In an article for the Illinois Rural Health Association Newsletter, Thompson Coburn partners Milada Goturi and April Kirkley explore how rural health care organizations in Illinois are turning to AI scribes to help address workforce shortages, reduce clinician burnout, and improve operational efficiency. They outline key legal, regulatory, operational, and patient trust considerations associated with adopting this technology.
“To mitigate risk, organizations should implement standardized consent procedures for each encounter, incorporate recording disclosures into consent forms, provide conspicuous notice in clinical settings, establish protocols for patients who decline recording, and train staff to explain AI scribe use in a patient-friendly manner,” they wrote.
Milada and April also examine vendor contracting, patient rights, and record retention. “Under HIPAA, patients have rights to access and request amendment of protected health information maintained in a designated record set (“DRS”),” they wrote.“ When deploying AI scribes, it is prudent for providers to evaluate whether audio recordings, draft transcripts, or related AI-generated materials constitute part of the DRS and update policies regarding retention periods, patient access rights, and Illinois record retention requirements.”
