Doctor-fronted ambient voice tech company to double UK team after Hale House move
Better understanding of how AI can be applied to real NHS challenges is essential to reduce uncertainty among clinicians, according to the head of fast-growing ambient voice technology company (AVT).
Speaking as Tandem Health moved into Hale House in the Harley Street Health District this month, Dr Ian Robertson, interim UK director, said he will be focusing on raising awareness about the benefits of AI in healthcare via hosting joint events and workshops for fellow clinicians and others over the coming months.
He move comes after the firm secured over £50m funding and is set to grow its business in the UK as a priority market. The expansion comes after the recent NHS Plan called for broader adoption of the use of AI – and AVT in particular.
Dr Robertson said he expects to double the number of employees within the next 12 months as it aims for its AI-driven medical assistant to be used by 98 per cent of GP practices.
The MHRA-registered AI medical device – which transcribes spoken medical consultations into text and adds them to patient records across different provider systems once verified by the relevant clinician – will soon be available to all GP practices that use Accurx to communicate with patients, following a partnership deal.
“There was a very strong emphasis on AI in the government’s 10 Year Health Plan, especially the deployment of ambient voice technology, so this is something which clinicians will need to focus on,” said Dr Robertson.
“However, there’s still considerable uncertainty surrounding the use of AI in healthcare. Our aim is to help people build trust in the underlying technology by improving understanding of how it works and how it can be deployed safely.”
“Through engagement with clinicians, we hope to provide real value, in partnership with close collaborators here in Hale House such as UCL Partners, to show these are not simply marketing efforts, but genuine opportunities for clinicians and stakeholders to learn about best-in-class technology that can support them every day,” he added.
His comments come after the government announced the launch of a national registry for ambient voice technology suppliers to the NHS to combat what NHS England’s national chief clinical information officer Alec Price-Forbes described as a “wild west” of operators, according to the Health Service Journal.
Tandem is currently looking for doctors to fulfil “commercial partnership” roles and is also planning to establish an engineering ‘hub’ in the UK as it grows.
The Accurx partnership means more than 200,000 NHS clinicians will have access to Tandem. Dr Robertson said the firm is also focused on growing its presence within NHS secondary care settings as well as private healthcare settings.
Tandem has a footprint across 11 markets and is used within 1,000 healthcare organisations across Europe.
