As Saturday Night Live celebrates its 50^th anniversary, one thing it has been known for over the decades is the use of comedy to make a commentary on what’s happening in the world. Recently, 
it was a skit about how the only way to get a young man to an annual physical is to pretend it’s a podcast appearance.

OSF HealthCare primary care physician, Mfowethu Langeni, DO, said he heard about the skit and then watched it with appreciation.

“So hopefully this can help encourage people to change that mindset and change the framing and letting them know that we will see you even if you have no symptoms, no issues. Preventive health is equally as important as any other aspect of health care.”

Nearly 40% of Generation Z men (age 20-29) don’t have a primary care provider and millennial men (age 29-43) make up the second-highest number of men without regular primary care according to one study.

Using comedy to tell hard truths can be an effective tool so Dr. Langeni hopes the skit breaks through the perception of many young men – a feeling they are invincible and therefore don’t need medical attention unless they experience serious symptoms.

Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also reveals young men have a misperception they are healthier than they are.

“A good portion of men between the age of 18 and 35 are actually in probably fair to poor condition as far as health is concerned. So, I think the first thing we do when you walk in the door in a primary doctor's office, we check your weight, we check your vitals, and we check blood pressure. Those are some really quick things that we can get, but it can tell a lot of information.”

For example, Dr. Langeni says Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure don’t always have prominent symptoms right away and without an annual exam, they can go undetected for years. That poses the risk of irreversible harm. During an initial primary care visit, Dr. Langeni says he’ll also go over family history because there are some diseases, including cancer, that can be genetically linked.

“And so, if your father or mother or grandmother, uncle had a condition, you could also be predisposed to that condition as well. So, we address these things, we talk about these things, and then we come up with shared decision making and figure out what to do next.”

Research also shows men are increasingly turning to social media platforms such as Instagram and Tik Tok for their health information, often relying on influencers. That’s not all bad, says Dr. Langeni, but he says having a primary care provider as a trusted source is a great way to verify information from social media.

“I promote people getting information, but the big thing is just then take the information and then ask, ‘Hey, what's true? What's not true, or if it is, is this right for me?’ If it's not right for me, because everyone is individually different, having a primary doctor really will help to cater to your individual plan.”

With OSF MyChart, you can also easily access your primary care provider with questions about a variety of concerns, including medications, supplements, or issues that might arise between appointments. If it requires a referral to a specialist, your primary care provider can make that happen. Dr. Langeni suggests thinking of a primary care provider as someone who is a care coordinator and your advocate.

National statistics reveal other health realities men might consider. For example, men die by suicide at twice the rate of women and 40.5% of men over 20 have obesity. A primary care provider can help with lifestyle changes and medication, if necessary, to address obesity. Some mental health challenges can be managed at the primary care level, but Dr. Langeni says having a professional you trust to discuss stress, anxiety, depression or other concerns is crucial. Then, he says, your provider can recommend whether seeing a behavioral health specialist might be the best approach.

Just as you take your car in for a regular oil change, Dr. Langeni strongly suggests regular health maintenance with a primary care provider. Putting it another way, he emphasizes, “primary care is preventive care” and that’s nothing to laugh at. 

Dr. Mfowethu Langeni

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Are you treating your care better than your body?

Pediatrician Mike Endris, MD, has been using a new ambient listening tool for medical appointments for the past six months. And, since then, he hasn’t had to stay late at the office once. He now has time for other tasks, including teaching medical residents and responding more quickly to messages in his OSF MyChart (patient access portal) inbox.

He has been given the gift of time through technology. OSF HealthCare has been piloting a generative AI-powered clinical documentation tool from Microsoft, DAX Copilot, that is embedded into a patient’s electronic health record (EHR). DAX is an acronym for Dragon Ambient eXperience.

The technology records and transcribes patient visits before drafting a clinical note for the medical record. Patients are asked to give consent and Dr. Endris says most do, once he explains their information is being kept on a secure platform that complies with all privacy requirements in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Dr. Endris loves being able to completely focus on his conversations during medical visits and he believes DAX Copilot is easing physician burnout.

