What makes a doctor take the leap from the operating room to developing healthcare AI? Lasse Krogsbøll, clinical product specialist at Corti, reveals what it’s like to work on both sides of the healthcare industry and why the future is bright for young doctors.
Today, Lasse Krogsbøll is a clinical product specialist at Corti, guiding the evolution of our healthcare AI with medical insights. But for the better part of the last decade, you would have found him in the operating room at Copenhagen’s Bispebjerg Hospital, performing complex gastrointestinal surgeries.
“I had many great years in surgery, and I loved the sense of teamwork in my department, helping patients. But the emotional aspects of the job weigh more heavily on some than others,”
He explains that while some of his colleagues could learn from a complication and move on, he wasn’t able to do the same: “I found that I couldn’t stop thinking about my patients and realized that I wouldn’t be able to carry that mental burden for 25 years.”
“Documentation software is a vital tool.”
Around this time, AI was surging into the spotlight and transforming workflows across many industries—including healthcare.
As a surgeon grappling with the demands of clinical documentation, Lasse was particularly interested in the potential of AI to solve healthcare’s administrative challenges.
“The thing about documentation software is that it might not sound like a big deal for people not working with it, but if you ask anyone who works in clinical medicine—documentation software is a vital tool. It has the power to completely shape how you perform your work.”
In his work, Lasse had seen many different kinds of software for documentation but found few effective starting: “I've seen a lot of horrible software across my career,”
That’s when he discovered Corti. Lasse says he was excited by an AI product designed to improve the quality of clinical consultations and documentation. So he decided to switch to another side of healthcare; developing the technology that makes clinical work more effective.
“Instead of just complaining about the existing technology offerings, it’s great to get a chance to participate in evolving better tools. I really liked the idea of being able to start over in a new field.”
With 14 years of clinical experience and a Ph.D under his belt, Lasse brings invaluable insights from medical research and the hospital floor to Corti.
“My clinical background means that I understand the pain of the customers, who might have particular workflow challenges or needs. So I’m hopefully able to give them something that suits their needs really well.”
The future is bright for doctors
One pain point for doctors is not having enough time for patients due to documentation tasks. But Lasse is excited about the potential of AI solutions like Corti to transform this picture by generating high-quality clinical notes after listening in on a consultation.
“When I think of my colleagues over at the hospital, I actually feel envious of them, because I know that very soon they’ll have access to tools like Corti that are going to make life a lot easier and take away many tough aspects of the job,”
“That’s going to free up time to focus on what clinicians like best, which is seeing patients. Doctors don’t want to spend half our time documenting.”
He acknowledges some hesitation that clinicians may have about putting a microphone in the room with a doctor and patient. “But I think many patients would feel safer knowing there’s an exact transcript of their consultation stored somewhere, helping to prevent errors or disagreements about what happened down the line.”
Lasse also foresees AI innovation making it easier for new doctors to come through the ranks.
“When I was a new doctor, we would have this little book in our pocket which was like a condensation of the entire medical field. It’s really difficult, you have to remember so much and modern medicine is far too big for a single human brain,”
“Now, younger doctors are going to find it much easier to quickly get relevant information about whatever patient issue they’re facing when they’re at a less experienced stage in their career.”
AI will bring much-needed support
Lasse says co-pilot technology like Corti—which draws on a huge database of medical knowledge to offer doctors real-time prompts and reminders—will offer doctors much needed support and make it easier to access second opinions.
“There’s no room for error in healthcare – I hope it’s going to be a lot easier to get support from machines in terms of freeing up time to think, accessing the exact information you need, and also extra feedback,”
Lasse stresses that the point of co-pilot technology is not to have the AI do the thinking – that resides with the clinician – but to enhance a doctor’s capabilities by offering input, and relevant information the doctor might have missed or introduce the latest research.
“As a doctor, you’re constantly going around to your colleagues for a second opinion to see if you’re missing anything, especially in a tough patient case. Soon we are probably going to be able to ask an AI to help us with that, making it easier.”
Are clinicians talking enough about AI?
With his dual perspective, Lasse says that’s a hurdle that both technology providers and medical professionals need to overcome if we want to make doctor’s lives easier with AI.
Those of us working in offices are probably familiar with the technology that can help with writing notes, but Lasse points out that those who work with the human body are usually more excited about surgical innovations.
“In my department, I was always the one talking about co-pilot or documentation AI. Most of my colleagues were more interested in innovations in surgical technology, like surgical robots and fluorescent guidance for removing organs,”
“That’s really different to documentation technology, which isn’t as much on the radar yet.”
But with a background that enables him to understand both the needs of surgeons – and the huge potential of documentation technology—that’s exactly what Lasse is here to change.