(Singapore, 23rd) Doctors usually spend less than 20 minutes per consultation, but for complex cases or inpatients, the process can last one to two hours. The National University Health System (NUHS) has invented a 'helpful assistant' that saves doctors and nurses 30% of the time originally used for recording and organizing patient consultation notes.
Over the past year, more than a dozen healthcare institutions—such as National University Hospital, Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, and Alexandra Hospital—have adopted MediVoice, an AI-powered voice transcription tool developed by NUHS, helping over a thousand medical staff free up time previously spent on organizing consultation records, allowing them to focus on providing more face-to-face service to patients.
NUHS Assistant Chief Technology Officer and National University Hospital Senior Consultant Physician Dr. Wu Liying demonstrated to reporters how this AI-based tool can use different languages to record conversations between doctors and patients, and, based on more than 150 prompts—including dietary habits, family medical history, etc.—organize the recordings into medical-format text.
"Previously, a conversation with a patient required a junior doctor dedicated to recording and organizing; now, colleagues can use their time for more important work, such as helping with hospital admission procedures and caring for critical patients."
According to her, NUHS—partnering with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and others—spent about half a year developing MediVoice, launching it for internal use in October 2024 to ensure patient data security while improving doctors' efficiency and service quality.
NUHS recently held its inaugural Quality Day and at the event released the "Clinical Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety E-Manual," providing work guidance for all staff. NUHS Institute for Clinical Quality Executive Director Professor Guo Ruicai stated that this 200-plus-page e-manual compiles important content on protecting patient data security and the governance of AI-related tools.
NUHS is one of Singapore's three major public healthcare clusters, including more than a dozen healthcare institutions—such as National University Hospital—primarily serving residents of the western region. The other two government healthcare clusters are SingHealth and National Healthcare Group.
Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary (Policy & Development) Lai Huiling remarked at the event that NUHS plays a vital role in Singapore's healthcare system and contributes many great ideas for improving healthcare quality.
"NUHS makes good use of digital and data-driven solutions to enhance patient care, improve operational efficiency, and support clinical decision-making."
Some seniors also shared their real-world experiences and suggestions for seeking treatment at government hospitals with reporters. Lin Wenlong, a 69-year-old retired computer technical service engineer with diabetes who regularly visits polyclinics and government hospitals for blood sugar checks, said that AI tools can improve consultation efficiency to some extent, but to fully resolve long waiting times will take more time.
He said, "Doctors need to check and update patient records before and after every consultation, which is time-consuming. New technology should help them... But for AI to be truly integrated into the whole medical system may take a long time. It looks like the problem of long queues won't be solved in the short run."
Chen Limei, 80, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016, experienced a relapse in 2024, and also suffers from hypertension and diabetes, said: "I don't quite understand artificial intelligence, so I'm not sure how new technology improves consultation efficiency... For me, the family doctor at the polyclinic is excellent. For almost 20 years, it's been the same doctor treating me; she knows all my conditions and is already very efficient."
NUHS Assistant Chief Technology Officer and National University Hospital Senior Consultant Physician Dr. Wu Liying demonstrated to reporters how this AI-based tool can use different languages to record conversations between doctors and patients, and, based on more than 150 prompts—including dietary habits, family medical history, etc.—organize the recordings into medical-format text.
"Previously, a conversation with a patient required a junior doctor dedicated to recording and organizing; now, colleagues can use their time for more important work, such as helping with hospital admission procedures and caring for critical patients."
According to her, NUHS—partnering with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and others—spent about half a year developing MediVoice, launching it for internal use in October 2024 to ensure patient data security while improving doctors' efficiency and service quality.
NUHS recently held its inaugural Quality Day and at the event released the "Clinical Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety E-Manual," providing work guidance for all staff. NUHS Institute for Clinical Quality Executive Director Professor Guo Ruicai stated that this 200-plus-page e-manual compiles important content on protecting patient data security and the governance of AI-related tools.
NUHS is one of Singapore's three major public healthcare clusters, including more than a dozen healthcare institutions—such as National University Hospital—primarily serving residents of the western region. The other two government healthcare clusters are SingHealth and National Healthcare Group.
Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary (Policy & Development) Lai Huiling remarked at the event that NUHS plays a vital role in Singapore's healthcare system and contributes many great ideas for improving healthcare quality.
"NUHS makes good use of digital and data-driven solutions to enhance patient care, improve operational efficiency, and support clinical decision-making."
Some seniors also shared their real-world experiences and suggestions for seeking treatment at government hospitals with reporters. Lin Wenlong, a 69-year-old retired computer technical service engineer with diabetes who regularly visits polyclinics and government hospitals for blood sugar checks, said that AI tools can improve consultation efficiency to some extent, but to fully resolve long waiting times will take more time.
He said, "Doctors need to check and update patient records before and after every consultation, which is time-consuming. New technology should help them... But for AI to be truly integrated into the whole medical system may take a long time. It looks like the problem of long queues won't be solved in the short run."
Chen Limei, 80, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016, experienced a relapse in 2024, and also suffers from hypertension and diabetes, said: "I don't quite understand artificial intelligence, so I'm not sure how new technology improves consultation efficiency... For me, the family doctor at the polyclinic is excellent. For almost 20 years, it's been the same doctor treating me; she knows all my conditions and is already very efficient."