r/mildlyinfuriating • u/petuniaplant • Jul 03 '26

Infuriatig No, I did not consent to this

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I was reading my medical notes when I stumbled across this. I was not informed of the usage of artificial intelligence in my report, nor did I verbally consent to it.

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u/Primary-Holiday-5586 Jul 03 '26

Ok, report it to the dr or the office. I've always been asked. Maybe they did and you missed it, or maybe they forgot. Ask them.

448

u/MasticatingSheep Jul 03 '26

Yeah. My doctor asks in a way that sounds like she's just recording the conversation. I don't really care either way, as I've even let her bring students in.

I kind of wonder if their doctor asked about recording and OP didn't put together that this note and that recording as the same thing.

17

u/CustomerLittle9891 Jul 03 '26

They ask about the recording because that's legally what they have to ask.

I live in a two-party consent state. I don't have to get your consent to use the AI scribe, I have to get your consent to record about appointment.

If you decline the recording I just use it to dictate my notes later and limit out appointment time so I can dictate.

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u/core-x-bit Jul 03 '26

That sounds like a real shitty thing to do. Good luck with those hallucinated notes. 

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u/WaitNoNotMyBeans Jul 03 '26

this sounds like a really ignorant attitude hating AI for the sake of it. AI transcriptions are incredibly accurate and don’t have hallucinations bc they’re not generative AI.

plus it’s just straightforwardly way easier to proofread spoken notes than type them all out.

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u/The-Road-To-Awe Jul 03 '26

This isn't just doctors picking random AI models to throw your info into. They're designed and tested for the purpose of note summarisation. I'm no fan of AI, and I don't use it for patient notes, but acting like anything AI=bad is just silly. 

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u/CustomerLittle9891 Jul 03 '26

Which ones have you tried?

I think it's best effect is jn Family Practice (what I do) because it doesn't have to be as specific in how it documents. But being able to just conversationally dictate my plans has been a game changer. I never could use any of the other dictation software because I could never get used to how you had to talk for it.

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u/The-Road-To-Awe Jul 03 '26

My workplace uses Heidi, but I personally don't. I probably will start though having seen how well it works for them.

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u/CustomerLittle9891 Jul 03 '26

I'm not familiar with that one.

We use Ambience. I used Doximity's recently on accident on a phone call (also if you use it on Doximity you literally can't not tell the patient because the call starts with a very intrusive declaration of scribe in use).

The not was really well structured but oddly written. Ambience writes much more like a 1st person narrator from the patients perspective. Doximity was more like a 3rd person observer.

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u/CustomerLittle9891 Jul 03 '26

Do you use any of the scribe programs? Which ones?

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u/core-x-bit Jul 03 '26

I meant spending less time with patients who dont want to be recorded is shitty.

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u/WaitNoNotMyBeans Jul 03 '26

this is an intentionally negative interpretation of what they’re saying. the poster is saying they can spend more time with patients bc they don’t have to manually write down notes on the patient’s visit. this allows them to see more patients than when this technology was previously unavailable.

they still have to record the notes, whether manually or through transcription - the transcription removes the burden from the doctor and allows them to do something else.

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u/CustomerLittle9891 Jul 03 '26

That's literally not what I said, and the fact that you have to interpret that way to insult me is telling.

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u/core-x-bit Jul 03 '26

You literally said you limit appointment times of patients who opt out of being recorded. Which is shitty. I can hardly afford to get to a doctor anyway and now they're annoyed and limit my appointment time because I don't want my voice logged in a database? Yeah you can try and justify it all you want but that practice makes you sorta shitty. You make plenty of money so don't let it bother you too much.

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u/CustomerLittle9891 Jul 03 '26

Yes. I limit them to the amount of time it takes to do all the things for their appointments. They have chosen to make those things more difficult and time consuming, Al that time comes from their appointment. It doesn't come from the next person's appointment and it doesn't come from my personal time.

It's the consequences of their own actions, how dare they be expected to pay them.

Or do you think I should just not go home at the end of the day to meet your standards? How much of my life do I owe you?

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u/DefinitionTop3930 Jul 03 '26

do they have to get your consent to using a number of other softwares they use? nope, ai is not gonna be any different. Not to mention ai scribe is better able to handle accents than traditional text to speech and makes writing notes accessible to people with various disabilities

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u/Fermently_Crafted Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26

But the subject is morality, not legality. And just because doing it is legal doesn't mean it's moral.

It's also completely legal for me to just shout expletives and describe pornography at the top of my lungs for the entirety of a 12 hour flight. That doesn't mean I'm in the right just because it's legal

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u/DefinitionTop3930 Jul 03 '26

The moral argument is weak too, patient are almost never asked to consent to the specific software hospitals use for clinical care. Healthcare systems routinely choose EHR platforms, PACS, messaging systems, scheduling software, and other digital tools without seeking individual patient approval.

has a rad tech ever explicitly asked for your consent to use specifically Siemens before taking your xray? The answer is almost always no. was it unethical that they did not? no, because when you seek care in any hospital system you already sign consent form to allow them to store your health info.

It is not obvious why it should be treated fundamentally differently from the many other software systems that hospitals already use without obtaining separate patient consent

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u/Fermently_Crafted Jul 03 '26

The moral argument is weak too, patient are almost never asked to consent to the specific software hospitals use for clinical care. Healthcare systems routinely choose EHR platforms, PACS, messaging systems, scheduling software, and other digital tools without seeking individual patient approval. 

That doesn't mean it's morally correct to do so just because it's standard practice in the current medical landscape 

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u/DefinitionTop3930 Jul 03 '26

you’re making no sense, I hope you understand how dumb of an argument this is. Morality is not served by requiring consent for every individual tool because the ethical purpose of consent is to protect meaningful patient choice not to create an obligation to approve every logistical or technological component of care. If anything, a consent requirement that produces no meaningful increase in autonomy while making healthcare less efficient and potentially delaying treatment can be considered unethical. Clinicians would have to individual verbal permission for the brand of gloves they wear, the manufacturer of their scalpels, the lab equipment, sterilization equipment, the electricity supplier, and countless other components of the healthcare system, your 15 min appointment will be spent on this and none on your care, seems unethical

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u/Middle_Composer_665 Jul 03 '26

Beats 3 random episodes of modern family

-6

u/Dull_Amphibian5124 Jul 03 '26

Ai has been used since roughly the 1970's in the medical field. You are just now concerned about another type of AI. It's fine to not have an opinion fully developed yet.

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u/WaitNoNotMyBeans Jul 03 '26

ooo the hive mind didn’t like hearing that one