Latest news with #medicalnotes
The Sun
3 days ago
- Health
- The Sun
AI is helping doctors write up medical notes in bid to get patients out of hospital beds faster
AI is helping doctors write up medical notes to try to get patients out of hospital beds faster. The tech means they spend less time filling in forms, cutting delays in discharging those fit to go home. It creates a summary using information such as diagnoses and test results from medical records. The document can then be reviewed by medical teams and used to send patients home or refer them to other services. The technology is being piloted at Chelsea and Westminster NHS Trust. Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: 'This potentially transformational discharge tool is a prime example of how we're shifting from analogue to digital. 'We're using cutting-edge technology to build an NHS fit for the future and tackle the hospital backlogs that have left too many people waiting too long. 'Doctors will spend less time on paperwork and more time with patients, getting people home to their families faster and freeing up beds for those who need them most.' As part of their AI revolution, the Government has also announced tech is being given to all 12,000 probation officers. A programme called Justice Transcribe will help them take notes in meetings with offenders after they leave prison. It was found to halve the time officers spent organising notes between meetings and in their personal time. Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: 'This is exactly the kind of change we need, AI being used to give doctors, probation officers and other key workers more time to focus on delivering better outcomes and speeding up vital services.' AI VR Hospital of the future Tel Aviv feature - Sun on Sunday Exclusive 1
CBC
6 days ago
- Health
- CBC
Doctors are turning to AI scribes to take medical notes. Quebec wants to test it out
Social Sharing Frustrated by overwhelming paperwork that eats into their time with patients, some doctors in Quebec have been turning to artificial intelligence tools to streamline the transcription of their medical notes during consultations. Now, Santé Québec, the Crown corporation that oversees the province's health-care network, is planning to launch a pilot project to look into these technologies with the goal of expanding their use in the health-care system. Dr. Felix Lê-Phat-Hô, a family physician based in Montreal, has been using one of the tools for a year and says it's reduced his mental load and improved his quality of service. "It has a huge impact in my clinical practice," he said of the tool Plume AI. Lê-Phat-Hô says the tool saves him from doing two to three hours of paperwork daily, allowing him to see up to three more patients a day. Right now, only applications that have obtained official certification from Santé Québec, guaranteeing data protection, can be used. Plume AI, which was created by a group of Quebec doctors, is one of these approved platforms. Its co-founder, emergency room physician Dr. James Tu, says 10 per cent of doctors in Quebec already use his application — about 2,000 doctors. For Lê-Phat-Hô, the benefits speak for themselves. "You get to focus your attention solely on the patient, and the patients really appreciate it because they can feel that they have their doctor's full attention." "So it's really like a win-win situation for both the patient and me." WATCH | How AI tools are helping doctors: How doctors are using AI in the exam room — and why it could become the norm 4 minutes ago The Quebec government says it's launching a pilot project involving artificial intelligence transcription tools for health-care professionals, with an increasing number saying they cut down the time they spend filling paperwork. How does it work? Plume AI is an application that doctors can download on their phones or their computers. At the beginning of the consultation, they explain to the patient what the application does and ask for consent before recording the exchange. If the patient accepts, the doctor starts the recording, and the consultation goes on like it normally would: the patient explains their problem, the doctor asks questions, talks about diagnosis and the treatment plan. "It doesn't matter what the flow of the discussion was, what the interview was, what the language was, what the patient's accent was," said Tu. "Thanks to artificial intelligence, it's able to grasp the context of each discussion." Once the consultation ends, the doctor stops the transcription, and Plume AI generates a structured medical note based on the discussion. This way, doctors don't need to take detailed notes during the consultations, or write up the medical note during it or at the end of their day, which Tu says can take an "enormous" amount of time. Instead, they can focus on the patient in front of them. He says he's able to see up to six more patients a day in the emergency room thanks to the technology. "That's what I studied for," he said "To talk to the patient, not to fill out paperwork." Canada now has a minister of artificial intelligence. What will he do? Cybersecurity concerns Lê-Phat-Hô says he was initially skeptical about using AI in his practice, worried about the risks to his patients' privacy. Éric Parent, a cybersecurity expert, shares this concern. He says the data would need to be stored as locally as possible and within a controlled environment to avoid risks, and that there should be a protocol to establish who is legally responsible for the data. He also hopes that startup companies leveraging this technology invest in strong security measures. "When you cut corners with cybersecurity… we're creating a dependency on this technology, so if the system, for example, becomes unavailable, then what would happen?" he said. "And so these systems have to be built to be at the security level or the resiliency level, the quality level that we actually need." Plume AI stores its data locally in Quebec, and new data gets erased automatically after 24 to 48 hours, measures that reassured Lê-Phat-Hô. Tu, the tool's co-founder, is hoping to collaborate with more health-care professionals that could benefit from the technology, such as nurses, social workers, physiotherapists and dentists. He's looking forward to potentially collaborating with Santé Quebec for the pilot project to study the impacts of this technology on the medical field. "I think that the entry of artificial intelligence into the world of health is inevitable. It must be regulated, must be well supervised, must have guidelines in place," he said. "But for once, we are able to have access to technology in the health system that is not so behind the times."
