AI Medical Scribes in Allied Health: Benefits and Risks 

Leveraging these platforms delivers a range of strategic benefits across clinical operations. By streamlining documentation processes, they significantly reduce administrative burden and help mitigate clinician burnout. Notes are generated rapidly, enhancing efficiency in clinical reporting. 

Importantly, these efficiencies translate into more meaningful patient interactions. With less time spent on manual data entry, clinicians can devote greater attention to delivering high-quality, focused care, strengthening client engagement and improving overall service outcomes. 

Whilst AI medical scribes offer significant operational and clinical advantages, it is imperative that healthcare professionals remain aware of the associated risks. Over reliance on AI, particularly in the context of sensitive patient data and nuanced clinical decision-making requires careful consideration. Ensuring appropriate oversight and maintaining professional judgment is critical to safeguarding data integrity and delivering high-quality patient care. 

What is an AI Medical Scribe?  

An AI medical scribe is a digital tool designed to assist healthcare professionals by automating the clinical documentation process. Using advanced technologies like speech recognition, natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning, these systems listen to patient consultations and convert spoken interactions into structured medical notes. 

An AI Medical Scribe is a digital tool that converts spoken dialogue from verbal clinical sessions into written, clinical documentation. This assists clinicians with streamlining their workflow, reduce administrative and operational burden.  

Benefits of using an AI Medical Scribe includes:  

• Reduced administrative burdens with less time spent taking notes manually.  
• Faster documentation with notes generated in real time, or shortly after a session. 
• Structured and consistent output as summaries are formatted clear and orderly. 
• Improved patient engagement as clinicians are able to maintain eye contact and focus during a session, rather than writing notes. 

What an AI Medical Scribe Can Do:

• Real-time transcription: listens in during a clinical session and transcribes the conversation between the clinician and patient.
• Structured documentations: organises the transcribed content into clinical notes, summaries, referrals, or reports
• Workflow integration: integrate with electronic medical record (EMR) systems, allowing for seamless transfer of documentation.
• Improved patient engagement: clinicians are able to maintain eye contact and focus during a session, rather than writing notes.

Why Sole Reliance on AI as a Clinician may be Dangerous.  

Despite the benefits, over dependence on these tools may introduce significant clinical, legal and operational risks. It is important that healthcare professionals remain vigilant and exercise clinical judgement when integrating AI into their workflows.  

1. Accuracy Issues 

AI medical scribes may generate what is referred to as hallucinated content. This is when the tool may fabricate examination details or diagnostic notes, based on content gaps or silent pauses during a consultation. Additionally, non-clinical tools risk misclassifying or overlooking key information, potentially compromising the quality of care.  

2.  Clinical Accountability and Consent Requirements 

Regulatory authorities, including the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), emphasise that clinicians retrain full accountability for all clinical documentation, irrespectively of AI. Patient consent, (often written) is mandatory and clinicians must verify accuracy in each case. If AI tools are incorrectly diagnosing notes, or leaving out key details, this falls solely on the clinician and may result in legal action.   

3. Privacy and Data Compliance 

Many AI transcription platforms transmit sensitive data to external servers, which may raise privacy, compliance, and security concerns. Australian providers like Zanda Health, a common platform used in the allied health sector, emphasise local data hosting, transparency and clear consent workflows, particularly important in allied health settings 

4. Cognitive Risks and Professional Implications

Prolonged reliance on AI-generated documentation may diminish clinicians’ engagement with diagnostic reasoning and detailed notetaking. This overdependence risks eroding clinical acumen and may hinder ongoing professional development and career progression. 

AIDH Guidance: Recommendations for Safe Implementation  

The Australasian Institute of Digital Health (AIDH) released the Implementation of AI Scribes in Healthcare Workflows (July 2025), a resource aimed at guiding clinicians, practice managers, and digital health leaders.  

Key Recommendations Include:   

• Governance: Establish clear accountability by assigning specific roles responsible for conducting risk assessments.  
• Privacy & Consent: Ensure mandatory informed patient consent is obtained from all patients prior to consultation. Engage only with service providers and vendors that are hosted in Australia.  
• Vendor Evaluation: Implement a structured evaluation framework for prospective vendors, including testing and performance assessment. Evaluate integration with your systems, accuracy and domain suitability. 
• Ongoing Monitoring: Establish continuous oversight mechanisms such as scheduled regular audits, incident tracking and clinician feedback loops to monitor AI performance and identify errors early.  

How AI Medical Scribes Increase PI Exposures  

Over reliance on AI tools for documentation, diagnostic processes, or client communication, can increase exposure to errors and omissions. AI generated outputs may contain inaccuracies, exclude essential information, or misinterpret context, which could lead to flawed advice, incorrect reporting, or a compromised quality of care.  

In the event a claim arises due to such issues, liability may rest with the professional, who remains ultimately responsible for exercising judgement and maintaining appropriate oversight, irrespective of the technological tools employed.  

AI is a Workplace Enabler, not a Replacement!  

Artificial Intelligence, particularly in the form of AI-assisted scribing, offers transformative potential across the healthcare sector. However, overreliance on AI, without any rigorous human validation, introduces substantial risks. This may include mis-documentation, data privacy breaches and gradual erosion of clinical expertise and professional judgement.  

To harness AI responsibly, it is important to implement robust governance frameworks, obtain secure and informed patient consent, and mandate clinician-led reviews for all patient interactions. AI should complement, not replace the diligence, expertise, and accountability that underpins high quality care.