Prevalence of Use of AI-assisted Clinical Notetaking Tools at Public Healthcare Institutions and Safeguards for Such Use

Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim asked the Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and Minister for Health (a) which public healthcare institutions have deployed AI-assisted clinical note-taking tools; (b) whether such tools are classified as medical devices under the Health Products Act; and (c) if not, what mandatory safeguards exist to ensure the accuracy and safety of such tools.

As artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted clinical note-taking does not diagnose, manage or treat medical conditions, they are not medical devices regulated under the Health Products Act.

Healthcare professionals are required to go through the AI-generated notes before adding them to their clinical records. Ultimately, the notes are still from the healthcare professional, not the AI tool. This is the principle of keeping the human in the loop when we implement AI tools.