During the summer of 2023, Dr. Rosemary Lal, a family physician Working in a bustling medical clinic in Scarborough, her breaking point came.
After nearly three decades on the job, Lali was ready to give up as she found herself buried under unavoidable patient-related paperwork, which often took up precious family time.
“I lost all the joy of work,” Lal told Global News. “I was actually coming to work dreading that day.”
That fear, Lall said, had less to do with the patient experience and instead came from the work associated with “outcomes” — the mandatory record-keeping that front-line health-care workers are required to do through Ontario’s electronic medical records system. are expected to input.
Physicians are expected to update patient charts, fill out medical forms, provide sick notes and provide specialist referrals, Lall said.
Due to the administrative burden it often took him up to two hours a day. The Medical Association of Ontario estimates that family doctors spend 19 hours per week on administrative tasks, including four hours spent writing notes or filling out forms for patients.
“I’ve come to a crossroads where I’m going to quit, I’m going to call it quits, or I’m going to find a solution,” Lal said.
The solution, Lall said, were new artificial intelligence note-taking apps that are designed to mimic doctor’s notes and reduce the amount of paperwork a physician has to manually compile.
The AI Scribe program — which is run by OntarioMD, the digital technology arm of the Ontario Medical Association — allows doctors to choose from a handful of devices that act as note-taking assistants during patient visits.
Latest health and medical news
Emailed to you every Sunday.
Patients who consent have regular conversations with the physician about their illness, while the doctor verbalizes their thoughts during a physical examination. AI scribe software is capable of creating and processing real-time transcripts during the appointment.
Lall said the real benefit comes after the appointment when the AI scribe compiles the information into a so-called SOAP note, a standard requirement for family physicians set by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.
Artificial intelligence technology separates the heard information into subjective information relayed by the patient, objective information relayed by the doctor, assessment information conveyed by the physician during the physical examination, and action plans for patient care. The four areas – subjective, objective, evaluation and planning – make up the acronym SOAP.
Lal said the AI scribe takes a few minutes to collect the information, allowing it to move on to other patients while the SOAP note is being created in the background.
If the physician is unhappy with the note, Lal said, they can ask the AI model to reproduce the information or add more detail to any category. Although the device has some flaws, she said, the improvements have been noticeable in the 10 months since she started using it.
“I really feel this should be the next gold standard for all of our doctors. It reduces the cognitive load you feel at the end of the day,” she said.
The Ford government has been so impressed with the technology that it announced a pilot program to allow 150 family physicians to use AI Scribe as part of their practices. The health minister said early signs are promising but stressed that the government will proceed with caution.
“We’re doing this in a very measured way so we can look at those outcomes and see what the impact is,” Deputy Premier Sylvia Jones told Global News. “In fact, patients really appreciate it. “Physicians are seeing the benefits.”
Still, some people have questions about the data collected by AI Scribe, privacy, and the potential for misuse.
“I would have serious concerns if this is not implemented properly,” said Dr. Adil Shamji, a liberal health critic and physician.
“There are important things to be done in terms of ensuring patient privacy, ensuring accuracy,” Shaji said. “If it’s really going to be autonomous with minimal oversight it will need to be implemented very carefully.”
Ontario NDP health critic France Gelinas said artificial intelligence will be “part of the future of health care” in Ontario but it needs to be managed carefully.
“You have to maintain a trusting relationship between providers and the patient,” she said.
“This means respecting their privacy. Are We There Yet? I do not think so. Will we stay there? Absolutely. This part will get made but let’s take appropriate steps, finish the pilot, see what we learn from it.”
Lall said that after 29 years as a family physician, last Christmas was the first celebration that was not interrupted by the need to update patient notes, thanks to AI notetaking software.
“For me, it changed things,” Lal said. “It makes me really happy.
“I will never go back.”
©2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.