Photo courtesy of the Royal Flying Doctor Service
Royal Flying Doctor Service Victoria is partnering with a Melbourne-based startup to develop an AI-powered clinical documentation system supporting paramedics, ambulance transport attendants, and patient transport officers.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT
In a media release, NexusMD.ai explained that the upcoming AI-enabled patient record system will be designed to work alongside ambulance crews to capture patient information in high-pressure transport settings.
It will automatically generate structured patient records and immediate transport summaries ready for paramedics' review and approval, with the information handled in accordance with hospital-grade security standards and Australian privacy requirements.
The tool will also have offline capabilities, according to RFDS Victoria.
WHY IT MATTERS
According to NexusMD.ai, paramedics typically take written notes during care and then only manually enter data into a system after delivering care. The startup has been developing AI clinical documentation platforms for healthcare providers, featuring proprietary noise reduction algorithms so it works reliably in high-noise, multi-speaker ambulance environments.
RFDS Victoria confirmed to Healthcare IT News that it is developing the ambulance documentation system with NexusMD.ai, which will be separate from the existing RFDS EHR system used by the organisation nationwide.
"With this system, we anticipate that our ambulance crews will experience reductions in administrative burden and improvements in clearing time and crew productivity. This will allow our patient transport crews to do more of what they do best – servicing the healthcare needs of all Victorians," RFDS Victoria said.
THE LARGER CONTEXT
The charitable aeromedical services provider revealed to this publication late last year that it is exploring AI enhancements to its EHR system. NexusMD.ai shared that it was also invited to demonstrate its AI solution to the organisation last year. RFDS adopted a single, cloud-based EHR system in 2023, powered by Oracle.
"This [AI-powered patient record system] is one of the first healthcare AI solutions that RFDS Victoria has explored for our patient transport service. We are in the process of exploring novel AI-solutions across our business with industry and academia," RFDS Victoria explained to this publication.
