{"id":407614,"date":"2026-01-14T01:38:27","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T01:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/407614\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T01:38:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T01:38:27","slug":"nwt-embarks-on-year-long-ai-health-note-taking-pilot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/407614\/","title":{"rendered":"NWT embarks on year-long AI health note-taking pilot"},"content":{"rendered":"

NWT healthcare workers will be able to use artificially intelligent note-taking software for the next year in a pilot program.<\/p>\n

The Department of Health and Social Services told Cabin Radio the pilot addresses a \u201cgrowing challenge\u201d of paperwork reducing time spent directly with patients and contributing to burnout.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy testing AI-enabled documentation, the GNWT aims to improve patient experience and support providers while maintaining strong privacy safeguards,\u201d the department stated.<\/p>\n

Patients will have to provide written consent before the software, Mika AI Scribe, can be used. It\u2019ll be available \u201cin select primary care and community health settings across the Northwest Territories.\u201d<\/p>\n

The territorial government said the software will abide by privacy protections set out in the Health Information Act.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMika AI Scribe does not record or keep audio files,\u201d the territory stated. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt works by transcribing live speech into a draft note, which the provider reviews and edits before manually copying it into the patient\u2019s electronic medical record. The draft note is automatically deleted after seven days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Privacy commissioner\u2019s view<\/p>\n

Andrew Fox, the NWT\u2019s information and privacy commissioner, said at least one conflict with the GNWT\u2019s existing AI guidelines<\/a> was apparent to him.<\/p>\n

Among the priorities in those guidelines, Fox said, is an instruction that employees \u201cmust not put any confidential information, including personal information, into an AI application.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cFrom a privacy perspective \u2013 and that\u2019s the important lens I would put on it \u2013 that\u2019s good. At a 20,000-foot level, that\u2019s the direction they\u2019re setting,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, I don\u2019t know that can be or will be universally observed. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard for me to see, at least at this point, how you could work with an application for generative AI without disclosing personal health information into it so that it could use it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The current guidelines in use at the GNWT aren\u2019t a mandatory policy.<\/p>\n

The GNWT said only a patient\u2019s care team can access information generated through AI transcripts. Data is stored only in Canada and \u201ccybersecurity protections prevent unauthorized access.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tech \u2018could improve lives of physicians\u2019<\/p>\n

AI scribe services like this one are being introduced worldwide, and Fox isn\u2019t the only one with concerns.<\/p>\n

Some studies have suggested AI transcription can occasionally misinterpret critical details<\/a>, for example, and patient privacy is a hot topic in other jurisdictions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Even so, some doctors say they\u2019re lining up to use this kind of technology because of the benefits it can bring.<\/p>\n

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In New Zealand, a senior health official this week said<\/a> \u201cwe had people begging us to introduce it.\u201d Doctors in Quebec have also advocated<\/a> for AI scribing to be introduced.<\/p>\n

In interviews and public briefings last year, some NWT physicians described a desire to adopt this kind of technology.<\/p>\n

One argued it could help the territory\u2019s healthcare staffing crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re just talking into their phone, having it transcribed and then putting that into the patient chart,\u201d Dr Courtney Howard said of doctors using systems like Mika AI Scribe elsewhere. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re hearing from people is that this is buying them hours back every day. So they get to have lunch, they get to go home from the clinic at a reasonable hour and see their kids.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are the types of things where, if we can improve the lives of the physicians who are in town now, who are in the territory now, they are more likely to stay while we sort out the rest of the system\u2019s issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pilot will have six-month review<\/p>\n

The GNWT told Cabin Radio the pilot will begin in mid-January and run until December 2026. <\/p>\n

An evaluation will take place halfway through, the territory said, \u201cto review how the tool fits into systems and workflows before any decision is made about use beyond the pilot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are modernizing our health system in a responsible way to better support healthy people and communities, with privacy, consent, and professional judgement at the centre of this work,\u201d health minister Lesa Semmler was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n

Funding for 80 Mika AI Scribe licences is coming from Canada Health Infoway, a federally funded organization created in 2001 to pursue \u201cinnovative digital health solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

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