CTV News
11-08-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Quebec wants to launch AI pilot project to take medical notes in 2026
Emergency room physician Dr. Olivier Lavigueur works on a computer while providing care for patients in the emergency room at the Humber River Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Tuesday, January 25, 2022. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette) More and more health care professionals are using artificial intelligence (AI) to transcribe medical notes during patient consultations, and Quebec's health ministry is planning to jump on the bandwagon. Work is underway to evaluate available solutions for clinical and non-clinical notetaking, Santé Québec said in an email to The Canadian Press. Currently, only solutions that have obtained official certification from Santé Québec, among other criteria to guarantee patient data protection, can be used in the health care network. Plume IA and CoeurWay are among the Quebec companies attracting more doctors to their applications. For now, Plume IA mainly does business with family medicine groups (GMFs). The company is currently in the process of having its application tested by speech therapists, social workers, doctors and nurses 'to demonstrate that it works' and eventually obtain 'a licence for an entire department, for an entire hospital,' said Plume IA Co-Founder Dr. James Tu. He launched Plume IA with Dr. Jasmin Landry one year ago, and says about 10 per cent of Quebec's doctors are already using their app – about 2,000 doctors. 'The feedback we've gotten has been really encouraging,' said Tu. 'Doctors call us, they write to us, they say we've changed their practice, they go home much less tired, they have more time with their families. We have stories of family doctors who have postponed their retirement this year because they found that the workload had decreased and that it brought back some enjoyment to their work.' Tu is an emergency physician and estimates that in his practice, he is able to see four to six more patients in an eight-hour shift. The amount of time saved varies depending on the practice, but in general, health care professionals can save one to two hours of charting per day. 'The app is accessible and works for all specialties,' said Tu. 'Those who get the most value from our app are those who have to do a lot of writing. I'm thinking in particular of social workers who have to write notes on patient demographics and psychosocial issues.' Proofread, validate and insert The Plume AI app has two modes. The first involves recording a discussion during a consultation with a patient (after obtaining their consent). The app then transforms the discussion into a structured medical note, a step that clinicians are used to doing themselves. The doctor can also conduct a consultation as normal and then, at the end, record themselves talking to the app to produce the same kind of structured medical note. According to Tu, even if a patient has a strong accent or uses certain phrases in another language, the app will be able to produce a reliable medical note. 'That's the power of artificial intelligence: it's not necessarily a word-for-word transcription. It's the artificial intelligence that interprets the conversation [...] and is able to deduce a little more about the context,' Tu points out. He acknowledges that occasionally, some errors may still slip into the note, and that clinicians need to be vigilant. 'I think it's a habit that everyone has anyway, instinctively rereading the note and correcting any typos or adding information that is more visual or implicit. Then they can correct the note directly in the app. It takes a few seconds, and then they can immediately validate it and insert it into their file,' explained Tu. For now, Plume IA is focusing solely on transcription, but its co-founder says he is confident that the technology will one day advance the accuracy and speed of diagnoses. 'The potential is almost endless, and I think it will happen,' he said. However, Tu notes that important issues must still be addressed, including ethical questions, accountability, and the diversity of data sources. The Canadian Press's health coverage is supported by a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. The Canadian Press is solely responsible for this journalistic content. This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Aug. 11, 2025.
