AI can help family doctors buried in paperwork. Why is uptake low?

AI scribe technology holds the promise of removing some of that burden. However, uptake in Canada has been low due to privacy and cost concerns.

Dr. Rosemarie Lall says she was overworked and on the brink of either scaling back her practice or retiring early when she turned to artificial intelligence in a last-ditch effort to manage mounting paperwork.

The Toronto family physician says she would regularly go home and work on her patients' files well into the night.

But last year she started testing an AI scribe that transcribes her patient encounters and summarizes them into notes that she can edit and add to electronic medical records. As a result, she spends less time on paperwork and more time on patients. She took Christmas off for the first time in years.

"I needed to save my sanity," said Lall, who has been practising family medicine for almost 30 years.

A 2023 report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business estimated that Canadian doctors cumulatively spend 48.8 million hours per year on administrative tasks. AI scribe technology holds the promise of removing some of that burden, however uptake in Canada has been low due to privacy and cost concerns.

More than 150 doctors and nurse practitioners in Ontario -- where family physicians report spending an average of 19 hours per week on paperwork -- recently took part in a provincially funded pilot project to see whether AI can help minimize administrative burnout.

The report commissioned by OntarioMD, a subsidiary of the Ontario Medical Association, found doctors using AI scribes spent 70 to 90 per cent less time on paperwork, saving on average three to four hours per week.