Main image courtesy of Liberty Health and Rehab.

If you’ve considered adding an AI scribe to your healthcare facility or private practice, you’re not alone, as many providers have discovered all of the advantages it offers. No matter if you’re a primary care provider, in a speciality like orthopedics, veterinary medicine, or provide mental health services, AI scribes are giving practitioners hours back in their day—so they can give the best care possible to patients.

We’ll be discussing the following in this article:

• Where AI scribes are used in healthcare
• How consent for AI scribes work
• AI scribes we recommend

But AI scribes can’t operate in an encounter without patient consent. So how does consent for an AI scribe work? And what are some other factors to consider before adding an AI scribe to your establishment?

AI scribes in healthcare

What are AI scribes offering healthcare practitioners?

AI scribes are used in healthcare to do a variety of tasks, especially repetitive clerical or administrative duties that providers are responsible for. Although you’ll also find AI assistance in areas like diagnostics, the ambient medical scribes have made an impact on the day to day operations of all kinds of healthcare facilities in a few major ways:

• Creating notes. One of the biggest administrative burdens that providers are responsible for is note creation for each patient encounter. Without an AI scribe, most clinicians will need to divert their attention from the patient so they can type in the information into the note, which will eventually be added to the patient’s EHR. When they’re busy typing in all the necessary information, it can be distracting as they’re attention isn’t fully focused on the patient. Instead, they’re trying to craft a note that includes important documentation about the patient’s medical history or current concern. 

When clinicians use an AI scribe, they turn the application on (after gaining consent) and then it transcribes the conversation between the doctor and patient. It uses this summary to accurately create a note with all the required information. It can even suggest to the provider to get additional information, or offer insights as to what the best possible treatment might be for this particular patient based on the information in the note and their EHR.

Having notes completed in real-time makes a huge difference when it comes to reducing cognitive workload, ensuring providers aren’t staying after hours to complete notes. 

• Streamlining workflow. When AI scribes create notes instead of providers, they still need to be approved before being synced with the EHR. Once that’s complete, everyone on the healthcare team has access to that information, and if additional treatments or prescriptions need to be scheduled, that can easily be done. Information from the note is synced and then can be shared with other specialists or departments if follow ups are needed. Additionally, the revenue process moves more quickly with AI created notes that include proper coding, ensuring that claims are paid on time. 

• Improving patient care. AI scribes contribute to better patient outcomes and higher levels of satisfaction when providers are able to offer their full attention. AI can help to decrease some of the provider’s workload, and it can definitely lift some of the cognitive load off of their shoulders. Overworked and stressed practitioners is a recipe for burnout, and providers cannot offer their best care when they are feeling this way. Improving processes and using AI to do certain tasks frees up clinicians to concentrate on the clinical care of patients. 

How do AI scribes work?

AI scribes are applications that can be downloaded to any smart device or browser that listen and transcribe the doctor/patient conversation. They utilize the power of NLP (natural language processing) and machine learning to format and create notes for patient encounters. Over time, the AI scribe can learn the preferences of the user, and provide prompts or additional insight based on its data analytics. 

What to consider before adding an AI scribe to your practice

Adding an AI scribe to your healthcare practice might seem like just the tool you need to help providers manage their workload better and keep the administrative part running smoothly. There are a variety of AI scribes out there, so it’s important that you do your research when you’re considering options. Most ambient medical scribes offer a demo or a trial period, so take advantage of that. It’s the only way you’ll be sure about whether or not it will work for your team. There are a few things to keep in mind:

• An AI medical scribe should be HIPAA compliant, but double check to ensure it also has other distinguishing features such as being SOC 2 compliant (like Playback Health!).
• It should sync with your EHR system to ensure that notes can be transferred with a few clicks or via voice. If it’s not, make sure that you can easily copy/paste the note into the EHR.
• Work within your budget and get the tier that makes sense for your practice.
• The application can be used on a smart device or a laptop/desktop.
• It is encrypted from end to end.
• It can be customized to meet your preferences and learns which templates and macros you like to use most.
• There is technical support to assist you even after your trial period.

Consent for AI Scribe - How Does It Work?

