AI set to change health care in Ontario

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Published April 24, 2024 at 2:16 pm

Ontario AI Medical

Ontario’s healthcare system is in for a massive overhaul, as today (April 24) the Ontario Ministry of Health announced a major initiative that will reportedly cleave medical paperwork in half. While the incentive has numerous moving parts, its primary catalyst will be the implementation of AI in both hospitals and care facilities across the province. 

According to an official press release from the Ministry of Health, these strategies will save doctors 95,000 work hours that would normally be spent on administrative duty. 

“Our government is making common sense changes that will reduce the administrative burden on family doctors so that they can spend more time caring for patients instead of doing duplicative or unnecessary paperwork,” said Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Sylvia Jones in an official statement. 

Overall solutions include:

  • The replacement fax machines in order to speed up diagnosis, referrals and treatments.
  • eService expansion to digitize paperwork amongst administrative departments.  
  • eForm expansion to make it convenient for physicians to share forms.
  • Ontario Medical Association (OMA) partnerships to assist in simplifying government medical forms.
  • Waitlist program expansions for diagnostic services for Ontario-based patients.

However, the largest force for change is a new AI scribe technology provided by OntarioMD. While this application remains in its infancy, many organizations in the province believe this pilot program to be a major step toward the future of hospital administration.

“We know that every week, family physicians alone are spending about 40 per cent of their time on administrative tasks,” said the President of the OMA, Dr. Andrew Park, in an official statement.

“This time would be better spent on patient care and improving the overall work-life balance of our physicians. Today’s announcement helps us move in the right direction.” 

The basic building blocks of this new AI scribe revolve around information relayed by doctors and patients, as it has the capacity to transcribe full conversations and provide detailed summaries to medical personnel province-wide. 

“AI technology has the potential to be an important part of a sustainable health-care system in Ontario and this step to review the clinical, legal and privacy implications is critical. We are proud to be leading the work and grateful to the physicians who are taking part in the pilot,’ said CEO of OntarioMD Robert Fox in a statement to the press.

While it will likely take some time to quantify just how much of an impact these programs have on Ontario’s medical system, there is no doubt that these incentives are an indicator of things to come, as Ontario physicians continue to face an overburdened system. 

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