About AutoScribe Express

AutoScribe Express Patient Consent

Headwaters Health Care Centre is currently piloting AutoScribe Express. Your healthcare provider will provide the below form for your signature before using AutoScribe. 

Dear Patient,

Your healthcare provider uses a technology called AutoScribe Express to help them with their clinical documentation. AutoScribe Express uses speech recognition software and artificial intelligence to help reduce the amount of time that healthcare providers spend filling out their patient charts by hand or on their individual computers. The goal of AutoScribe Express is to allow healthcare providers to spend more time with their patients and to improve quality of care. 

The purpose of this Patient Consent is to tell you more about AutoScribe Express, and to ask if you consent to your healthcare provider using AutoScribe Express during your appointment with them today. It is completely up to you whether to consent to your healthcare provider using AutoScribe Express. If you say yes to your healthcare provider using AutoScribe Express, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time, for any reason. 

AutoScribe Express is owned and operated by Mutuo Health Solutions Inc. (“Mutuo Health” or “we”). Mutuo Health is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your Personal Health Information (“PHI”). Your PHI is identifying information about you that relates to your health or to the provision of health care to you. For example, during your appointment, you and your healthcare provider might discuss your health history, current problems and symptoms, and medication use; all of this information would be considered your PHI. Please read this Patient Consent carefully before deciding whether to sign it, as it describes how Mutuo Health collects, uses, stores, discloses, and protects your PHI when it operates AutoScribe Express. 

How is your PHI collected through AutoScribe Express?

Through AutoScribe Express, Mutuo Health will collect your PHI in three ways:

•    It will create a word-for-word transcript of the dialogue between you and your healthcare provider during your appointment, using voice recognition software and other technologies. 

•    It will create an audio recording of your appointment with your healthcare provider. 

How does Mutuo Health use your PHI after AutoScribe Express has collected it? 

The appointment transcripts generated by AutoScribe Express are used in the following ways:

•    At the conclusion of each appointment, AutoScribe Express uses the transcript from that appointment to generate an information handout for you, the patient. The information handout summarizes the discussion between you and your healthcare provider during the appointment, including any action items that were discussed. The information handout can be printed and given to you or sent to you by email with your consent. 

•    Mutuo Health analyzes each appointment transcript using machine learning, to automate and support the healthcare provider’s clinical documentation of the appointment. 

Mutuo Health may also use PHI as permitted or required by law, for instance to prevent fraud or to comply with legal requirements. 

Does Mutuo Health share your PHI with others?

Mutuo Health may share PHI with entities that provide services to us. Our service providers are permitted to use PHI only on our instruction and only to provide their services to us. They are also required to take appropriate measures to protect the PHI.

Mutuo Health will not disclose your PHI to anyone else, except with your consent or as required or permitted by law. We will never sell or rent your PHI. 

How does Mutuo Health protect your PHI? 

Mutuo Health uses appropriate safeguards to protect PHI against loss, theft, and unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use, disposal, and modification. These security measures include restricting access to PHI to authorized employees who need access in order to carry out their job functions, training our employees on their privacy obligations and requiring them to sign confidentiality agreements, encrypting PHI while at rest and in transit, and storing PHI securely using cloud storage provided by Amazon Web Services. 

Retention of PHI

When using AutoScribe Express, Mutuo Health will retain any encounter and associated PHI data for only up to 48 hours, unless otherwise permitted or required by law. For example, when a healthcare provider finalizes their edits to the AI-generated clinical note and handout, the audio is immediately deleted. Mutuo Health will retain each audio recording of an appointment only for 48 hours if a note has not been finalized by the health care provider, after which the recording will be securely disposed of. For textual data, we will retain each appointment transcription and documentation data for 48 hours, and this will also be securely disposed of. 

Access to and correction of PHI

You have the right to access and to request the correction of your PHI that is stored in Mutuo Health’s information system during that 48-hour time window. If you wish to exercise this right, please ask your health care provider directly. 

Questions

If you have any questions about this Patient Consent or Mutuo Health’s handling of PHI, please contact our Privacy Officer at privacyofficer@mutuohealth.com.

By signing below, you acknowledge and confirm that:
1.    You have read, understand, and agree to the information contained in this Patient Consent.
2.    You have had the opportunity to get answers to any questions you might have about AutoScribe Express; and
3.    Your healthcare provider may use AutoScribe Express during your appointment with them. 

Signature: ___________________________

Name: ______________________________

Date: _______________________________

Phone: _____________________________

Email: ______________________________