AI Use Policy

NovoNote AI Scribe by NovoPsych

What NovoNote AI Scribe by NovoPsych (NovoNote) does:

NovoNote is an AI scribe tool that produces an AI generated note or report from a live or recorded client session/s with a psychologist. These summaries are created using templates, which are able to be modified and changed to suit the user and purpose, and are then able to by copied and pasted into the practice management software. The recording of the session is then deleted after a set amount of time, determined by the user (7 business days).

Ordinary uses will include

·       Creating file notes for clients based on therapy sessions and assessment sessions

·       Creating Medicare letters for Medicare compliance to GPs

·       To create support letters for clients

·       To complete background history for clients for assessment reports

·       To write minutes for internal meetings, eg team meetings.

Why NovoNote has been adopted:

NovoNote will assist clinicians by recording all relevant information during a consultation. NovoNote will ensure that the practitioner’s focus will be on the client, and not the technology. NovoNote AI will enable the practitioner to focus on engaging with the client, providing better eye contact and open communication signals, as well as the delivery of psychological interventions, which will assist the client to establish a better therapeutic rapport with the practitioner and lead to better client outcomes. NovoNote AI will also reduce the time spent by the practitioner in preparing records following the consultation, which will instead be allocated to a larger focus on treatment planning and preparation for the psychological intervention.

What NovoNote will be used for:

Ordinary uses will include creating file notes for clients based on therapy sessions and assessment sessions; creating Medicare letters for Medicare compliance to GPs; create support letters for clients; to complete background history for clients for assessment reports as well as to write minutes for internal meetings, for example team meetings and to distribute for internal Spencer Health purposes.

NovoNote will only be used by fully registered psychologists employed by Spencer Health as employees, excluding provisional psychologists and administration staff at Spencer Health.

What NovoNote will not be used for:

NovoNote cannot and will not be used to make decisions in relation to client care, including treatment plans, full assessment reports or clinical formulations. NovoNote will not be used by administrative or non-clinical staff. The health practitioner will view the draft of the clinical note on the same day as the appointment, as per existing policies of Spencer Health.

Each month at regular employee check-ins with the Clinical Services Manager, the Clinical Services Manager will review a random selection of notes completed by the health practitioner in the first month, and provide an audit of the accuracy of the notes with the health practitioner.

Written consent:

NovoNote will only be used with clients who have provided written consent for the use. Clients are able to opt-in to each component of NovoNote’s scribe capabilities, including transcription, AI note generation, or both.

Accountability:

The clinician using NovoNote will be responsible for reviewing each clinical note for accuracy and sign off on the note once adopted. Each note will include the sign off of- “Case notes (or other) created with the use of NovoNote by NovoPsych and reviewed and adopted by [clinician’s name]. I, [Clinician’s Name] declare that my clinical judgement was used in the creation of this note.”

NovoNote cannot and will not be used to make decisions in relation to client care, including treatment plans, full assessment reports or clinical formulations. NovoNote will not be used by administrative or non-clinical staff.

Key Points Notes:

The key point notes are an important safeguard in ensuring the notes generated by NovoNote are accurate and record the important parts of all client consultations. During the consultation, the practitioner will make a record of the key points that must be included in the client’s records. The practitioner will use these key points when reviewing the note prepared by NovoNote, to ensure that the note is both accurate and complete. In this way, each note will have an independent human lead review to ensure that case notes created by NovoNote are at least as good as the notes that would have been recorded by the practitioner during the client consultation.

Specific risk mitigation policies in place:

The clinician using NovoNote will be responsible for reviewing each clinical note for accuracy and sign off on the note once adopted. Each note will include the sign off of- “Case notes (or other) created with the use of NovoNote by NovoPsych and reviewed and adopted by [Clinician’s Name]. 1, [Clinician’s Name] declare that my clinical judgement was used in the creation of this note.”

Transparency:

For internal record-keeping purposes, content created with the assistance of NovoNote will be labelled as such, by including a note similar to the following: “Minutes created with the use of NovoNote by NovoPsych and reviewed and adopted by [Clinician’s Name]”.

Data storage by NovoNote:

NovoNote will temporarily store a copy of patient information in servers in Australia. Although the data can be stored for longer periods of time, Spencer Health will set a mandatory timeframe for all data to be deleted within 7 calendar days]. NovoNote]has been carefully selected by Spencer Health as it complies with the Australian Privacy legislation and the Australian Privacy Principles.

Authorised Use:

Only clinicians who are employees of Spencer Health will have access to and use NovoNote. Administrative staff will not use the tool and will not have access to the system.

Assessment and Review schedule:

Spencer Health is committed to a regular assessment and review of the adoption and use of NovoNote. In addition to the contemporaneous review for accuracy and completeness conducted. The Principal Clinical Psychologist will conduct a comprehensive random audit every 6 months. The purposes of the random audit include confirmation that this AI Policy is being adhered to, that the information contained in the AI policy in relation to each AI tool adopted is correct and up-to-date.