Healthcare edition
An AI scribe saves 43 seconds per consultation, HagaZiekenhuis is expanding speech recognition, and three top AI bosses are asking for the brakes themselves. What that means for your records.
AI scribe saves 43 seconds per consultation, but the consultation itself doesn't get shorter
A study of 535 consultations shows exactly where the time saving lies, and where it doesn't.
For the first time, there's a hard number on the table. An AI scribe is a helper that listens in on the conversation and drafts a report of it. It saves an average of 42.7 seconds of note-writing per consultation. That's according to a study of 535 consultations, reported by LHV and NHG. The consultation itself doesn't get shorter: the saving is in the typing afterwards, not in the consulting room. With thirty appointments a day, that saves over twenty minutes at the keyboard. Not spectacular, but it adds up every day. LHV and NHG set a clear boundary straight away: AI may support the work, but must never take over the medical judgement. The care provider stays fully responsible for the record. The AI's draft only becomes a valid report once you have read and approved it. This week, plan five extra seconds per report to actually read the draft before you save it. The time saving happens because reading costs less than writing, but that's also the risk: after hundreds of good drafts in a row, your checking naturally becomes less sharp. Your brain learns that it's usually right, and starts scanning faster. Agree with your team how you'll keep your checking sharp, for example by always typing the conclusion and plan yourself, and letting the AI only record the patient's story.
Background for subscribersThis edition shows that AI mainly saves time on admin: 43 seconds per report, less double typing, faster protocol updates. But the same warning keeps coming back. The gain only holds as long as you still genuinely read the draft, because a system that always seems to work well tempts you to check less closely. Whether it's a GP consultation, a hospital outpatient clinic or a nursing protocol: the judgement and final responsibility stay with you, not the AI.
HagaZiekenhuis rolls out speech recognition to more and more outpatient clinics
HagaZiekenhuis is expanding AI speech recognition to more and more outpatient clinics: ENT, Rheumatology, Neurology, Internal Medicine, Pulmonology, Cardiology and Paediatrics now all work with it. The digital assistant records the conversation between doctor and patient and turns it into a summary afterwards. The doctor checks that summary, and only then goes into the electronic patient record. ENT doctor Jan Pieter Koopman notices most of all that he can look at the patient more, because he doesn't have to type along. That's a different kind of gain than minutes: it's attention. Ask your department whether a pilot is running there, and who is tracking the results. Note the order in The Hague's work process: first the summary, then the doctor's check, only then the record. That extra step isn't unnecessary work, it's exactly why this fits within the rules. If the check disappears because things always seem to go well, the responsibility quietly shifts to a system that can't carry it.
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