NS doctors welcome AI note-taking tool, expert says public transparency important

More than 440 medical professionals in Nova Scotia have begun using artificial intelligence to record patient visits since a pilot program launched last June, according to data shared by the Department of Health and Wellness.

Program, Launched by Canada Health InfowayOffers a free one-year license to eligible primary care physicians across Canada for the AI ​​documentation tool, which allows health-care providers to capture patient interactions and turn them into real-time summaries for both doctor and patient.

A total of 500 funded licenses are available in Nova Scotia’s program.

Shelley McNeil, president of Doctors Nova Scotia, said the association is “very supportive” of new technologies like AI scribes to enhance patient care and help doctors provide a better work-life balance.

Dr. Ajantha Jayabarathan, Halifax Family Physician, She said she typically spends five minutes or more completing notes after seeing a patient, but Mika AI Writer saves her that time and allows her to do just that. Move on to the next tasks faster.

Mika is an AI scribe Only AI Scribe approved For use by Nova Scotia Health clinics and health care professionals in the province.

“I find that my patients are waiting less to see me,” he said. “Patients really appreciate that I as a doctor have a tool to help them and make me efficient.”

However Jayabarathan also finds the AI ​​tool’s transcription results “surprisingly accurate” Notes still require manual editing before they can be entered into the electronic medical record.

She said, “I would say that 90 percent of what has been written has been put in the note itself.” “And because the machine as a device is writing these things down with so much more detail, I think there’s a lot more detail in my notes than I probably would have included.”

According to Nova Scotia policy guidance For AI Scribe, CClinicians should always review and edit the output to ensure that accuracy, and Patients have the right to revoke their consent at any time.

‘Relatively safe’ for now

Abhi Kalra, executive vice president of connected care at Infoway, said in an interview on Tuesday. Initial results of a survey were “very encouraging” and raised no concerns.

According to InfowayThe Nine AI Scribe technology vendors were evaluated and selected through various criteria in the national programIncluding their “data security and privacy practices” and “alignment with national and jurisdictional requirements and standards”.

All vendors are headquartered in Canada.

Frank Rudzicz, a computer science professor at Dalhousie University with research experience in Ontario’s AI Scribe technology, said he was very… Confident about technology in general.

He said it is “relatively safe” when the tool is being used to turn conversations into transcripts, although there may be challenges if it is helping with decision making.

Nova Scotia Health recommends program policy That AI scribe notes should be removed from the tool within seven days.

Rudzicz noted that while reducing the storage of patient information to protect privacy is “a good thing,” it may still have a blind spot.

“Imagine if two weeks go by and an error is found in a medical record generated by an AI writer, and if you don’t have the original data, such as the original conversation or some other form of original data, you won’t be able to go back and identify the source of the error.”

Rudzicz told patients Can request more information about the processing and location of their data, so they are more informed about it Technology while giving consent.

“I think it’s a good thing, as long as we see it as something we can work on collectively as a province,” he said.

“Patients and citizens should not consider themselves data subjects… We should be active participants. We should be part of the conversation.”

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