“Privacy-First” When Using AI Scribes in Health Care, Says the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario

AI scribes promise to reduce administrative burden and facilitate patient interactions, but new guidance from the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) explains that these scribes also require investment by health information custodians to develop an appropriate privacy framework to ensure that they meet their legal obligations under Ontario’s health privacy law.

The IPC has released new guidance regarding the use of AI scribes in healthcare, AI Scribes: Key Considerations for the Health Sector and AI Scribes: Checklist of Key Considerations for the Health Sector. These timely documents offer guidance to health care providers, institutions, and developers that applies to various stages of adopting artificial intelligence (AI) systems to transcribe and summarize their interactions with patients. As with all AI technologies, health care providers need to ensure that they understand the risks as well as the benefits of new technology and that those risks are managed appropriately during the development, procurement and use of AI scribes. The IPC has also pointed to other reputable resources for health care providers to use when choosing an AI scribe, such as the Ontario AI Scribe Program, which was established by the Ministry of Health and Ontario Health to provide a list of vetted AI scribe vendors, or a similar program administered by Canada Health Infoway.

Some of the risks highlighted by the IPC include inaccurate or biased output from AI scribes, and heightened risks of large amounts of personal health information being collected and potentially made vulnerable to cyberattacks. Accordingly, another key element of the IPC guidance relates to ensuring transparency with the public regarding the use of AI scribes. Specifically, the IPC guidance highlights the importance of respecting the right of patients to make an informed decision regarding whether to consent to an AI scribe being used to record their personal health information.

If you are a health information custodian with questions about implementing an AI scribe in your practice, please contact us.