A measured 35% shorter echo study at Endeavor Health

AI saves time, in theory

AI-guided echocardiography is widely expected to save time, but its effect on real throughput and on sonographers' working day had been little studied. An earlier survey in the same lab, three months into an AI reporting pilot, found cardiologists and sonographers adopting it at different rates: 79% of cardiologists referenced the AI measurements, against 33% of sonographers.

11 minutes saved per study

• Total study time fell from 31 min 39 s (± 8 min 20 s) to 20 min 35 s (± 8 min 17 s), a saving of 11 min 04 s, or 35.0% (p < 0.0001).
• Inpatient studies (16): 28 min 35 s to 17 min 10 s, a 39.9% saving (p = 0.0021).
• Outpatient studies (31): 33 min 11 s to 22 min 24 s, a 32.5% saving (p = 0.0029).
• All three sonographers reported a much lower click burden, and all three preferred to keep the AI workflow.

The study is small, at one academic health system, with three sonographers, so read the figures as that lab's measured experience rather than as a specification.