05PRACTICALFAIRE
General educational information and FAIRE’s interpretation of the linked sources. This is not legal, clinical or regulatory advice. Read the disclaimer.
A useful starting point
An AI scribe may listen to or process a consultation and help produce a draft note. That could reduce administrative burden and give clinicians more time with patients. It also brings questions about information, accuracy, responsibility and what happens beyond the consultation.
Seven questions
- 01What exactly does the tool do? Understand whether it records, transcribes, summarises, drafts or performs another task.
- 02What information does it process? Consider the content of the consultation and whether particularly sensitive information may be involved.
- 03Where does the data go? Ask about storage, access, transfers and the role of any third parties.
- 04Is there human review? A draft should not quietly become a final record without appropriate professional judgement.
- 05What happens when it gets something wrong? The practice should understand how errors are noticed, corrected and learned from.
- 06Who remains responsible for the final record? The presence of software does not remove professional and organisational accountability.
- 07What happens to the information if the service is stopped? Understand retention, deletion and access to records before relying on the service.
FAIRE takeaway
A good AI scribe should reduce administrative burden without creating a new governance problem. These questions are a conversation starter, not a substitute for a detailed review of a particular vendor or workflow.