Melbourne Psychiatrist Refuses New Patients Who Don't Consent to AI Note-Taking

Dr Hemlata Ranga, a psychiatrist at the Melbourne Clinic in Richmond, Victoria, now requires new patients to agree to AI transcription of their sessions. A registration form seen by Guardian Australia states: “I consent for use of AI transcription (such as Heidi health AI/ Microsoft) software to assist with notes taking during the appointments.” Patients who do not consent must “arrange [their] regular doctor/ referring doctor to refer [them] to a different service provider.”

Key Details

• AI scribe adoption is rising: two in five GPs now use such tools, according to the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP). Uptake has doubled in 12 months.
• Heidi AI, one of the most popular scribes, has been used in 115 million sessions in the past 18 months. The company states data is processed in the patient's country, not used to train AI models, and is subject to third-party auditing.
• Digital Rights Watch head of policy Tom Sulston raised concerns: AI transcription is “imperfect and trained on male, white, heterosexual, English-speaking users”, leading to more errors for other demographics. There is a “very real risk” of medical data compromise or leaks, and patients may self-censor, particularly on stigmatized topics like sexual and mental health.
• The Melbourne Clinic spokesperson confirmed psychiatrists are independent but must disclose and request consent for AI use. If consent is not granted, they will not use AI.

Who It's For

Developers building AI scribe tools for healthcare or integrating AI into sensitive clinical environments should note the consent, accuracy, and security challenges highlighted here.