The importance of consent and an AI medical scribe

We’ve discussed how an AI scribe can benefit healthcare practices of all specialties and sizes, and what you need to look for if you’re interested in trying one out. But all of that is moot if you don’t have patient consent. There are a few reasons why gaining consent is essential before you start using the ambient scribe.

Privacy obligations

As a healthcare organization, it is absolutely essential that you meet privacy requirements for patients. There is also a legal requirement that HIPAA mandates patient consent when it comes to technologies used in their care. When patients see a provider, they understand that they’re speaking about very personal information, and that the data in their EHR includes sensitive medical data. Patients who are not familiar with AI may have concerns about a machine “listening” to their encounter and transcribing all the information that goes back and forth over the course of the appointment. An AI scribe collects and processes this information (and can use it to make suggestions in the future), which is why it’s necessary to first gain consent.

The patient may have questions about whether or not their data is recorded and where it is stored, and whether or not those servers are secure. 

• Informed consent

Gaining consent to use an AI scribe requires informed consent, which includes:

• Ensuring that the patient is competent and has the capacity to understand the information being presented
• Full disclosure of the functionality of AI and how their information will be used
• The patient needs to demonstrate their comprehension 
• Consent must be given voluntarily

• Types of consent

You can gain patient consent either in written form or verbally. A lot of healthcare practices include a consent form regarding the use of AI in the patient intake information, where the patient can decide whether to opt in or out. You may not be required to get written consent for each encounter where AI is used, but double check your facility’s policy. If that’s so, verbal consent can be given at the start of the encounter.

Transparency and ethical concerns

Consent is also necessary due to transparency and ethical concerns of the doctor/patient relationship—62.7% of patients expressed the desire to be notified explicitly about the use of AI during an encounter. Healthcare workers have a moral duty to respect patient autonomy and need to be transparent about how their personal information will be used. In order to make an informed consent, the provider should tell the patient that the AI scribe will listen to the conversation and summarize it in order to make a note.

When practitioners are transparent with patients, it helps to continue to build a relationship of trust between them. This can help patients perhaps feel more comfortable with the provider utilizing AI during their appointments.

How to introduce AI to patients

Many patients might not fully understand the complexity of the AI scribe, which is why clinicians and healthcare teams should work to explain it in clear language. Just stating that the “software will transcribe the conversation,” might not be enough for patients to fully understand the technology and how their medical information will be used. It may also be helpful to include information about the use of AI on patient intake information, on websites/apps, and in the waiting room. This ensures a broader approach to AI scribes, and ensures that patients are seeing that this is a part of their healthcare team’s approach to their care. 

Including different ways to raise awareness is a good start, but having the first conversation about the use of an AI scribe when you want to gain their consent is the most important. You can concisely state what the application does, what it will do with the information, and where that information will go. Then open up the floor for any questions or concerns. Once the patient verbally gives their consent, you can turn on the application and begin.

Want an AI scribe that makes it easy to gain consent?

Playback Health is an AI medical scribe that can transform how clinicians create notes, ensuring that no patient information is lost and that it is securely synced with an EHR system. All the provider needs to do is gain the required consent from the patient, and then the AI scribe will start listening and transcribing the encounter. The ambient scribe only includes the medical conversation, so you don’t need to worry about it including conversation that is not a part of the medical exam or discussion. Using Playback Health’s scribe, clinicians can focus their attention on their patient, looking them in the eye and offering feedback to their questions and concerns. The ambient scribe will create the note in real-time, then it can be reviewed, or additional information can be added before it is synced with the patient’s EHR.

Providers who use Playback Health find that they’re attention is no longer diverted between the note and the patient, and that they have seen a 20% increase in their productivity as well as much as three hours saved each day. Notes are finished before the end of their shift, creating a better work/life balance, not to mention increased levels of patient satisfaction.

Playback Health offers:

• A two week free trial
• HIPAA and SOC 2 compliant
• Premium support 
• Customizable
• Competitively priced
• Syncs with EHRs
• Translations
• Templates

Including AI in your facility requires consent

AI is making big improvements to the way that clinicians care for their patients, and it certainly has a lot of benefits. But in order to use it, you must first gain informed consent from a patient, and ensure they understand exactly what the AI scribe is doing, and where their information will go. Once patients understand the advantages of having AI transcribe the encounter, most are more than willing to give their consent!