Healthcare / Hospital
Barts Health NHS Trust: Clinical notes and GP letters from outpatient consultations
- Company
- Barts Health NHS Trust
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Adoption stage
- Adoption announced
- Source published
- Date basis
- The date the source was published. It can differ from the date adoption started.
- How the source was checked
- Read the full source text
The work problem
According to a Barts Health NHS Trust news post, doctors in the hospital group have recorded consultations by typing directly into a computer or by sending dictation after the appointment ended. The same post explained that this record keeping takes up administrative time and makes it hard for doctors to give patients their full attention during consultations. The post said that about 250 Barts Health staff took part in a national pilot of ambient voice technology (AVT), which records conversations in the consulting room.
Technology and data
According to the same post, the doctor records the consultation with a mobile phone app, and AVT transcribes and summarizes it to create a clinical note in the Millennium electronic patient record. The post explained that this note turns into letters to the patient and the GP in real time. Sarah Jensen, Group Chief Information Officer, said the app filters out conversation unrelated to diagnosis and treatment, letters to GPs and others are sent in real time, and patients can see a copy before they leave the room. According to the post, Barts Health tested the Clinical AI Agent (CAA) made by Oracle Health together with other NHS pilot sites at Milton Keynes, Imperial and Royal Berkshire, and has now decided to invest in CAA at scale and build it into Millennium functionality.
Results
According to the same post, more than two thirds of doctors in the pilot said the quality of their consultations improved, and more than half saved at least 5 minutes per consultation. The post explained that the tool reduces administrative time and raises productivity by letting doctors see one more patient in each clinic session. The post said that because of the good results, the tool will be extended to outpatients and the emergency department over the coming months and will also be used in inpatient care. Dr Dominic Cavlan, a consultant in endocrinology and acute medicine at The Royal London Hospital, said the tool reduced the administrative burden, increased time with patients, and made communication with primary care colleagues faster and clearer.
Limits and open questions
The post did not say whether the two thirds and half responses were results from Barts Health alone or from the whole four-site pilot, nor how many people responded or how it was measured. The post also does not give the rollout schedule or the size of the investment, and this review could not confirm from official sources whether the rollout actually happened afterwards.
Sources
- AI scribes help doctors and patientsbartshealth.nhs.uk, Accessed
Compiled from public sources. These are not results from ATF Works customers.