Six things every doctor needs to know about AI scribes

iStock.com/Javi Sanz

By Michael Marshall

Use of AI-based ambient listening tools is rising sharply in medicine, but research on their benefits and training about best practice are still sparse. Doctors.net.uk explores how to make the most of the new tech.

When Dr Bengi Beyzade, a GP at Clerkenwell Medical Practice in London, sees his patients, there is a microphone on the table between them. The mic records the entire conversation, and an AI scribe generates the notes to be added to the patient’s electronic health record. Benzade doesn’t take any notes during the consultation. “I’m actually watching the patient, listening to the patient, 100% focused on the patient, so that interaction is so much better now,” he says.

Doctors are increasingly using AI scribes, also known as Ambient Voice Technologies, to create their medical notes. The scribes have real benefits: they seem to cut the amount of time spent on documentation and may reduce burnout.