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AI scribes in optometry: enhancing efficiency and patient care
By Ronald P. Snyder, OD, FAAO
Feb. 19, 2025
Most providers find that manually typing notes into their electronic health record (EHR) is time-consuming and results in a loss of productivity.
Artificial intelligence (AI) scribes are changing the landscape in medicine and optometry. This technology uses a microphone to capture speech that is taking placing during a clinical encounter with a patient and then converts the audio into text.
AI scribes convert conversation between doctors and patients into real-time, structured clinical notes reducing the time it takes for the doctor to manually type notes word-for-word.
AI scribes also convert unstructured speech into a variety of real-time clinician-approved reports including medical codes such as SNOMED-CT and ICD-10 codes.
The AI scribe operates in the background, allowing the doctor to focus entirely on patient interaction. And it eliminates the need to have a technician scribe or enter notes in the EHR.
Key Benefits of AI-Powered Scribes
- Time Efficiency: Results in significant reduction in administration workload for healthcare practitioners, and reduces the need for follow-up patient visits or calls.
- Enhance Data Quality: Automatically extracts discrete medical data from the conversation for better registration at the source.
- Improved Job Satisfaction: Alleviates administrative overload, which is one of the leading causes for burnout and attrition for healthcare practitioners.
- Better Patient Outcomes: Because notes are automatically generated, the AI scribe delivers them in a structured, standardized way so that they can be reused by clinical researchers to improve healthcare.
- Takes Notes in the Background: The doctor is free to pay full attention to the patient, leading to a more empathetic doctor-patient relationship, which has been linked to better patient outcomes.
Unfortunately, there are currently many EHRs in use in optometry that are considered to be “legacy” EHRs.
The data from a legacy EHR cannot be transformed to a new platform, and most lack the essential structure fields to record specialty data such as, dry eye, glaucoma and cataract, to mention just a few shortcomings.
Reports from the Field: What’s It Actually Like Using an AI-Powered Scribe?
The author’s son is a gastroenterologist who has used an AI scribe for months. He reported that the use of his auto-scribe has saved him significant time.
At the completion of a patient encounter, he simply reviews the transcription and attaches the document to his EHR.
A word of caution, he recommends at the beginning of the exam to advise the patient that their conversation is being recorded.
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Also, one of my colleagues, Jessica Heinke, OD, has been using a FREE version of an auto-scribe program from Heidi Health. This is an ambient clinical AI that frees the doctor up from note-taking, and more.
Editor’s note: There are many technologies now that offer AI-powered scribes, including (but not limited to): Barti, MModal, Nuance Dragon Medical, Augmedix, DeepScribe and iScribe.
She reports a significant savings in time, which allows her to look directly at her patient during their discussion instead of at her computer.
The U.S. federal government is closely scrutinizing native AI implementations, particularly in sensitive fields like healthcare, because they involve the creation and use of data-driven ecosystems that may directly interact with or manipulate sensitive information. This heightened scrutiny aims to ensure compliance with privacy laws like HIPAA and prevent misuse or unauthorized exposure of patient information.
By contrast, AI services, like those used by Healthcare Registries, act as an intermediary. These services enable organizations to leverage AI capabilities without directly handling or exposing sensitive data, as the data is usually anonymized, encrypted, or otherwise protected during processing. This approach can reduce regulatory risks and ensure patient data remains secure.
The Universal Co-management App from Healthcare Registries will soon include auto-scribe and voice command in its functionality.
Additionally, the registry is about to release a Kno2 network option for comprehensive interoperability.
Kno2 will drive secured and authorized access to patient information for everyone, with minimal effort. It is a powerful interface to enable eyecare practitioners to communicate across the care continuum and automate exchange workflows, solving communication needs with or without an EHR.
These are exciting developments!
Integrating tools like auto scribe and Kno2 into eyecare workflows will revolutionize how practitioners manage their time and patient interactions.
These solutions not only boost efficiency, but also improve the quality of care by allowing doctors to focus more on their patients.
Are you planning to incorporate these tools into your practice as well? The future is now!
Ronald P. Snyder, OD, FAAO, is the president and CEO of HealthCare Registries, LLC. To contact him: RonSnyder@HealthCareRegistries.com
