AI tech aims to reduce New Zealand's healthcare waits

New Artificial Intelligence technology has been introduced to New Zealand's healthcare sector with the aim of reducing patient wait times for specialist doctor appointments, which have sometimes spanned several months.

Medow Health has launched its AI-driven "co-pilot" technology designed to ease the burden on specialist doctors by performing tasks such as note-taking and drafting patient medical reports during consultations. The technology operates in the background, ostensibly freeing clinicians to see more patients by cutting down on administrative work.

Co-founder of Medow Health, Joel Freiberg, explained the technology's potential impact, stating, "This technology allows a single doctor to see an extra one or two patients a day, multiplied across the health system, it makes a big difference." He elaborated on the personal motivation behind the innovation, as he and his brother, Josh, developed the company after witnessing their father, a respiratory specialist, labouring over reports well into the night.

According to Mr Freiberg, "The idea was to improve what really is an archaic reporting system, which saw specialists taking notes with their back to the patient during consultations or having to speak into a dictaphone to be transcribed later, instead of solely focusing on the patient in front of them." He asserted that the technology will streamline the reporting process, thus enabling doctors to prioritise patient care over paperwork.

Te Whatu Ora's recent data reflects significant challenges in the specialist waiting times across New Zealand, with over 65,000 patients awaiting more than four months for their initial specialist assessment. Some, particularly those needing Cardiology, Ear, Nose & Throat, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Gynaecology, Neurology, Orthopaedics, and Urology consultations, faced even longer waits.

Mr Freiberg is optimistic that their technology will "supercharge a reduction in waitlists and speed up the appointment process." He further clarified, "We're not trying to replace doctors, we're trying to help them. Manually producing medical reports is a time-consuming and complex process that requires extensive paperwork and hours of labour-intensive work."

This assistance is designed to refocus healthcare professionals from administrative tasks to direct patient care. "By using cutting edge AI specific to each medical specialty to examine patient interactions, formulate reports, and provide valuable insights we can enable doctors to do what they do best - focus on patient care," Mr Freiberg said.

While uptake in New Zealand is reportedly swift, Medow Health's "co-pilot" technology has already facilitated over 60,000 specialist consultations in Australia last quarter alone. The company anticipates a near doubling of this figure in the upcoming months.

Having established a foothold in Australasia, Medow Health's focus remains on serving local healthcare needs with advanced technological solutions. Mr Freiberg pointed out, "While others are turning their attention to US/UK markets, Medow is grounded in ensuring the local needs of the Australian and NZ healthcare systems are met with cutting edge technology and so that is our top focus for 2025."