"It's incredibly prevalent," Dr. Kirsten Ostherr told ABC13. "Most hospitals and healthcare systems in the United States (and across Europe) are using these tools."
Ostherr, along with two co-authors, recently published an article analyzing the results of "40 or 50 different studies" that focused on the use of AI for medical notes and records.
"Usually, physicians are expected to let you know that it's being used," Ostherr explained. "But in practice, that often is not the case."
Ostherr explained that the technology is often used via a smartphone app and that doctors have noted one benefit is that it saves them time.
"What we really want to see is validation that errors are not being introduced when time is saved," she said.
Ostherr also explained that some patients familiar with this technology for note-taking have felt more seen and heard by their provider because the provider isn't staring at a screen or notepad throughout the appointment.
"The promise of these tools is that they really will get doctors' attention back on the patient," she said. "The question is whether the way these tools are used is actually going to lead to that effect."
She cautioned that the technology currently lacks sufficient oversight and that doctors and nurses need better education on using the tools.
Ostherr also warned that AI note-taking models can exhibit technological "hallucinations," leading to incorrect information being documented in patients' records. She added that there are other concerns regarding a patient's privacy.
"There is a real concern that this is part of an overreach of recording devices that are in social life that are producing data sets that are out there, and we don't know who has access to them or what they're using them for."
Ostherr went on to explain that standards in the technological field differ from oaths in the medical field.
"Physicians abide by an oath to take care of patients," she said. "Technology companies do not have an equivalent oath."
That being said, she is hopeful the use of AI on note-taking can have a positive impact on patients in the coming years.
"I think there's an opportunity for this to become a really patient-centric and patient-serving tool," she said
Ostherr believes patients and clinicians need to play a greater role in the development of these technologies for that to happen.
Houston-area hospitals on AI
ABC13 reached out to numerous Houston-area hospitals for more information on the use of AI to document medical events. Houston Methodist and MD Anderson hospitals were the only two to reply by publication time.
Houston Methodist confirmed the use of "ambient AI documentation tools" to support clinicians and enhance the patient experience. An official said everty note is carefully reviewed, edited and approved by the physician, who they say remains responsible for all documentation and patient care choices.
"Patient safety and quality are our highest priorities, and we have strong safeguards and oversight in place to ensure these tools are used responsibly and appropriately," a statement from Houston Methodist read in part.
MD Anderson Cancer Center also replied to Eyewitness News and confirmed the use of "ambient listening" tools to "allow clinicians to focus their conversations with patients, rather than try to write everything they say down," a statement read in part.
An official at the hospital said this technology is common and claimed that at least three hospitals in the Houston area use it.