The (Virtual) F1 in the Corner

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Occasionally a product turns up that changes the way you think about work. So much of my time as a doctor has been spent writing patient notes, that I took it for granted. From my days as a newly qualified Foundation Year 1 (FY1) doctor, I would scribe for my consultants as they did hospital ward rounds, and now as a GP, many of my extra hours of overtime focus on documenting the numerous patients I’ve seen in the day. Honestly, I didn’t think there could be any other way.

But I’m pretty sure that’s all going to change in the next few years.

Yesterday’s launch of TORTUS’ latest medical AI co-pilot software, O.S.L.E.R, showed me that pretty soon each clinician could have their own invisible scribing FY1 right there on their computer.

So how does it work?

Exactly like those consultant ward rounds, the software ‘listens’ to the consultation i.e. records it, and then transcribes it word for word. Using AI wizardry the program then analyses the transcription and writes the potted summary in a templated manner you can adjust to suit you.

The clinician reads through the summary, makes any adjustments and then hey presto! Your consultation is interpreted and documented for you with very little writing effort on your part.

Impressions

I like it. I really really do. For me, it’s like having a medical student doing the writing for you, taking one more task off your hands. Sometimes in the crush of a GP clinic, I have to complete my notes at the end of the session, and patient details blur or are overlooked. This software would take some of that cerebral load off my hands by:

a) having a complete record of the consultation for my reference

b) taking away the effort of writing up notes and minimising typos

c) to some degree, organising my thought processes into the medical notes format (rather like the best kind of FY1).

Limitations

  • There’s something off-putting about having a full audio record and transcription of a patient-doctor consultation. It seems a bit Big Brother to me, even though I know all GP telephone consultations are already recorded.

  • Clinicians may have to adapt their consultation style, speaking out results and thought processes, in order for it to be recorded and then transcribed by the AI. This could throw off the natural flow and interaction between patient and doctor.

  • For the atypical patient consultation e.g. patients who may not ‘stick to a script’ or those using an interpreter, this may pose a level of complexity the AI may not currently be able to deal with. Luckily, I still know how to type and can write this up old-school.

So all in all, it’s an intriguing prospect. For those of us, who are still waiting for TalkType to come to our practice, the medical AI co-pilot seems like a distant vision, however, judging by the competitive market of Tortus, Nabla and Abridge, they are undeniably out there. Whether a legion of despondent NHS doctors have enough in the tank to adopt the software remains to be seen, but we have to have hope that all things, be they working practices, medical software or healthcare systems themselves, will improve over time.

The TORTUS panel discussion involving CEO dom pimenta, annabelle painter, karan koshal and rozell kane