Post by Alexander Stupnicki

In 1891, Luke Fildes painted "The Doctor", a physician at a sick child's bedside, entirely focused on his patient. No notes. No distractions. Just presence. At the Royal Society of Medicine last week, I heard clinicians make the case that ambient voice technology (AVT) might be what finally takes us back to that ideal. My main takeaways: 1. In A&E alone, the estimated national impact of AVT is the capacity to see over 9,000 additional patients per day. 2. So why isn't everyone doing it? One of the reasons is UK's "pilotitis." Trusts are happy to trial AVT, but very few take the step to implement (even when the evidence supports it). There are over 20 ambient scribes on the UK market with MHRA Class I certification. The technology is here. The bottleneck is adoption. 3. Ethically, ambient scribes are tools like any other: As a doctor, you remain fully liable for the final output (current stance of GMC/MDU). 4. Mental health is where AVT stands to make the biggest difference. Both clinician and patient benefit from improved focus and better conversation, and since mental health assessments are long and detailed, the documentation burden on clinicians working in the field is currently enormous. 5. Patients remember as little as 30% of a consultation the moment they leave the room. After-visit summaries (AVS), as a natural extension of AVT, can help close that gap and empower patients, with minimal additional effort from the clinician. It was a pleasure listening to and meeting people at the forefront of AVT innovation, development and regulation, including Eduardo Freire Rodrigues, MD, Dr Shankar Siridian and Prof. Alastair Denniston #RoyalSocietyofMedicine #HealthTech #MedTech #AIinhealthcare