NZ Politics

The health minister says a doctor using an artificial intelligence scribe tool is able to see, on average, one additional patient per shift.

Simeon Brown has announced every emergency department in the country now has access to the tool, which records consultations and generates draft clinical notes, referral letters and follow-up summaries.

Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) vice-president Dr Sylvia Boys said she was concerned about how secure the artificial intelligence scribe tool was.

It could also misunderstand what was said, Boys added, especially when it came to an examination.

"You have to verbalise what you're finding at the time, and that difference between patient speak with the patient in front of you and the medical diagnosis, AI can sometimes misinterpret what is going on."

It also could not differentiate between patients when a clinician was dealing with multiple, Boys said.

"Within the ED environment, we also have multiple interruptions, and they have to step out of the room, be talked to about other patients, and so separating out what is going on with one patient and what is going on with another - with an IT system that is listening to both - can be troublesome as well."