AI Assistant in the Specialist Practice: 8 Questions You Should Ask During the Test

For everyone who sees more than 30 patients a day.

Many practices have now tried an AI assistant for documentation, and quite a few have switched it off again. ENT specialist Jörg Taubert from Eutin had tested several solutions before he came to Sikia. His verdict at the time: “It didn't speed anything up. It took just as long as before.”

In a busy specialist consultation, there is no time between two patients. The next one is already sitting in the room before the last file is finished. An assistant that isn't built for this won't help. This guide shows you how to recognize this during testing so that you can find the best possible solution for your practice.

From 30 patients on, every minute counts

If you see 40 patients a day and spend one minute post-processing per file, you stay 40 minutes longer in the evening. In an ENT practice with 60 to 70 patients, it is over an hour. An assistant that writes good text but leaves rework behind only shifts the work.

Mr. Taubert describes the difference like this: “When the documentation takes only ten seconds instead of a minute, you notice it.” The following eight questions test precisely that: whether there is really nothing left to do after the consultation.

Eight questions for your test

1. Does the assistant understand your specialty?

General assistants cover all medical specialties, yours only incidentally. This becomes apparent with technical terms, findings, and abbreviations.

In the test: Have the assistant run during three typical cases and count the corrections.

With Sikia: Built exclusively for ENT and trained on real ENT consultations. Dr. Guido Umhau from Legau is impressed by the quality of the documentation: “I thought the recording and the Allgäu dialect would be a disaster. The opposite was the case.”

2. Does it document the way you document?

Many assistants deliver long continuous texts. Anyone who needs short entries in a fixed structure during a full consultation hour then shortens every file by hand.

In the test: Place an AI entry next to your own. Do you have to shorten or rearrange it?

With Sikia: ENT templates in your style, short or long medical history of your choice, your own text blocks via voice command.

3. Is the documentation ready when the patient leaves?

With many solutions, the text arrives 30 seconds to a minute after the conversation. That sounds like little, but you wait that long for every file, or you catch up on checking in the evening.

In the test: Time it from the end of the conversation to the finished text.

With Sikia: The live transcript runs right along during the conversation, and the documentation is ready when the patient leaves. Dr. Umhau: “The letter is finished before the patient has closed the door.”

4. Are ICD codes and billing codes also documented?

A file is only complete when diagnoses and services are recorded alongside the findings. If the assistant only delivers text, you continue to enter codes and numbers by hand.

In the test: Check after a conversation whether the diagnoses as ICD codes and the mentioned billing codes are in the documentation.

With Sikia: ICD codes and billing codes are captured in accordance with what is spoken.

5. How does the documentation get into the PMS?

Copying and pasting costs seconds and concentration with every file.

In the test: Count the clicks from the finished text to the entry in the patient record.

With Sikia: One click, directly connected to medatixx, CGM, tomedo, Pegamed, Duria, and medisoftware, among others. Dr. Iyad Darwich from Hamburg-Othmarschen: “One button, and I'm in Sikia. Another button, and the documentation is back in medisoftware.”

6. Where is the data stored?

Patient consultations are health data. Data protection must be clarified before the first recording.

In the test: Ask for the data protection concept (including data processing agreement and server location).

With Sikia: GDPR-compliant. The servers are located in Nuremberg at Hetzner, a German company. Your practice concludes the data processing agreement directly with Sikia. The audio recording is deleted within seconds.

7. Who helps when there's a hitch?

In ongoing operations, how quickly a problem is resolved is what counts.

In the test: Consciously report a minor issue during the test phase and pay attention to when and how the answer arrives.

With Sikia: Dr. Miriam Cirugeda-Kühnert from Stuttgart-Degerloch: “If anything comes up, an email is enough, and then it gets corrected.”

8. What can the assistant do beyond documentation?

Consultation hours don't consist only of documentation. A tool that also takes other speech and writing work off your hands is helpful.

In the test: Try out a function outside of consultation documentation, such as dictating a medical report.

With Sikia: Sikia speaks over 55 languages, and the live interpreter translates when you don't speak your patient's language. No more Google Translate, communicating with hands and feet, and the strange feeling that the treatment is influenced by it. Plus, a dictation mode for expert opinions and emails.

The comparison at a glance

How to make your test meaningful

• Full day instead of three patients. Only under time pressure does it become clear whether the assistant holds up.

• Set up templates beforehand. Without your structure, you test the standard, not the product.

• Measure one number: Seconds from the end of the conversation to the entry in the PMS.

When a general assistant is enough

Those who conduct a few long conversations a day and plan time for post-processing often get along well with a general assistant. From about 30 patients a day, the calculation tips. Then specialist depth, real-time speed, and PMS integration decide whether you gain time.

Test Sikia in your practice

Sikia is in use in over 50 ENT practices. In the initial consultation, we will show you the connection to your PMS and set up your trial phase.

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