Vanderbilt AI: Cutting Alzheimer's Treatment Wait Times

Vanderbilt Health plans to integrate an AI agent into its electronic health record system. This artificial intelligence aims to reduce the waiting time for Alzheimer's patients to receive their initial anti-amyloid therapy infusion. The 18-month, $600,000 project focuses on the referral process from primary care or geriatrics to neurology. This stage is where delays often occur. Funding for this initiative comes from Eli Lilly and Company. Eli Lilly manufactures donanemab, one of the anti-amyloid therapies. The proposed AI agent will summarize chart information, flag missing details, and recommend if a case needs priority routing when a clinician enters a referral for cognitive concerns. Clinicians can accept, edit, or override these recommendations. This project addresses a real clinical problem where patients face significant delays in accessing treatment for early cognitive decline.