Daily Mail
05-08-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
GPs warned using AI to record patient notes can lead to dangerous inaccuracies
GPs have been warned to look out for 'inaccurate or fabricated' information when using AI to write their medical notes. Family doctors are increasingly using tools that listen to their consultations with patients and automatically add summaries to their records. But the Royal College of GPs has warned AI can misinterpret the nuance of conversations, with potential dangerous consequences. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) also says there is a 'risk of hallucination which users should be aware of, and manufacturers should actively seek to minimise and mitigate the potential harms of their occurrence'. The safety watchdog is now urging GPs to report issues with AI scribes through its Yellow Card Scheme, which is typically used to report adverse reactions to medicines. This should include 'suspected inaccuracies', trade publication GP Online reports. The British Medical Association's GP Committee said earlier this year that 'the adoption of passive scribes in general practice has gathered significant pace', with practices using standalone systems or tools rolled out with other common software. Dr Phil Whitaker, a UK GP who recently moved to Canada, wrote in the New Statesman that an AI tool he used was 'not to be trusted'. He said it misinterpreted conversations with patients who asked him about his move from the UK - and recorded notes suggesting patients had recently moved to Canada instead. He added: 'I've caught it recording findings of examinations I haven't performed and detailing advice I haven't given. 'The company that makes it advises users to check its output carefully. 'For me, the time spent reading and editing outweighs any productivity gains.' And an article published by Fortune last month outlined a case in which 'a patient in London was mistakenly invited to a diabetic screening after an AI-generated medical record falsely claimed he had diabetes and suspected heart disease'. However, despite this growing use of AI and the recognition of potential problems, the MHRA said a search of its database revealed 'no adverse incident reports related to the use of AI scribes'. The government's 10-Year Health Plan says it intends to 'accelerate the adoption and spread of AI technology, such as AI scribes, by streamlining AI regulation'. A new national procurement platform will be set up next year to support GP practices and NHS trusts to adopt new technology safely. Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the RCGP, said: 'AI has enormous potential for transforming the future of our health and patient care. Fewer than one in three Britons are comfortable with the prospect of using new AI features in the NHS App to diagnose their issues, a poll reveals. Health secretary Wes Streeting announced plans to revamp the app as part of Labour's 10-Year Health Plan so every patient could have a 'doctor in their pocket'. But a new survey found 44 per of the public are 'uncomfortable' with trusting the diagnosis and management of their conditions to artificial intelligence, with this figure rising to 60 per cent among pensioners. Only 31 per cent of the 2,030 respondents to the Savanta poll, for the Liberal Democrats, said they are 'comfortable' with the idea. Helen Morgan, the Liberal Democrat's health spokesperson, praised Labour for tackling bureaucracy but added: 'Making the NHS more efficient is of course welcome but it cannot come at the cost of leaving people behind as they try to grapple with digitised services rather than a real life doctor. 'Ministers need to allay these fears by offering support to those who are not digitally literate and older people to ensure that these sweeping changes benefit everyone.' Speaking at the Plan's launch last month, Mr Streeting said: 'The NHS App will become a doctor in your pocket, bringing our health service into the 21st century.' It will use patients' medical records and artificial intelligence to provide instant answers to users' questions and direct them to the best place for care. Dennis Reed, director of Silver Voices, which campaigns for elderly Britons, said at the time 'Elderly people will be sceptical about whether the plan will be delivered and concerned that greater reliance on the app could exclude them from accessing timely care. 'For some, the doctor in their pocket will be padlocked.' 'However, its use is not without risks and so its implementation in general practice must be closely regulated to guarantee patient safety and the security of their data. 'GPs are always open to introducing new technologies that can improve the experience of patients and help cut the administrative burden, and an increasing number of GP practices are now using AI scribing tools to improve the quality and efficiency of their consultations. 'While these tools can offer real benefits, particularly at a time of significant GP workforce pressures, there are some important concerns - particularly around data security of sensitive patient records, data controllership and the risk of inaccuracies. 'We are aware that AI scribes can produce inaccurate or fabricated details, and that they can also misinterpret the nuance of conversations. 'It is important that clinicians review AI-generated documentation for accuracy before adding it to the patient record.' The MHRA said: 'The MHRA is aware of this potential issue in AI enabled tools generally and this includes AI scribe tools. 'We recommend that GPs and healthcare professionals only use tools which are registered medical devices which have been determined to meet the required standards of performance and safety. 'Recently published MHRA guidance clarifies how these technologies qualify as medical devices and while this is specific to digital mental health, the principles apply across digital health applications. 'While not published by the MHRA, NHS England guidance encourages the use only of registered medical devices when used in a clinical context. 'We strongly encourage that all suspected adverse incidents, including suspected inaccuracies are reported to the MHRA via the yellow card scheme.' The watchdog said the yellow card scheme website had been updated to include 'a standalone page for software and AI as medical device'. Earlier this year, the BMA advised practices to pause use of AI scribes until they had carried out data protection and safety checks and sought assurances that the products meet NHS standards.
