The next time you go to a local emergency department, don't be surprised if the doctor has some high-tech help taking notes about your case. A University of Alberta team of researchers is testing an artificial intelligence scribe tool to take notes and summarize interactions between physicians and their patients.
The goal is to ease the administrative burden of record-keeping on doctors so they can focus on delivering better patient care, according to project lead Jake Hayward, assistant clinical professor, emergency physician and deputy clinical head of quality improvement with Alberta Health Services.
"The main idea is that by taking away the time pressure and the cognitive pressure of generating your notes by manually typing and always trying to remember the encounter, you can be more present as a physician with your patient," Hayward explains. "You can have more direct eye contact and more time for the physical exam all of the more compassionate and empathetic elements of patient care by alleviating some of the documentation burden."
