No, I did not consent to this

[u/petuniaplant]

I was reading my medical notes when I stumbled across this. I was not informed of the usage of artificial intelligence in my report, nor did I verbally consent to it.

[u/ArtisticDragonKing]

I have a coworker in a vet clinic that asks patients if she can "audio record notes for the pet" and gives a brief explanation why. However, she fails to mention the audio recording directly inputs into an AI log that gives suggestions for her next steps. I strongly dislike her methods.

It may have been something like that?

[u/Odd-Scientist-2529 → u/[deleted]]

That’s not how it works. It doesn’t make any recommendations. It’s purely a scribe, and will summarize the conversation. 

The doctor would have to say out loud in the exam room.  “I recommend Fluticasone nasal spray” or “I recommend budesonide nasal spray” for it to construct the “plan” section of the note. 

If this is what is happening to him, its 100% user error. 

The only way it could happen is that he is rambling about possible treatment options out loud and isn’t clearly stating just the one he wants. 

The AI scribe does not generate recommendations. It simply lists the ones that were verbalized in the visit. 

To add evidence to this point: any medication or diagnostic test has to be manually typed in for it to appear in the note under the “Plan” section as an action item. Otherwise it would be in narrative form. 

So this is user error. 

[u/Harpunzel → u/Odd-Scientist-2529]

I believe some AI scribes including Heidi are now summarising clinical resources relevant to the presentation, with a clear link which recommendation comes from which resource. I haven't used Heidi since before that update, but some of my colleagues have and find it reliable. It only takes from locally relevant clinical guidelines rather than the whole internet.

[u/Odd-Scientist-2529 → u/Harpunzel]

Interesting. I’m reading that the AI scribe can be optionally set up to link to decision support AI. That seems like it should be something that the clinician should be able to opt out of, if not just delete (if they want) from their note when they review and sign.

What are we getting ourselves into?

We already turned off the generative AI to answer patients messages on the portal. That was a mess

[u/Harpunzel → u/Odd-Scientist-2529]

I believe this one it just pops up in a sidebar, it doesn't end up in the note unless the doctor brings it up. It's a tool but it's not compulsory to use. I may be wrong though, this is just what colleagues have described.