Five Questions and an Elevator Pitch: ClariChart

1. What is the need that your project seeks to address?

Nikhiya: Electronic health records (EHRs) were originally intended to simplify doctors' lives by digitizing patient records but, in practice, they've become a significant source of stress and frustration. Physicians today are overwhelmed by paperwork, excessive clicking, and endless documentation. In fact, studies show that for every eight hours doctors spend with patients, they spend five or more hours working on EHRs.

Over the past months, we've conducted extensive interviews with more than 50 healthcare professionals, including physicians, nurse practitioners, and hospital administrators. Nearly all of them identified EHRs as their biggest frustration. The consequences of this issue escalate, as physician burnout is contributing to a growing shortage of healthcare providers in the US, with a short fall of more than  60,000 primary care physicians (PCPs) projected within the next decade. Another recent study found that PCPs would need more than 26 hours per day to provide all the recommended care for their patients. Clearly, this situation is unsustainable.

2. How does your solution work?

Eric: We are focused on developing a platform that integrates relevant patient data for PCPs who see patients with chronic conditions to rapidly identify needed care. Our solution, ClariChart, is an end-to-end AI platform designed to help PCPs efficiently navigate complex patient charts. It addresses physician burnout by significantly reducing the time spent interacting with EHRs. ClariChart has two main features: Smart Search and Smart Retrieval.

Smart Search allows physicians to quickly access a comprehensive patient overview with just one click, compared to the approximately 78 clicks currently required in systems like Epic. Instead of simply displaying isolated lab values or diagnostics, Smart Search provides a patient-centered narrative. It contextualizes data, showing how a condition started, its progression, and any contraindications with other patient conditions or medications. Physicians can also ask specific questions—such as "how is the patient responding to their medications?"—and receive detailed narrative responses drawn directly from the EHR.

Smart Retrieval is designed for use during patient consultations. Typically, physicians spend much of the consultation typing and searching through the EHR, which can negatively impact patient interactions. With this feature, physicians initiate an active listening session, allowing the system to listen to the conversation, automatically retrieve relevant patient data in real-time, transcribe the consultation, and generate a detailed report that can be used for post-visit documentation.

3. What motivated you to take on the project? And what activities have you undertaken?

Munim: Each of us has personally witnessed the impact of physician burnout, either through our own experiences or through family members working in medicine. As a family medicine physician myself, I've directly experienced the frustration of working with outdated EHRs, and I've seen firsthand how much valuable time they take away from patient interactions. When our team came together, we realized we had a unique blend of skills and experiences that positioned us well to tackle this critical issue. Beyond simply improving efficiency, we were deeply motivated by the potential downstream effects of our solution: reducing diagnostic errors, freeing up more time for meaningful patient interactions, and ultimately enabling physicians to provide better care and save lives.

Elizabeth: Given that the EHR optimization space is quite saturated, our main challenge has been ensuring that our solution truly addresses the specific pain points clinicians face. We've been fortunate to receive extensive feedback, which has guided our iterative design process. Currently, our prototype is a non-functional, low-fidelity version, that is allowing us to validate our concept thoroughly before investing heavily in technical development. Moving forward, as we build a more technically robust minimum viable product [MVP], we anticipate encountering new challenges, particularly around integrating advanced AI features.

Munim: Now that we've confirmed strong clinician interest and validated our core features, we're ready to begin building our MVP next quarter. In addition to technical development, our upcoming goals include clarifying our regulatory strategy, seeking legal advice regarding FDA considerations, and preparing for future fundraising efforts.

Eric: We also plan to enhance our outreach. We've recently launched a newsletter to keep our mentors, stakeholders, and supporters informed about our progress, share updates about ClariChart, and promote our recent achievements. It's a simple yet effective way to maintain engagement and gather ongoing feedback from our network.

4. What’s the most important thing you learned in advancing your project?

Nikhiya: I've learned the deep value of understanding the problem firsthand. Initially, we had many assumptions about physician burnout and electronic health records, and I thought I had a good idea of what the issue was. But the more we spoke directly with physicians, the more we uncovered insights and challenges we hadn't even considered. It really broadened our perspective and showed me how crucial it is to engage directly with stakeholders rather than relying solely on secondhand research or online sources.

Eric: A key takeaway for me has been learning not to become overly attached to our initial ideas or concepts. The Biodesign process emphasizes this, and it was incredibly valuable for our team. When we were developing solutions, we intentionally challenged ourselves to critique and iterate on each idea, which helped us remain flexible and open-minded. Throughout our prototyping, we received varied feedback—some physicians loved certain features while others didn't find them useful. This taught me that pivoting and iterating are natural and essential parts of innovation.

Munim: In our space, there are huge industry giants and, initially, this felt daunting. But through mentorship and our own experiences, we've realized that these large companies often move slowly and don't innovate as quickly. Our team brings fresh perspectives, youthful energy, and agility to the problem, allowing us to think differently and develop fresh solutions. I've learned that it's okay—and even exciting—to be bold and take on big competitors.

Elizabeth: I've also learned that having the right team makes all the difference. Over the past six months, we've built strong relationships and mutual trust, and I'm confident that together we could challenge ideas, tackle any obstacle, and achieve the goals we set our minds to.

5. What advice do you have for other aspiring health technology innovators?

Nikhiya: My biggest piece of advice is to approach health technology innovation as a marathon, not a sprint. In other industries, you might iterate quickly, launch rapidly, and scale fast. But healthcare moves more slowly—and for good reason. Lives are at stake, and regulations are strict to ensure patient safety. This means you need to engage deeply in problem-solving, build resilience, and adopt a long-term mindset.

Elizabeth: Remain genuinely open to learning from everyone around you; even people working on completely different projects or in entirely different areas can offer valuable insights. You never know where inspiration might come from, so embrace opportunities to learn broadly. Stanford Biodesign creates an amazing environment where that collaborative spirit can lead to unexpected and exciting outcomes.

Eric: Listen more than you talk. When you're innovating in healthcare, the people you're interviewing—clinicians, patients, and other stakeholders—are the ones experiencing the real pain points. They have lived the experience, it's crucial to let them guide the conversation. Also, pay attention not just to what they say, but to what they do. Sometimes their actions reveal pain points they might not explicitly mention.

Munim: It's easy to feel discouraged by the challenges inherent in health technology innovation—whether it's regulatory hurdles or defining a business model. But the reality is that few other industries offer the opportunity to save lives, alleviate suffering, and improve quality of life on a profound scale. My advice is to not be afraid to reimagine how things can be done differently. Healthcare desperately needs fresh perspectives, bold ideas, and creative problem-solving. Don't shy away from challenging the status quo or pushing for disruption where it's needed. The challenges are significant, but the potential to transform healthcare for the better is immense and incredibly rewarding.