In the past few decades, Canada has had a shortage of doctors. This shortage has left many patients struggling to get a doctor's appointment. Some patients have even been added to waitlists that have lasted for months. Apart from the shortage of doctors though, one of the key factors to this long wait list is the fact that scheduling patients takes a good deal of time and administrative work. Time that most doctors don't really have.
Luckily there have been strides in A.I technology that have helped doctors keep track of patients and scheduling doctor appointments. British Columbia in particular is using AI Scribes to record patients' visits and could ease the need for doctors to deal with paperwork and administrative tasks. What are AI scribes though, and how are they beneficial for B.C doctors?
A.I Scribes are artificial intelligence tools that can be used to listen to patient-physician conversations and can in real-time create detailed summaries and medical notes. These A.I tools have been so effective that organizations, the Doctors of B.C and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. have provided guidance on the use of AI in healthcare. This includes the use of virtual health assistants, personalized treatment plans, and AI scribes.
Please note that doctors will need to get the patient's consent verbally or in writing. The patient must also be informed of the benefits, potential risks, the measures taken to lessen the risks, and how the scribe works. Errors can also be a potential issue. Dialects and accents can potentially affect recordings, however, AI scribe technology is rapidly processing and such erros can be rectified in time.
While there may be a few security risks when using AI scribe technology, the benefits are there. By using AI scribes, doctors can lessen the amount of paperwork that they will need to deal with on a daily basis.
According to Dr. John Jose Nunez, an assistant professor at the University of B.C, AI scribes have become very popular as they free up time on paperwork and the need for taking notes during consultations, which allows the physician to focus fully on listening to the patient.
As of now, there are 3,300 doctors working through health authorities that are actively using AI scribes, and 3,000 community-based physicians using AI scribes as well.
According to findings from an AI Scribe pilot project conducted by the Doctors of B.C, there was a reduction in cognitive burden. For example, the study estimated that an average reduction of 2.7 hours per week in administrative work for family physicians and a reduction in after-appointment documentation time, which averages 3.4 minutes per appointment per family physician, which, at 100 appointments per week, could lead to 5.7 hours saved per week.
97 per cent of pilot participants have also stated that they would recommend using an AI scribe to their fellow doctors. 78 percent also stated that they felt that they had more time to use an AI scribe as part of their workflow which would lead to more efficient practice. 78 percent of patients also stated that they felt that their doctor was able to pay more attention to them, compared to past visits without the use of AI scribe.
The B.C government has also introduced Bill S-5. If the bill is passed, digital health can be safely shared across systems. According to the B.C. Government, the bill would support AI innovation by ensuring secure, standardized, data-sharing, and will allow AI models to improve treatment, system efficiency and diagnostics.
With these innovations, doctors will now be able to forgo the tedious administration process and focus fully on what really matters. Their patients.
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