Clinicians in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) are being supported to use new artificial intelligence (AI) tools to free up time and help deliver better care.
Interim trial data shows ambient voice technology (AVT) – AI that transcribes patient-clinician conversations, creates structured medical notes and drafts patient letters – dramatically reducing admin burdens, shortening appointments, enabling more people to be seen in Accident and Emergency (A&E) and allowing clinicians to spend more time focusing on patients.
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children leads AI assistant trial
The NHS England funded, London-wide AVT work, led by Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH), evaluated AVT capabilities across a range of clinical settings including:
- Adult outpatients
- Primary care
- Pediatrics
- Mental health
- Community care
- A&E
- London Ambulance Service
The multi-site evaluation involving over 7,000 patients demonstrated widespread benefits with clinicians spending more time with patients rather than typing on a computer and increased productivity in A&E with AVT enabling more patients to be seen in emergency departments by carrying out admin for A&E staff.
AVTs listened to consultations and drafted clinic notes and letters, which were then edited and authorized by the clinician before being uploaded to the secure electronic health record system and sent on to patients and their families. Clinicians agreed the AI helped them offer more attention to their patients without affecting the quality of the clinic note or letter.
“The patients I see in my clinics have very complex medical conditions and it’s so important to make sure I capture what we discuss in our appointments accurately, but often this means I am typing rather than looking directly at my patient and their family,” said Dr Maaike Kusters, pediatric immunology consultant at GOSH. “Using the AI tool during the trial meant I could sit closer to them face-to-face and really focus on what they were sharing with me, without compromising on the quality of documentation.”
AI is the catalyst that will revolutionize healthcare
AI is the catalyst that will revolutionize healthcare and drive efficiencies across the NHS, as we deliver our Plan for Change and shift care from analogue to digital, said health and social care secretary Wes Streeting. “I am determined we embrace this kind of technology, so clinicians don’t have to spend so much time pushing pens and can focus on their patients.”
Antonio Espingardeiro, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) member and software and robotics expert, said AI agents such as chatbots are increasingly being used in healthcare settings.
“One of the first stages a hospital deals with is the triage of patients. So if we can chat to a bot when not feeling well by providing our symptoms, the AI system can then analyze large volumes of data and advise us to see a medical doctor in certain hospitals and clinics. This method can forward us to the right clinical service and reduce waiting times for consultation, which still is one of the biggest challenges today.”
Furthermore, teleconference tools, such as AI chatbots, allow doctors to be in contact with patients, so that distance is not a barrier for first care advice, Espingardeiro added.
“Of course, this represents a new age for care, though it is not a substitute for traditional clinics or hospital visits. However, the future of AI-enabled care remains promising, with chatbots being just the beginning. For example, already we are seeing cases where robots are aiding in patient surgery. These systems have a high degree of accuracy in their end effectors which allow surgeons, for example, to precisely cut and suture patients.”
[inlinead-1]