Amazon announced the launch of Amazon Web Services, HealthScribe. Healthcare software vendors can utilize it to develop generative AI tools that can create "preliminary clinical notes" through the transcription and analysis of patient-doctor conversations. What does AWS HealthScribe do? Currently available for preview in the United States only, the company stated that its new AI service for healthcare is “HIPPA-eligible,” meaning it adheres to the provisions for security of protected health information under the ‘Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’ of the US. There is no mention of its plans for other countries. AWS HealthScribe is meant to provide a collection of AI-powered features for designing tools that can enhance documentation processes in clinical practices. For example, clinicians spend a lot of time completing administrative tasks involving the maintenance of detailed documentation of every patient that visits the clinic, which may hinder a valuable in-person consultation interaction. According to a blog post published by the company on July 26, AWS HealthSrcibe can analyse patient-clinician conversation audio to provide transcripts of the consultation, identify the number of individuals in the examination room, and attribute dialogues accordingly in the transcript. It can also provide summary sections of clinically relevant portions in the transcript, such as “subjective, objective, assessment, and plan,” to record patient history and recap whenever required. Healthcare practitioners can validate the accuracy of AI-generated notes with added references to the original consultation transcript. The HealthScribe can also extract “structured medical terms” from the transcript, like terms describing medical conditions, medications, and…
