Some major changes are coming to the way in which health information is gathered, stored and shared.
The health system is being completely overhauled in what NL Health Services calls the “greatest transformation” it has ever seen.
The new system is scheduled to be up and running in the spring.
Tools like AI Scribe to record, transcribe and develop treatment plans will be part of the changes. It is already being used by many physicians and is something that has caught the attention of privacy officials.
Family physician and past-President of the NLMA, Dr. Steve Major, believes there are legitimate privacy concerns, but he’s been using it in a way so that it is not integrated with a patient’s health record.
He agrees with the questions raised, and doctors and the public want reassurances. Major says within months the entire health system will have an integrated AI Scribe that can be turned on or off. “So, anybody who will be interacting in the system, either in emergency, or seeing a specialist who’s using that, will potentially have to deal with this issue. So everyone needs to be aware of what the benefits are and what the risks are.”
He says his use of the tool has enhanced patient care, but he believes reassurances must be given that all the information gathered “is being kept in a safe fashion.”
“And that at some point the transcript is deleted so that patients don’t have to fear that the actual conversation, or that recorded transcript, is being left on their file.”
