Usage Policy for Practice AI
Effective Date: September 2025
Last Updated: October 2025
1. Purpose
This policy explains how our AI scribe device is used in New Zealand healthcare settings, including how it supports clinicians, how patient information is handled, and what rights patients have when the device is used during their care. It is intended for clinicians, practice managers, and patients who want to understand the conditions of use.
2. Scope
This policy applies to:
- Any use of the AI scribe device in clinical and nonclinical encounters in New Zealand health services (e.g. GP clinics, specialist practices, allied health services etc.)
- All clinicians, staff members, contractors, and students who use or access the device.
- All patient and whānau interactions where the device may capture, process, or store health information.
3. Description of the Practice AI Scribe
The Practice AI scribe is a cloud based digital tool that captures spoken interactions (for example, between a clinician and a patient) and converts them into clinical notes, summaries, or other documentation.
- The service processes audio in real time to generate text; only the transcription is briefly stored to create and deliver the draft note, after which it is deleted in line with our short-term retention settings.
- The software is designed to support, not replace, clinical judgment. Clinicians remain fully responsible for assessing patients, making decisions, and verifying documentation.
- Output from the Practice AI scribe (such as draft notes) must be reviewed, edited where necessary, and approved by the responsible clinician before it becomes part of the health record.
4. Patient Information and Privacy
The Practice AI scribe may capture identifiable health information, including spoken words, descriptions of symptoms, medical history, and other details shared during a consultation.
Health information collected via the AI scribe is handled as follows:
- Audio is streamed securely to our cloud service for processing
- Transcriptions are stored only for a very short time needed to generate and deliver the draft note and are then deleted from the AI scribe environment.
- Once the health professional approves and saves the final note in the clinical system, it is managed under the organisation’s usual health record and retention policies.
- We apply appropriate technical and organisational safeguards (including secure transmission, strict access controls, and monitoring) to protect information during this short processing window.
- Access to AI scribe outputs is restricted to authorised staff who require it to provide care or carry out their role.
5. Lawful and Ethical Use
The Practice AI scribe must be used in accordance with New Zealand law, including the Health Information Privacy Code 2020 and the Privacy Act 2020, and with any applicable professional and ethical standards.
- The AI scribe must only be used for purposes that are directly related to providing, planning, or funding healthcare services, quality improvement activities, or other lawful purposes notified to patients.
- Staff must not use the device for personal, non‑clinical, or experimental purposes outside approved pilots or projects that have appropriate governance.
6. Informed Consent
Prior to consultation starting, we recommend that you explain the technology and its usage to your patients. Such as:
- The Practice AI scribe must not be used with a patient unless informed consent has been obtained.
- Before using the device, clinicians must explain in clear language:
- What the Practice AI scribe is and that the conversation may be recorded and processed to create clinical notes.
- How the patient’s information will be collected, used, stored, and protected.
- Any known risks, including privacy and security risks.
- That use of the scribe is optional and will not affect the quality of care if the patient declines.
Patients have the right to:
- Decline the use of the AI scribe at any time.
- Withdraw consent during a consultation; if this occurs, the device must be stopped immediately.
- Ask questions about the device and how their information is handled.
You may wish to include an example consent statement on your website, such as: “Do you consent to the use of our AI scribe to assist with the enhancement of note‑taking during this consultation?”
7. Accuracy, Review, and Clinical Responsibility
AI‑generated notes are drafts only and must be checked for accuracy, completeness, and clinical appropriateness before being saved to the health record.
Clinicians & health proferssionals must:
- Correct any errors or omissions.
- Ensure that the final documentation meets professional and organisational record‑keeping standards.
- Not rely solely on AI‑generated content for diagnosis, prescribing, or clinical decision‑making.
If any safety concern is identified in the AI scribe output, it must be addressed immediately and reported through existing clinical safety or incident reporting processes.
8. Data Security and Storage
All data transmitted to and processed by the Practice AI scribe is handled in a secure cloud environment.
All audio and transcription data transactions:
- Are encrypted in transit between the consultation and the cloud service
- Are retained by the Practice AI scribe service only for a short operational period to generate and deliver draft notes.
- Are deleted from the Practice AI scribe environment once this process is complete, in accordance with our configured retention settings.
Final clinical consult notes, once approved by clinicians, are then stored only in our Electronic Medical Record / Patient Management System, not in the AI scribe service.
Our contracts with the cloud provider specify:
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- Obligations for security, incident response, and deletion of data after the short retention period.
- That health information may not be used for unrelated purposes (such as training other models) without explicit authorisation
9. Training and Acceptable Use by Staff
We recommend that only staff who have completed approved training should use the AI scribe in clinical settings
Any training should cover:
- How to operate the device safely and correctly.
- Privacy & consent communication with patients
- Reviewing and editing AI‑generated documentation
- How to recognise and report errors, concerns, or incidents
Staff must:
- Use the AI scribe only for authorised purposes.
- Report any suspected misuse, security incidents, or privacy breaches immediately.
10. Patient Rights and Access
Patients may request access to their clinical notes and documentation, including content prepared with the assistance of the AI scribe, under the Health Information Privacy Code.
- If a patient believes there is an error in their record, they may request correction or that a statement of correction be added.
- Patients may ask whether an AI scribe was used during their consultation and how their data was processed.
11. Vendors and Third‑Party Services
Any vendor or third‑party service involved in providing the AI scribe
- Comply with relevant New Zealand privacy and health information requirements.
- Enter into a written agreement that clearly allocates responsibilities for data protection, retention, and breach notification.
- Not use any patient identifiable health information for purposes beyond what has been agreed (for example, training unrelated models) without explicit authorisation and, where required, additional consent
- The third-party organisation will periodically review vendor performance, security posture, and compliance.
12. Monitoring, Governance, and Review
We recommend that any organisation using the Practice AI scribe monitors the impact of the AI scribe on:
- Clinical workflow and documentation quality.
- Patient experience and trust.
- Privacy, security, and compliance.
This policy will be reviewed regularly and updated as needed to:
- Reflect changes in New Zealand law, regulation, privacy and professional guidance.
- Respond to technological developments or emerging risks.
- Incorporate feedback from clinicians, patients, and other stakeholders.