"Things got busier; more of the visit and the documentation needed to be done almost in real time to be able to stay on schedule and to be able to go home in a timely hour and not be stuck, charting while I'm sitting at home in my pajamas. So this has definitely allowed that to be a reality for us.”

The technology uses specific templates that are trained for a certain type of specialty, so the artificial intelligence understands what’s important during the visit. That really impressed Dr. Endris.

“In pediatrics, we obviously talk about school a lot, and it tends to pull in that relevant information, whereas, if you're talking to somebody else about school, it’s probably not putting that in a urology note or what have you.”

Tyler Fitch, MD, chief medical information officer for OSF HealthCare/Pointcore, who is helping oversee the implementation of the technology in medical and specialty offices, says to date, 150 physicians have used DAX Copilot. Most are impressed with the accuracy and quality of the notes generated. All providers review and have the option of changing notes before making the summary a permanent part of a person’s medical record. Dr. Fitch says most users don’t find themselves changing much in the notes.

During the six-month pilot, data showed users were getting back 30-40 minutes per day that was spent on notes, including after hours, referred to as ‘pajama time.’ Dr. Fitch reports it’s helping doctors feel excited about their career again.

“As you heard from Dr. Endris, he can really focus on talking to the person rather than having to worry, multitask at the same time… because you can really trust it. You can actually engage in the conversation. That brings the joy or the vision people have going to medical school – it is not simply writing notes and talking to patients, (but) helping them.”

Feedback from more than 1,000 OSF HealthCare patients where the ambient listening technology was used showed 96% said they felt doctors were more engaged during their appointment. But, OSF has not made it mandatory for providers to use the tool.

OSF HealthCare is still in the process of gathering data, particularly as it continues to launch the technology in additional medical offices. An important data point will be whether providers think they’ll be able to see more patients in a day, therefore opening up access and reducing wait times for people to get the care they need. Dr. Endris says that has been the case for some providers in the pediatrics office in Bloomington, Illinois, where he practices. As he put it, “It’s a real game changer.”

Dr. Fitch agrees the technology is transformative.

“To analogize this to something like maybe in farming, this is like the invention of a tractor. This makes stuff happen that previously took a lot of extra labor … that automates it and allows you to be doing other things or to do much more scale. And so, this is a huge deal for our providers, which is why you're hearing so many, so many comments like that.”

OSF HealthCare will be among the first health systems to try a new feature called DAX Copilot Orders that will, for example, generate orders for the providers to review and sign off based on what was said during the appointment. A pilot for that new feature launches this spring.

Dr. Mike Endris

Dr. Tyler Fitch

B-roll for DAX Copilot

OSF HealthCare is introducing a new way for patients to connect. My OSF is a smart phone app that offers a single place to access OSF resources. It makes it easy to find urgent care, access OSF MyChart, navigate OSF locations, pay bills and more. My OSF empowers patients with instant access to everything they need to manage their health.  

A key feature is wayfinding to help patients navigate from their home or office to the parking lot to their medical destination. Then, it offers step-by-step directions once inside and includes floor maps to help navigate what can sometimes be dauntingly large facilities. *(Currently available at the OSF HealthCare Cancer Institute in Peoria with more locations are coming soon!)

Here are the many features within My OSF:

• Find a provider
• Find an OSF HealthCare location near you and get directions
• Get wait times for urgent care locations
• Start an OSF OnCall Urgent Care virtual visit
• Schedule an appointment 
• Access OSF MyChart
• Pay a bill
• Access Clare, our 24/7 virtual health assistant, who helps patients manage symptoms and connect to a nurse anytime, anywhere.
  Discover career opportunities
• Find useful health and wellness information
• Navigate locations within large medical facilities, starting with the OSF HealthCare Cancer Institute in Peoria with additional locations being added

The My OSF app also allows users to save the most often visited features on the app as a favorite. The app is available for all smartphones to download from any app store.