AI scribes help doctors and patients
Clinicians could see more patients and offer them an enhanced experience by adopting a pioneering AI-powered tool successfully tested in our hospitals.
About 250 colleagues from Barts Health took part in a national trial using ambient voice technology (AVT) to capture conversations in their clinics.
It has worked so well that we will roll out the tool across outpatients and emergency departments over the coming months and extend its use into inpatient settings.
Using an app on their mobile phone, the clinician records the consultation. AVT transcribes and summarises it, generating clinical notes on Millennium that can be turned into letter s for the patient and their GP in real time.
The tool allows clinicians to focus fully on the patient without needing to type up their notes on a computer or get them transcribed afterwards. This not only saves administrative time but also improves productivity by enabling clinicians to see an extra patient in every session.
With other NHS pilot sites at Milton Keynes, Imperial, and Royal Berkshire, we tested the Clinical AI Agent (CAA) developed by Oracle Health.
Over two-thirds of clinicians taking part in the pilot believed the quality of their consultations improved, and over half saved at least five minutes per appointment.
We are now investing in CAA at scale and will incorporate it into the functionality of the Millennium electronic patient record. This will make our clinic workflow more reliable and efficient than individual clinicians using alternative tools on the market.
Dr Dominic Cavlan, consultant endocrinologist and acute physician at The Royal London hospital, said: “There aren’t many interventions that genuinely improve both quality of care and productivity, but this has. It’s reduced my admin burden, given me more time with patients, and improved how quickly and clearly I can communicate with colleagues in primary care.”
Sarah Jensen, group chief informatics officer, said: “Clinicians download the app on their phone, and place it near the patient to record the conversation, which is processed to strip out any chat that is not relevant to diagnosis or treatment. It means letters to GPs and others are sent in real time and the patient in the room can see a copy before they leave the clinic.
“AVT will not only improve the productivity of outpatient departments but potentially transform ward rounds, MDT meetings and the way we report scans and tests too.”