Journey from Boy Scout to ambulatory CMO
Bryan Murphey, MD, was a 13-year-old Boy Scout when he first considered the idea of becoming a doctor. Today, he is president of the NCH Medical Group and ambulatory chief medical officer for the NCH Healthcare System in Naples, Fla.
To earn his first-aid merit badge, young Dr. Murphey needed to take a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) course followed by a written test. Not only did he pass the exam, but he scored higher than his dad, who also took the test.
“My father was a bit competitive and a very smart man, so I was very excited that I was able to outdo him on something,” Dr. Murphey said. “That got me thinking.”
His future in the medical profession didn’t solidify until Dr. Murphey was an undergraduate. He decided to become a doctor and wanted a taste of what life would be like working in a hospital. As he discovered during his training, it’s difficult to tell someone what it’s like to be a doctor.
You must experience it for yourself.
“The weight of the responsibility is hard to convey,” he said, “until you go out and realize you’re responsible for all decisions and the care of another human, or many humans.”
Using AI in healthcare improves physician workflow and patient outcomes
It was a weight Dr. Murphey embraced, and one he prides himself on to this day. He’s always happy to find ways to make those decisions a little easier, though. Now he and his colleagues are using artificial intelligence (AI) to do just that.
NCH is the first healthcare system in the United States to adopt the SENSORA™ Cardiac Disease Detection Platform by Eko Health. The platform helps doctors by pairing digital stethoscopes with AI software. Together, these tools detect valvular heart disease (VHD) earlier and improve patient outcomes.
“I instantly fell in love with it,” Dr. Murphey said of the platform. “This is a great technology to provide instant feedback to the patient (about their heart’s condition) and to identify structural heart disease early.”
Digital stethoscope and AI provide real-time results for patients
VHD is a type of structural disease that is diagnosed in more than 8 million Americans every year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).1 VHD is more common in older adults, but more than half of clinically significant VHD goes undetected in that population.2
Without detection or treatment, VHD can result in heart failure, stroke, blood clots, and death.
The SENSORA™ Platform was designed to help primary care physicians detect VHD in patients who otherwise would likely go undiagnosed.
As an internal medicine outpatient practitioner, Dr. Murphey sees hundreds of patients who could be at risk for VHD. The average age of his patients is 70+ years old, and he has nearly 100 patients who are more than 90 years old.
When those patients visit Dr. Murphey, they want to know they are healthy in that moment. Previously it could take weeks to diagnose potential heart issues. With SENSORA™, it takes Dr. Murphey two minutes.
Dr. Murphey uses his 3M™ Littmann® CORE Digital Stethoscope to hear more clearly and identify sounds faster than with an analog stethoscope. What he hears is analyzed by Eko’s FDA-approved machine learning algorithms that identify and characterize different heart sounds. A positive or negative output is then shared through the SENSORA™ Platform.
“We have AI technology with real-time results,” Dr. Murphey said. “Here’s a technology that we can use in the office and (patients) feel great. When we say, ‘Everything’s normal,’ (they get) a kick in their step. If they’re not normal, we review that with them, we discuss the results, and refer them, potentially, to see cardiology.”
Bringing ‘a beautiful technology’ to patients — and the community
In 2023, NCH performed a 90-day clinical pilot with SENSORA™ across five of its primary care physician offices. SENSORA™ identified 130 patients for further cardiac evaluation.
Those results gave Dr. Murphey a glimpse at how AI technology could enhance his work as a physician and a leader. After all, his goal when he became a doctor was to help patients live better lives. Now, 15 NCH primary care offices use SENSORA™.
“(I enjoy) making a difference for our community and trying to build a world-class healthcare system to deliver high-quality care,” Dr. Murphey said. “That’s why I’m excited about SENSORA™. It’s a beautiful technology to bring to our patients.”
References
(1) Valvular Heart Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 9 Dec. 2019, www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/valvular_disease.htm.
(2) d’Arcy, Joanna L. “Large-Scale Community Echocardiographic Screening Reveals a Major Burden of Undiagnosed Valvular Heart Disease in Older People: The Oxvalve Population Cohort Study†.” European Heart Journal, European Society of Cardiology, 26 June 2016,
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