Hundreds of Dutch house doctors are using artificial intelligence (AI) to listen in on consultations and write a report for the patient file, NU.nl reported, based on research by Nivel.

Nivel approached all 4,500 GP practices in the Netherlands with a survey on the use of AI-controlled voice reporting. Over 800 completed the survey. 36 percent of them indicated that they use this AI tool, up from 14 percent a year earlier. The exact number of practices using an AI note-taker is unknown, but there are at least hundreds.

The sudden and large increase in house doctors using AI surprised Nivel researcher Lilian van Tuyl. “GPs are often quite hesitant about the use of digital tools. It is telling, however, that they see opportunities mainly in administrative processes,” she told the newspaper. AI is much less popular among GPs for chatbots or personalized treatment plans.

Reinier van Linschoten, a university lecturer at Erasmus MC, researched how well AI voice-controlled reporting actually works last year. He and colleagues observed 535 GP consultations with and without AI and found that the AI note taker had both advantages and disadvantages.

Not having to type up a report themselves, but only having to check the AI report and adjust it where necessary, saved doctors an average of 42.7 seconds per consultation. “That doesn’t mean that a GP can see more patients overall. But it provides some breathing room, less cognitive load. Just a little more time to think quietly for a moment,” he told NU.nl.

The AI tool was more detailed than GPs themselves when recording the patient’s story, the diagnosis, and the action plan, but less concise when recording the physical examination. “The system is not perfect, but on balance, it records more than a GP. However, you must always remain critical of the summary,” Van Linschoten said. Not only because information is sometimes missing, but also because AI can “hallucinate” and write down nonsense. “Although we have not encountered any major or dangerous hallucinations.”

Digizo, a Dutch knowledge platform on digital healthcare, has approved several AI tools for voice reporting in GP practices based on literature research and conversations with GPs and suppliers. According to Digizo, “the privacy risks are considered low” because the audio is not stored and the report is only saved in the patient file after approval by the doctor. That means explicit consent from the patient is not required, Digizo said.

The Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) could not comment on this to NU.nl. “There are many different tools. And exactly which laws and regulations apply depends, among other things, on the specific situation,” a spokesperson said. In general, the AI must not undermine patient-doctor confidentiality, and the patient must be clearly informed in advance about the AI use.

“In principle, a doctor may not provide data to third parties without the patient’s consent,” the AP spokesperson said. That happens if the hosting provider of the AI tool gets access to medical data. “Furthermore, health data may only be processed if there is a valid legal basis for doing so under the GDPR privacy law.”

The AP is working on guidelines regarding AI use in GP offices.

The Health and Youth Care Inspectorate told the newspaper that it has not received any reports about incidents involving AI voice-controlled reporting in recent years.