Take note: AI trial underway

AN artificial intelligence trial involving Grampians Health is aiming to benefit doctors and their patients.

Grampians Health and the University of Melbourne are partnering to test a data transcription AI program designed to help clinicians transcribe and dictate the clinical notes of patients for correspondence to GPs and other healthcare providers.

Involving the university’s Centre for the Digital Transformation of Health, the trial aims to reduce the admin burden for clinicians working in busy regional hospitals, ultimately enabling them to spend more time caring for patients.

Grampians Health head of unit – general medicine Ballarat, Dr Edward Ritchie, said the program is expected to improve both efficiency and communication.

“By significantly reducing documentation time, the tool enables correspondence to be shared with GPs immediately following a consultation, rather than days later, supporting timely clinical decision making and continuity of care,” Dr Ritchie said.

Grampians Health chief medical officer Professor Matthew Hadfield said the partnership reflects a shared vision for improving regional healthcare.

“By working together, we’re creating smarter, faster, and more efficient clinical workflows that directly benefit regional communities,” Professor Hadfield said.

“It’s a practical example of innovation improving healthcare where it’s needed most.

“It will allow clinicians to complete notes more quickly, freeing up valuable time to focus on patient care.”

According to an Australian study of hospital doctors, reported in The Medical Journal of Australia, on average doctors spend three hours a day on documentation and the same amount of time directly caring for patients.

Senior Research Fellow in digital health at the Centre for Digital Transformation of Health at the University of Melbourne, Dr Olivia Metcalf, said there is increasing pressure on the health workforce.

In regional Australia, where a critical workforce shortage extends to medical records staff, the process of creating notes for files, referrals or follow-ups can cause delays, Dr Metcalf said.

“This project will see doctors test this AI program, so that this process is much quicker, saving valuable time in hospitals,” she said.

“This would be a hugely time-saving and transformative digital tool and it’s exciting that Grampians Health is leading the way for hospitals across the state.”

The project is expected to help address the critical workforce shortages in regional Australia, with expectations that the technology could be implemented in other hospital settings.

The trial does not directly involve patients.