Our clinic is using new artificial intelligence (AI) solution called an AI scribe. It is a technology that helps us during patient visits by preparing notes based on our conversations with you. This allows doctors to focus more on patients and less on taking notes.
What is an AI Scribe?
An AI scribe is an application that makes a temporary audio recording and transcript of your discussion and creates a draft summary “note” for your doctor based on your conversation. This note will be reviewed and edited as needed by your doctor and becomes part of your electronic medical record.
How will this affect you?
If you agree, your doctor will begin using the AI scribe at the start of your visit. Based on the conversation, the AI scribe will create a summary note of the conversation. The AI scribe does not make decisions about your care - it only summarizes your conversation and the observations your doctor has made. After your visit, your doctor will review information drafted by the AI scribe to make sure it is accurate and complete.
Privacy
AI scribe vendors must comply with Ontario’s privacy laws and other legal requirements in order to safeguard your personal health information. The AI scribe solution uses encryption to communicate with an AI model to protect personal health information. Once your doctor approves the final note, it is pasted in your electronic medical record. We have required that any temporary audio recording and transcript are securely deleted once the note is edited and finalized by your doctor.
Risks Associated with AI Scribes
While safeguards are in place to protect your personal health information and comply with Ontario’s privacy laws, there are always some risks. These include possible inaccuracies in documentation, including how information is captured or processed, biases, or misuse of data despite safeguards.
Biases in AI tool outputs can result when the language model is trained on dataset which contain inherent biases (such as algorithmic or cognitive biases), or because the data used is not sufficiently diverse, representative, or to the best extent possible, free of errors.
Your personal health information is protected under Ontario’s privacy laws (PHIPA), and our clinic is committed to maintaining the security, accuracy, and confidentiality of your information. Ultimately, it is your doctor’s obligation to review and make any corrections to your record and patient notes. Your doctor is required to review and edit notes to ensure their accuracy and completeness before finalizing. If you have further questions or concerns, please speak with your doctor.
Your Consent The use of the AI scribe during your visit is completely voluntary. Your doctor will ask you if you agree to the use of the AI scribe during your visit. You are not required to agree to the use of an AI scribe. You can also change your mind at any time by telling your doctor if you do not want the AI scribe to be used going forward. The quality of care you receive will not be impacted.
