Two AI medical scribes endorsed by Health NZ

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth 

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora has endorsed two Ambient AI scribe tools for use by its clinicians.

Heidi Health and iMedX have both been approved and a number of others are going through the review process, which involves privacy, security and National Artificial Intelligence and Algorithim Expert Advisory Group (NAIAEAG) reviews.

Heidi Health is in pilot in the Hawke's Bay where the AI scribe provider says average documentation time has been reduced from approximately 17 minutes to just over four minutes per patient

Two further AI scribe tools have begun the evaluation process and Health NZ is seeking input from clinicians on any other products that should be considered. 

Robyn Whittaker, chair of NAIAEAG, says that the group worked in collaboration with national privacy and security experts, to endorse the first two tools.

“There are a number of other tools going through the review process, which involves standard privacy and security reviews as well as review against the NAIAEAG checklist,” she says.

“These tools convert clinician-patient conversations and produce draft clinical notes for manual transfer into clinical records.  The aim is to reduce clinicians’ administrative workload allowing them to focus on the patient.” 

Whittaker says staff who wish to use the tools will need to follow local approval processes for the purchase and use of new systems.

“Patients will be asked for consent when clinicians are using AI during their consultations,” she says. 

“It is important to note that only approved, enterprise-level versions of these tools provide the necessary protections. The use of free versions is not endorsed, as they do not offer the same contractual guarantees or security standards.” 

A statement from Heidi Health says its AI-powered medical scribe is also used by Tamaki Health and ProCare, two of the largest primary healthcare providers in New Zealand.

Thomas Kelly, chief executive and co-founder of Heidi Health, says that after gaining strong traction in the private sector, the company is excited to be piloted in New Zealand’s public health system. 

“Healthcare providers in New Zealand are facing many of the same issues that we are solving for their counterparts globally: an underfunded and overburdened workforce that is being asked to do more with less,” he says. 

“They, and their patients, deserve better, and we believe AI is uniquely positioned to help streamline their administrative burden, improve the quality of clinician work and patient care.”

Heidi will collaborate closely with Health New Zealand services that express interest in trialling the technology, ensuring alignment with national healthcare goals and standards, the company says.

Minister of Health Simeon Brown tells eHealthNews that clinicians are required to follow standard organisation processes for the purchase and adoption of new digital tools.

To learn more about the use of AI in New Zealand’s healthcare system, read our latest edition of Digital Health CONNECT magazine.

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