Dr. Dominik Nowak, President at Ontario Medical Association, speaks with Ben Blanquera, VP, Technology and Sustainability at FAIR/Rackspace Technology, in a video interview about leveraging AI applications to tackle the administrative burden on doctors.

At the onset, Nowak reiterates the need to take 19 hours per week of administrative and bureaucratic work off of the doctors’ plate. He notes that doing this would also elevate access to care by getting people the care they need from doctors.

Shedding light on AI’s role in making that possible, Nowak mentions AI scribe, an AI-driven note-taking tool for healthcare use. Elaborating the need for it, he says that in a regular scenario, a doctor’s attention is split between patients and note-taking, and documenting the minutes of a visit.

“Technologies like AI scribe, basically have, in a privacy-conscious way, a computer listening into the conversation and creating a note from that,” says Nowak. He adds that the note includes everything that a doctor needs from a medico-legal perspective of historical documentation and further review.

In addition, AI scribes also keep a note of the decisions being made, conversations that happened during visits, and details that could be later shared to benefit patients’ health.

This technology is ready for healthcare, says Nowak, as he shares that many doctors across Ontario are already using AI scribes for better patient care. Everything boils down to better care for more people, and this brings joy to doctors, he adds.

“We get to focus on the patient care rather than the documentation time and the administrative burden,” states Nowak. He mentions how doctors are affirming that they can be better as doctors and be more responsive to patients because that is what they signed up for.

When it comes to risk assessment with AI, Nowak states that doctors prioritize ensuring the information that goes into medical records is carefully entered. When another doctor reviews previous notes, their approach may be shaped by the documented plans and ideas, he adds.

It is critical that doctors review AI-generated notes; however, the technology reduces the initial cognitive load, letting them focus on care, says Nowak. “This lets us focus our cognitive load on building the relationship, and doing medical care that is a matter of life and death,” he remarks.

The Ontario Medical Association and its subsidiary, Ontario MD, guarantee that the options available to doctors and clinics are grounded in good care. The organization assesses the best opportunities for doctors and lists out the pros and cons. The Association also enlightens the doctors on the privacy and legal requirements, if they are early adopters, to make the best out of the technologies.

Next, Nowak highlights centralized referrals as another AI breakthrough in challenging the administrative burden in healthcare. The current Canadian healthcare system relies on primary care or family doctors as the first step to getting a referral for accessing specialized care. Family doctors work behind the scenes to send referrals and requisitions for MRIs, and imaging, which form a big part of 19 hours of red tape, he adds.

Recounting a challenge, Nowak states how it took nearly a year and multiple referrals, faxes, and phone calls to get a patient seen. While it demanded persistent advocacy from the doctor, the patient was left in limbo, unsure when they would be seen or why the referrals were declined.

With centralized referrals, Nowak says that one could sit with their doctor and indicate preferred hospitals or specific specialists, or simply request the first available appointment. After submitting the referral, the doctor would not have to follow up manually, and the patient could track its progress in real time, just like tracking a pizza order, he notes.

Next, the patient would see when the referral is accepted, who it is assigned to, and the schedule of the first visit, with the option to reschedule if needed, says Nowak.

Summing up, he states that centralized referrals could be a major breakthrough for AI, streamlining the matching process between referrals, specialists, hospitals, and imaging services.

CDO Magazine appreciates Dr. Dominik Nowak for sharing his insights with our global community.

AI Is Reducing the Cognitive Load on Doctors — Ontario Medical Association President