- cross-posted to:
- hackernews@lemmy.bestiver.se
- cross-posted to:
- hackernews@lemmy.bestiver.se
At a recent appointment, Emily’s physical therapist (who knows some about her research) said, “Before we get started, there’s something I want to ask you about.” The something was an automatic “scribing” system their office is trialling for two weeks and deciding whether to purchase. These systems take in a (presumably audio-only) recording of the patient encounter and then output a draft patient note for the chart.
So what’s the big deal with “AI” charting? Here are nine reasons why we recommend refusing to consent to the use of scribing tools in healthcare settings:
Kids alergist wanted to use it. I said no and had two nurses come “explain” it better to convince me. I said no, and the doctor never once mentioned to to try to convince me himself. He was just snippy with me because he had to use his hands to take notes like a baby’s toy.
I will never consent to AI transcription, its gonna kill someone if it already hasn’t.
That’s an important word, because as the main-linked article says, and my experience corroborates: medical offices seldom explain what exactly patients are ‘consenting’ to with ‘AI scribing’ well enough for people to be informed enough to thus be able to truly consent.
I come from a research background and when my family doctor casually asked me if I was fine with him using AI for note-writing upon entering the examination room and sitting down, I was internally like, “ughh, no consent form, explanation, etc.?” But I was there for something sensitive and wanted to ‘go along to get along.’ So, I casually agreed. A few minutes later, I noticed he wasn’t typing, so I said, “I notice you’re not typing, is my voice being recorded?”
Needless to say, I soon after wrote the office saying I did not consent to the use of that in my care henceforth.
My doctor never even told me that she was using it, I just figured it out when I noticed that she wasn’t typing anything and was saying a lot of technical stuff out loud (which was odd, because she must know I won’t understand the jargon). Then I saw that she had a very expensive microphone on her desk, and a what appeared to be an AI transcript program open on her computer. Absolutely no consent in my case. I wasn’t even informed. I had to figure it out for myself.
Shocking and outrageous.
The quality article I linked to in another comment, from an early adopter turned critic of ‘ai scribing’, suggests you’re right that they’re not saying that for your benefit, they’re saying it for the scribe, to structure the note to their liking. This is an example of how the encounter/interaction with the patient changes as a result of using this software
This has been my recent experience as well.