State of natural language processing in surgery: Part 1

Imagine this: As a nurse in the OR talks with a patient, a computer listens in, recording the nurse’s notes so that data are added automatically to be retrieved later. The surgeon and anesthesiologist also interact with the patient without the burden of manual data entry, and the insurance company has preauthorized the procedure using a computer-generated algorithm. Later, an algorithm ensures the facility receives maximum reimbursement, and another algorithm automatically extracts data for submission to the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) so it can be used to improve patient quality.