Developments in AI technology for GPs are galloping along at such a pace that it’s sometimes as if a new capability is made available as quickly as clinical note is produced by an AI scribe.

A perfect example is the ability to almost instantly get a second opinion on a diagnosis through new functionality – not surprisingly dubbed Second Opinion – which has recently been rolled out to customers by New Zealand practice management system vendor myPractice.

We must admit that we’ve been gobsmacked a couple of times when AI capability has first been demonstrated to us. We remember Microsoft’s Simon Kos showing us just how simple it was to create a clinical note from a consultation, and by Consultmed’s Vikram Palit, who showed us how it could be used to simplify the eReferral process almost instantaneously.

However, rarely have we been so gobsmacked that we were at a loss for words, none more so than when were given a demonstration this week by GP and owner and founder of myPractice, Ashwin Patel, of the remarkable new capability that he has already rolled out to users.

Second Opinion is using OpenAI technologies to enable, with a single click, an almost instantaneous second opinion on a diagnosis or treatment plan, or past patient notes or even lab reports, even within the actual consultation.

As Dr Patel admits, even a GP of his years of experience can still feel alone and bit unsure sometimes, but having that second opinion right there, instantaneously, even within a consultation, is incredibly powerful.

We’ll have the full story on Second Opinion next week, but one highlight was Dr Patel entering the symptoms of strep throat, along with the patient’s age and sex and that he was a doctor from New Zealand, and in a second Second Opinion produced a report supporting his diagnosis but including a differential diagnosis of rheumatic fever, complete with guidance on what to do next if the patient were Maori.

The power of this technology is just quite remarkable. It will be discussed at next week’s AI.Care conference in Melbourne, where, while a lot of the emphasis is on regulation and medico-legal aspects, AI scribes in primary care are very high on the agenda.

It doesn’t come as a surprise, our biggest, most popular story for this week was about a very small, very unofficial study of the impact of AI scribes on GPs that was carried out by primary care provider Ochre Health and AI scribe developer Lyrebird Health. What this study did, unofficially as it was, is to measure what GPs wanted to get out of an AI scribe and whether it actually met those expectations.

The aim was to see whether AI transcription could help reduce cognitive load, but also to see if it could free up time for doctors to see more patients, and if it could make the medical record better. The findings weren’t overwhelmingly great but it is one of the few that is providing quality, early feedback and with the speed that AI is moving, you’d have to think improvements will be made just as quickly.

Also this week there was some terrific research by medical indemnity insurer Avant Mutual of 600 of its members, which found that one in two doctors are either currently using or want to use an AI scribe. At the moment, 11 per cent surveyed said they were using one but 39 per cent said they were likely to use one in future, particularly doctors who haven’t been practicing that long.

Avant’s legal and policy advisor, Tracy Pickett, will be speaking about that research and its medico-legal ramifications at next week’s AI.Care conference in Melbourne.

One of the interesting findings from the Ochre Health study, which used Lyrebird’s standalone system, is that while it has been integrated into Best Practice, it didn’t seem to really matter. Heidi Health has done very well for itself with a standalone product but it has also been integrated into MediRecords, and will soon also be used by MedicalDirector as part of its new Smart Scribe offering.

Also this week was the announcement by Consultmed that it had begun the roll-out of its digital referral suite at South Western Sydney LHD, which will include some tip-top new technology, including its Consultpilot and its Advice & Guidance capability, which is another gobsmacking technology.

Consultmed already integrates with the major GP and specialist PMS but it also plans in the next few months to reveal some new, cloud-first integrations, including with BP through Halo Connect, an eReferral app in the cloud-based Gentu from Magentus, and a feature in Telstra Health’s Smart Marketplace for MedicalDirector users.

And finally this week, some older technology. The Australian government has introduced its promised legislation to enable sharing by default for the My Health Record. If passed, it will still need to develop a rule to say which organisations must register for the My Health Record and be required to share by default, but it also outlined the penalties for those organisations that, for whatever reason, refuse to share information.

Initially it will be pathology and diagnostic imaging reports, but you can see pretty quickly that those healthcare organisations receiving Medicare benefits are going to have to register for the My Health Record and more importantly, use it. Good. As the government points out, “My Health Record is the only national repository within Australia’s federated health system with the ability to connect a healthcare recipient’s key health information between healthcare providers and across care settings in both public and private health services and across jurisdictional borders”.

With such rapid developments in technology that may change very shortly, but for the time being, it’s all we’ve got. It needs to be used.

That brings us to our poll question for the week:

If you are using an AI scribe, is it meeting your expectations?

We also asked, if you voted yes, in which areas are you benefitting most? If no, how could it be improved?

Vote here and leave your questions below.

Last week, we asked: Do you think robotic process automation is providing real, measurable benefits in healthcare? Two thirds (65 per cent) said yes.