Heidi is a medical AI scribe being used in Yukon health clinics to help clinicians with administrative work
If you find yourself at a Yukon government clinic in the next little while, you may be asked if you consent to the clinician using a tool known as Heidi during your visit.
Heidi is an artificial intelligence medical scribe, developed by technology company Heidi Health, based out of Australia. According to the Yukon government press release, the scribe is used in more than 2 million patient consultations per month across Canada.
The scribe began being implemented in Yukon government-run clinics earlier this summer, per Alethea Stobbe, director of integrated health services within the Department of Health and Social Services.
The clinics that are part of the implementation are Centre de santé Constellation Health Centre, Dawson City Medical Clinic, Whitehorse Walk-In Clinic, Yukon Healthy Living Program and the Yukon Midwifery Program.
Heidi transcribes conversation between a clinician and a patient in real time, Stobbe said. It also provides a summary for the clinician at the end of the appointment.
The clinician can review both the summary and the transcript, Stobbe said. Prior to uploading the information into the patient’s electronic medical record, the clinician will also have to verify that everything is accurate.
Heidi and other medical scribes are meant to assist practitioners with the administrative side of their work, Stobbe said.
“One of the things that we’ve heard from a lot of our practitioners over the past few years is just that there is a significant administrative burden. So this comes with charting, and this comes with referral form fills,” she said.
Heidi was selected after a scan of medical scribe in use around the country, Stobbe said.
“Heidi really came up as a lot of people’s preferred option because of some of the customizations and the high privacy standards that they have,” Stobbe said.
Stobbe said that the government did a privacy impact assessment to thoroughly consider the implications of introducing Heidi into Yukon healthcare clinics.
Under the Health Information Privacy and Management Act, privacy impact assessments have to take place before the government can launch a new system that processes personal health information. They’re also required when the government changes existing information systems.
Heidi has the ability to retain data indefinitely, said Stobbe — but the version of Heidi used in territory-run clinics will retain data for 30 days before deleting it.
“The intention is that our patient information is not stored in Heidi in an ongoing way. We want that information all to be stored in our electronic medical record,” Stobbe said.
Stobbe said as part of the Yukon government contract with Heidi, the healthcare company agreed to comply with the requirements imposed by the Yukon Health Information Privacy and Management Act. That includes the agreement to delete patient notes and transcripts after 30 days.
The office of the Yukon Information and Privacy Commissioner has received the privacy impact assessment for Heidi, per spokesperson Tanis Davey.
They are currently reviewing the assessment to ensure it aligns with the Yukon Health Information Privacy and Management Act, Davey said. The office will pass along any recommendations to the Yukon government as required, she said.
The Yukon government does not need to wait for the assessment to be complete before implementation, Davey said.
Dr. Derek Bryant is the president of the Yukon Medical Association. He said the use of medical scribes helps doctors be more efficient.
He said that many Yukon doctors are already using medical AI scribes in their practices. These doctors have a positive experience with the technology, Bryant said, with some saying it helps them save time and engage with patients better.
“It supports docs by helping to create the documentation or the encounter note following a visit, so that the doctors can more readily focus on the patients that they’re talking to, rather than their computers and keyboards,” Bryant said.
He added that AI scribes in general have been shown to help reduce the time physicians spend charting.
“So it can be a really effective way to reduce administrative burden,” Bryant said.
“The ultimate benefit would be increased access by being able to see patients more efficiently and therefore see more patients in a day, or spend more time talking about the things that matter to patients than charting.”
Stobbe said she’s heard positive feedback from clinicians as well.
She said one nurse practitioner said with Heidi, patients became their only focus.
The cost of using Heidi is determined on the basis of usage, Stobbe said. She was unable to provide an exact number as to how much Heidi would cost the government, as they’re still getting clinicians set up to use it.
Stobbe said that there were 17 clinicians who began using the scribe within the first month of implementation. The number of clinicians using Heidi doubled in the second month of implementation, she said.
Four out of the five clinics have clinicians actively using Heidi, Stobbe said. Stobbe said they’re currently working on customizing the tool for use by all clinicians, including dieticians and social workers.
Patients will be asked for their consent before a clinician can start using Heidi during an appointment, Stobbe said.
“If the patient says yes, like I am comfortable and willing for you to use Heidi, the clinician will start the Heidi,” Stobbe said.
“And from there, the clinician will do the appointment as normal.”
Contact Talar Stockton at [email protected]