Abstractive Health Launches Clinical Time Machine: AI Simulation Using Real Historical Patient Records Helps Physicians Enhance Diagnostic Skills
NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Abstractive Health has introduced Clinical Time Machine, an innovative AI-driven simulation that allows physicians to diagnose historical cases using real patient records from centuries past. This groundbreaking tool, built on the same HIPAA-compliant platform that facilitates real-time summarization of electronic health records (EHRs) in hospitals, provides a safe and engaging environment for clinicians to practice diagnosing rare and complex conditions. CEO Vince Hartman likens Clinical Time Machine to "a Microsoft Flight Simulator for medicine," highlighting its potential to revolutionize diagnostic training. "Despite the widespread availability of advanced AI tools like ChatGPT for three years, fewer than 1% of physicians have ever seen an AI-generated full medical record summary," Hartman notes. "Our mission is to change that." Each diagnostic scenario starts with an AI-generated summary derived from original, ancient handwritten records. Physicians can delve into the structured charts, examining everything from the patient's history of present illness to their laboratory results and vital signs. They then receive updates based on real clinical observations, fostering a dynamic and realistic learning experience. "This isn’t a mere quiz; it’s a sandbox designed for clinical reasoning and decision-making, where doctors can learn from their choices without any risk to patients," explains Hartman. Clinical Time Machine leverages Abstractive Health’s established summarization and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and agentic AI platform. By employing advanced optical character recognition (OCR) technology and a sophisticated AI summarization pipeline, it can process and digitize even the most illegible handwritten notes, transforming them into clear, readable clinical narratives. Currently, this technology is being tested at Weill Cornell Medicine to assist with writing Emergency Medicine handoff notes. Additionally, Abstractive Health is set to deploy the simulation in Canadian outpatient clinics through a partnership with WELL Health Technologies, following an investment and distribution deal signed last year. The overarching goal of Abstractive Health is to promote deeper, hands-on engagement between clinicians and artificial intelligence. "We’re not just about saving time—we’re dedicated to enhancing the way doctors think and reason," Hartman emphasizes. "This tool is about curiosity, continuous learning, and improving clinical skills." Clinical Time Machine is now available free of charge through Abstractive’s platform. About Abstractive Health Abstractive Health is a leading technology company in the healthcare sector, focusing on the retrieval and summarization of medical records and the answering of complex clinical questions. Its platform is widely used by clinicians across the nation and is currently undergoing pilot testing with partners such as WELL Health and Weill Cornell Medicine. Recognized as a top 3 company in the 2024 VA AI Tech Sprint and backed by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Abstractive Health has also been spotlighted by Forbes 30 Under 30. For more information, visit https://www.abstractivehealth.com.