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Using Artificial Intelligence to Combat Administrative Burden
Family physicians share how using AI scribes allows them to give time back to patients.
Dr. Vineet Nair, family physician and Co-chair of the Middlesex London Primary Care Network, says the benefits of using an AI scribe were immediate – and now he’ll never go back to practising without one.
“I was sold after just a few days,” said Dr. Nair. “The benefits were there from the start. I can now put down my pen and engage attentively with my patients during their visit. I could never go back.”
In the face of overwhelming administrative burden, Ontario’s family physicians are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) scribes to reduce the time they are spending on paperwork, so they can spend more time with patients. Ontario family physicians spend, on average,19 hours per week on administrative work.
The Ontario College of Family Physicians is urging government to bring the benefit of AI scribes to all family physicians and to continue to leverage AI to free up their time for direct patient care.
AI scribes ‘listen’ to interactions family physicians have with consenting patients and then document the visit, saving family physicians from typing while a patient is with them or from writing a note later. The ‘human’ element remains though, as physicians review the transcription for accuracy.
Dr. Rosemarie Lall, a family physician at Platinum Medical Clinic in Scarborough estimates that she’s saved about an hour per day since she began using an AI scribe and explains the difference it has made.
“I feel a sense of relief because I’m getting my notes done in a timely fashion.” says Dr. Lall. “And I’ve gone back to feeling the way I did in medical school – I just enjoy interacting with my patients.”
Another family physician, Dr. Daniel Pepe of London Lambeth Medical Clinic, shares that, “during a complicated visit I’m more likely to ask additional questions when I’m using a scribe, because I know the information will be captured.”
Dr. Pepe has also started to have his scribe fill out forms and write insurance letters, freeing up even more time for patients.
The Ontario College of Family Physicians urges government to continue to prioritize patient care by recruiting family doctors and attracting new ones. One way we can do this is to enable family doctors with AI scribes and other AI innovations, such as virtual assistants, to help to reduce administrative burden so that they spend more time with patients and less time on their computer.