Amazon launches new AI-powered transcription service for healthcare

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced a new AI-powered medical transcription service, Amazon Transcribe Medical, designed to improve clinical documentation for healthcare providers.

Using machine learning, Amazon Transcribe Medical automatically transcribes both care-related conversations and medical dictation. AWS noted in a prepared statement that the HIPAA-eligible service can be integrated into all voice-enabled applications and works with “virtually any device that has a microphone.”

The company also addressed any potential concerns users may have about the security of protected health information (PHI).  

“AWS does not use PHI to develop or improve AWS services, and the AWS standard Business Associate Agreement (BAA) language also requires BAA customers to encrypt all PHI at rest and in transit when using AWS services,” according to the statement.

Numerous companies, including Cerner and Amgen, have already been exploring the potential of using Amazon Transcribe Medical in a clinical setting.

“Extreme accuracy in clinical documentation is critical to workflows and overall caregiver satisfaction,” Jacob Geers, solutions strategist for Cerner Corporation, said in the prepared statement. “By leveraging Amazon Transcribe Medical's transcription API, Cerner is in initial development of a digital voice scribe that automatically listens to clinician-patient interactions and unobtrusively captures the dialogue in text form.”

Michael Walter
Michael Walter, Managing Editor

Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.

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