An exciting Quality Improvement project is about to launch in three emergency departments within AHS. Starting November 5, an artificial intelligence (AI) digital scribe application is going to be trialed by a small group of emergency physicians at the University of Alberta Hospital, the Royal Alexandra Hospital, and the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre (RDRHC).
The project is a collaboration between AHS, the University of Alberta, and the Canadian Medical Association. Created initially by RDRHC emergency physician Dr. Mike Weldon with subsequent development by an in-house AHS team, the app, called AHS Digital Scribe, records and transcribes conversations between doctors and patients, and translates relevant details into medical notes. Once they review the notes, physicians can then copy and paste that information into Connect Care. The patient data are kept private and secure, within AHS.
The hope is that the AHS Digital Scribe will reduce the administrative burden on physicians, while improving the care experience for both patients and their healthcare providers. With this technology, providers can hopefully focus more on direct patient care than on typing or dictating notes.
Initially, there will only be a small number of physicians in each designated emergency department using the digital scribe technology, but the intention is to increase the number over the coming months. We want to gather their feedback to better understand how this works in our healthcare environment and the impact it has on the clinician and patient experience. If it is shown to be successful, we will investigate the feasibility and cost of a larger project that could be integrated with Connect Care.
More information on the AHS Digital Scribe project is available at the Canadian Medical Association site: University of Alberta | CMA. It’s expected the 2-year pilot will be complete by June 2026.