Last year was a good one for artificial intelligence (AI)-powered medical note-taking apps.
Investment in these apps doubled in 2024, the Financial Times (FT) reported Sunday (Jan. 5), with tech giants and smaller startups scrambling to tap into a $26 billion AI healthcare market.
Startups focused on developing digital “scribes” for the health sector raised $800 million during the year, up from $390 million in 2023, the report said, citing data from PitchBook. Companies, the FT said, are rushing to introduce AI-powered products designed to make it quicker for doctors to take medical notes and bolster patient interactions.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything more transformative in 15 years of healthcare than this,” Harpreet Sood, a primary care physician in South London, told the FT.
Sood, a former adviser on tech and innovation to the chief executive of NHS England, has been working with French startup Nabla’s app for the past 15 months. He said that in a full day of seeing 40 patients, traditional note-taking can eat up two hours.
“It’s been remarkable, easily saving three to four minutes of every [10-minute] consultation and really helping to capture the consultation and what it’s about,” he added.
The report noted that medical professionals throughout Great Britain’s National Health Service are testing AI note-taking as a way to save time and improve doctor-patient interactions. The FT pointed to a Mayo Clinic study which found physicians spend around one-third of their workday on administrative tasks, such as paperwork.
Last year saw a number of high-profile product launches by tech companies aimed at easing this issue. For example, Microsoft rolled out a series of cloud-based AI solutions aimed at automating paperwork, improving data integration and boosting patient outcomes.
“From AI-powered chatbots handling routine queries to advanced algorithms detecting hidden patterns in medical data, these tools could free up healthcare workers to focus on patient care,” PYMNTS wrote.
And Amazon One Medical has said that its AI tools can reduce the time spent on administrative duties by 40% compared to industry standards.
In related news, PYMNTS wrote last week about AI’s emergence as a force in enhancing business processes, with companies using the technology to automate repetitive tasks and more complicated processes.
“The timing couldn’t be better,” the report said. “The back office has long been overlooked in conversations about innovation, but its transformation is no longer optional. With rising uncertainty, regulatory complexities and competitive pressures, companies are seeking ways to streamline operations, improve decision-making and unlock efficiencies.”
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