I will never go back: Ontario family doctor says new AI notetaking saved her job [Video]

During the summer of 2023, Dr. Rosemary Lall, a family physician working at a bustling medical clinic in Scarborough, hit her breaking point.

After nearly three decades on the job, Lall was ready to throw in the towel as she found herself buried under inescapable patient-related paperwork that often cut into precious family time.

“I lost all my joy of work,” Lall told Global News. “I was coming into work really dreading the day.”

That dread, Lall said, had less to do with the patient experience and instead came from the work associated with the “aftermath” — mandatory record-keeping that front-line health-care workers are expected to input into Ontario’s electronic medical records system.

Physicians, Lall said, are expected to update patient charts, fill out medical forms, provide sick notes and provide specialist referrals.

The administrative burden would often take her up to two hours per day. Ontario’s Medical Association has estimated family doctors spend 19 hours per week on administrative tasks, …