For Dr Nancy Yao, improving office efficiency has been a game-changer for balancing her personal and work life.
A recent national survey showed that doctors in Canada spend over nine hours a week on administrative work. These tasks are reported to reduce professional fulfilment, are a major contributor to burnout and are unnecessary for physicians to carry out.
As a mother of three, splitting her time between her Gibson family practice and the Sechelt |shíshálh Hospital emergency department, she credits office efficiency tools like AI scribes with helping her reduce the time she spends on administrative tasks and continue to do the work she loves.
“I’m just so much happier, and I have so much more time,” says Dr Yao.
Over the years, Dr Yao has worked on several efficiency projects with the support of a Practice Support Program (PSP) coach. Most recently, she tried an AI scribe after hearing about its benefits from a colleague. As a self-proclaimed efficiency enthusiast, she was curious to try for herself.
What AI scribes do
AI scribes generate medical notes by listening to patient-physician conversations and then transcribing them for the physician to review and finalize. This removes the need for a physician to actively document during a patient encounter, reducing administrative burden, enhancing patient engagement, and saving time.
Benefits of AI scribes
Dr Yao has found AI scribes most helpful in situations that require more complex conversations, including goals-of-care discussions, and in the walk-in clinic when she needs a more comprehensive overview of a patient’s history. When using AI scribes, she finds that she has more face-to-face time with patients, and her notes are more complete.
She understands that the initial time commitment required to learn a new technology can deter some physicians, but emphasizes how easy it is to implement AI scribes. “It took me half an hour," says Dr Yao, “the barrier to trying them out is very low; if you’re a family doctor who struggles with charting, this is something you should try,” she continued.
How coaches can help
There are many options to customize the AI scribe to your specific needs. PSP coaches can help interested family physicians optimize their AI scribes to get exactly what they want out of their capabilities.
“Our team works closely with physicians to help find and implement the best solutions for their practice and their patients,” says PSP coach Ferdi Louw.
Coaches can help family physicians explore potential solutions when they encounter technical challenges with AI scribes and identify opportunities for improvement.
“I love having a coach because they help me stay on task,” says Yao, “That has always been the main benefit of having a coach, someone who makes me accountable to myself for what I said I wanted to do.”
If you’re interested in implementing AI scribes in your practice, connect with a PSP coach at psp@doctorsofbc.ca or visit the Doctors Technology Office AI scribes technology page.
Visit the Practice Support Program page to learn how to optimize your practice.