on GP practices. This not only helps save time and costs but also alleviates burnout for GPs, allowing them to focus more on direct patient care.

Less Cost
‍The increased speed and accuracy of coding with BetterLetter helps to reduce the need for a larger coding workforce, which lowers the operational costs for GP practices while maintaining a high standard of care.

Who benefits from BetterLetter?

GPs and Healthcare Providers: BetterLetter helps GPs cut down on the time that they spend on administrative tasks like coding, freeing up time for them to focus more of their time on direct patient care. This leads to clinicians experiencing less burnout, and in turn, better patient outcomes. 

Coders & Administrative Staff: Coders and admin staff can work more efficiently using BetterLetter, as the platform automates a lot of the manual coding tasks that otherwise would take up more time. Also, new coders can be onboarded faster with the easy-to-use system which also helps to improve productivity and efficiency. 

Patients: Document processing occurs faster and with more accuracy, therefore patients’ records are updated promptly. This ensures that updates, including medications and referrals, are actioned quickly and accurately, leading to safer and more effective care.

The NHS: BetterLetter helps improve data accuracy, which supports better planning, resource allocation, and evaluations within the NHS. Enhanced data integrity also aids in population health management and targeted interventions. Additionally, accurate health data, including QOF (Quality and Outcomes Framework) codes, plays a crucial role in financial management. 

By making the coding process faster, more efficient, and less prone to error, BetterLetter helps healthcare providers save time, reduce costs, and ultimately focus on delivering better patient care. Whether you're a GP, coder, or healthcare administrator, BetterLetter offers a great solution to improve the way clinical documentation is handled.

Want to learn more about BetterLetter or have a live demo?
Email hello@betterletter.ai today.