When and how a doctor obtains consent from a patient to use an AI scribe can be quite variable.
Standardising consent processes for the use of AI scribes in clinical practice is a piece of low-hanging fruit that is ripe for the picking, according to one expert.
AI scribe use has become increasingly popular among healthcare professionals over the past 12 months. While much of the research into AI scribes has focused on the benefit to clinicians, less is known about the consumer experience of using this technology as part of their healthcare journey.
Speaking to delegates as the AI.Care conference in Melbourne earlier this week, Dr Meg Tonkin (PhD), lead design and innovation consultant at the Sydney-based design firm Tobias, highlighted how the company aimed to fill part of this knowledge gap by conducting a small qualitative research project designed to understand the initial perspectives and real-world experiences of GPs and consumers who consented to an AI scribe being used during their GP appointment.
Eleven people, a mix of doctors and consumers, from Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia took part in the project. Most were over the age of 30.
Dr Tonkin highlighted there were several potential timepoints in the healthcare journey where a consumer could hear about or directly encounter an AI scribe being used, as well as being asked to provide consent for its use.
The first timepoint was the pre-appointment booking stage, where consumers may be told about the potential use of an AI scribe prior to booking their appointment. The second timepoint was when the patient arrived for the appointment and learned about and potentially consents to AI scribe use while checking in with the receptionist.
“[But] for some consumers, the beginning of the appointment is the first time they’ll actually hear about the AI scribe, and it’s at that point that their GP asks them for their consent to use the scribe during the appointment,” Dr Tonkin said.
One area for improvement in the use of AI scribe technology is the consistency in how consent is recorded, which can range from a very brief verbal introduction through to detailed written consent.
“Examples of different consent processes that we have [at the moment] include tick boxes for digital consent when booking online, or written consent for the first experience of use and then verbal consent for every time afterwards. Either of those can occur by a GP or a receptionist or a combination of both… there’s no standard to how we do that consent process,” Dr Tonkin said.
Dr Tonkin went on to explain how introducing AI scribes as a tool that would allow GPs to be more effective could lead consumers to feel they were also benefitting from their use, such as through having a more ‘personal’ appointment – rather than the doctor spending more of the consult looking at their computer screen while typing than directly interacting with the patient.
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“With GPs less focused on manual documentation, consumers experienced more personalised interaction… they actually described that they felt they were listened to and heard by their GP for the first time,” said Dr Tonkin.
Having an established relationship with patients before introducing the possibility of an AI scribe can go a long way to patients being comfortable with its use, with consumers indicating they have greater willingness to consent to AI scribe use if they have a trusting relationship with their GP. Similarly, some consumers expressed reluctance to consent to scribe use if they were with an unfamiliar GP.
Consumers were also interested in being able to receive a copy of the scribe notes following their appointment, as they appreciated the transparency and sense of shared involvement that it brought to their consultation and broader healthcare journey.
“We need to make sure this trust is maintained by ongoing responsible practice, which suggests that perhaps we need to standardise the consent practice that we use for AI scribes,” Dr Tonkin concluded.
“AI medical scribes can be a catalyst for a more personalised and effective healthcare system if we embrace responsible and standardised practices that prioritise transparency and empower patients through access, choice and control. We can transform healthcare into a system that truly supports patient-doctor collaboration. [But] the success of the future depends on what we do today.”
AI.Care was held in Melbourne on 27 and 28 November.
