Rustom Lawyer in an interview with IndiaMedToday talks about the transformative power of AI that aims to address the long-standing challenges of Indian healthcare- a skewed patient-to-doctor ratio and lapses in the clinical documentation process.
By Sonali Patranabish
What inspired the creation of Augnito, and how does your platform specifically address the issue of physician burnout in today’s demanding healthcare environment?
The creation of Augnito was inspired by a deeply ingrained understanding of the challenges healthcare professionals face, particularly the administrative burden that detracts from patient care. My journey in healthcare technology began with Scribetech in the UK, where we pioneered clinical transcription services for the NHS. Over time, it became evident that documentation inefficiencies were a growing pain point for clinicians globally. This realisation led to the foundation of Augnito in 2020, with a vision to revolutionise clinical documentation processes using voice-based AI.
Physician burnout is a critical issue today, driven primarily by excessive time spent on administrative tasks. Augnito directly addresses this by offering voice-driven solutions that streamline documentation. Our technology allows doctors to dictate notes seamlessly, reducing documentation time by up to 60 per cent. This empowers clinicians to focus on patient care, reclaiming hours that would otherwise be spent on paperwork. By alleviating this burden, Augnito plays a pivotal role in enhancing clinician' well-being and improving their work-life balance.
How do medical voice AI solutions help address the current doctor: patient ratio which stands at 1: 836 as per WHO?
The doctor-to-patient ratio in your question highlights an urgent need to optimise healthcare delivery. Medical voice AI solutions like Augnito are instrumental in bridging this gap by enhancing efficiency and productivity. By automating clinical documentation tasks, our solutions save doctors an average of two hours daily—time they can reinvest into seeing more patients. This translates into increased patient throughput without compromising care quality.
Moreover, our Omni AI suite, with tools such as AI Scribe that are powered by ambient clinical intelligence capabilities ensures real-time transcription and structured data entry during consultations. This not only improves workflow efficiency but also reduces errors and enhances decision-making. In essence, voice AI enables doctors to serve more patients effectively within the same time frame, addressing resource constraints in healthcare systems.
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Doctors can now maintain eye contact and ensure their full attention is on patients while AI handles documentation. This may not seem so important, but it goes a long way in fostering trust and better communication—a cornerstone of effective healthcare
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In what ways does Augnito empower doctors and improve patient outcomes? Can you share examples or case studies where your solution made a tangible difference in clinical settings?
Augnito empowers doctors by simplifying their workflows, reducing administrative burdens, and enabling them to dedicate more time to patient care. Our solutions are designed to integrate seamlessly with existing EMR systems, ensuring minimal disruption while maximising efficiency.
A notable example is our collaboration with Apollo Hospitals, Asia’s largest hospital group. By implementing Augnito Spectra, Apollo achieved a 46 per cent increase in overall productivity and enabled physicians to save 44 hours per month. This allowed clinicians to focus on more meaningful patient interactions and improved outcomes through timely and accurate documentation. Moreover, the Group realised a 21x return on their investment in just six months.
Another example is how our Omni AI Scribe has transformed consultations by capturing conversations in real-time across multiple languages (including regional Indian ones and Arabic). Doctors can now maintain eye contact and ensure their full attention is with patients while our AI handles documentation. This may not seem so important, but it goes a long way in fostering trust and better communication—a cornerstone of effective healthcare.
In what ways are medical voice AI solutions transforming the landscape of EMR?
To put it briefly, Medical voice AI solutions are redefining EMR usability by making data entry faster, more accurate, and less intrusive for clinicians. Traditional EMRs often require extensive manual input, which is time-consuming and prone to errors. Augnito’s voice-driven technology eliminates these challenges by enabling hands-free data entry directly into EMR systems.
Our solutions also leverage ambient clinical intelligence to create structured EMR data from natural conversations during consultations. This not only enhances documentation accuracy but also ensures compliance with coding standards like ICD-10 and SNOMED. By integrating seamlessly with major platforms like Epic and Cerner, Augnito makes EMRs more intuitive and user-friendly, ultimately driving higher adoption rates among clinicians.
Could you throw some light on Augnito’s product offerings? Do you intend to diversify your product portfolio?
Augnito offers two flagship products: Spectra and Omni.
Spectra: A best-in-class voice-driven clinical documentation solution that supports over 55 medical specialties with 99 per cent accuracy out-of-the-box. It integrates dynamic templates, custom vocabularies, and macros for personalised workflows.
Omni: A comprehensive suite leveraging technologies like ambient clinical intelligence and generative AI for real-time transcription across 37+ languages. It also includes tools with advanced features like Clinical Documentation Integrity (CDI) and automated coding for increased billing levels/accuracy.
Looking ahead, we aim to diversify our Omni portfolio further by exploring more applications across the care continuum like Nursing, Clinical Decision Support Systems, Finance & RCM, and Remote Care.
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The response to medical voice AI has been overwhelmingly positive as clinicians increasingly recognise its potential to enhance efficiency and reduce burnout.
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How has the response been to medical voice AI solutions in terms of uptake by clinicians and hospitals/enterprises? Can you highlight a few of the hospitals or healthcare systems that have adopted Augnito- based voice AI solutions? How are these transformative solutions improving the operational efficiency of hospitals?
The response to medical voice AI has been overwhelmingly positive as clinicians increasingly recognise its potential to enhance efficiency and reduce burnout. Augnito is now deployed across over 500 hospitals globally, serving more than 15,000 clinicians.
Prominent adopters include Apollo Hospitals and several leading healthcare systems in India and the GCC region. Our clientele includes MAX, Medanta, Fortis, Aster, Manipal, Hinduja, Lilavati, Prime Healthcare, RAK Hospitals, King’s College Hospital London Dubai, Bahrain Specialist Hospital, KIMs and many more.
At Apollo Hospitals specifically, as touched on in one of the previous answers, our solutions led to significant measured improvements: a five-hour reduction in turnaround times per case and a measurable increase in consultation capacity due to streamlined workflows.
Operationally, hospitals report enhanced resource utilisation and reduced claim denials thanks to high-quality documentation enabled by our technology. These efficiencies translate into better financial performance for institutions while improving patient care delivery.
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AI is set to influence broader trends like personalized medicine, telehealth expansion, and predictive care models.
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Voice-based AI is increasingly being recognised as a game-changer in clinical documentation. How do you see this technology evolving over the next decade, and what role will Augnito play in shaping this future?
Over the next decade, we anticipate voice-based AI evolving into a ubiquitous tool that not only documents but also interprets clinical interactions in real time. Advances in natural language processing (NLP), generative AI, and predictive analytics will enable these systems to provide actionable insights during consultations—such as suggesting diagnoses or treatment plans based on patient data.
At Augnito, we envision playing a central role in this transformation by continuously innovating our solutions to align with emerging trends. Our focus will remain on creating intuitive tools that complement human expertise while maintaining the highest standards of accuracy, security, and compliance.
As Augnito continues to grow, what’s next on the horizon for your company? How do you see AI influencing broader healthcare trends, and what new opportunities do you anticipate exploring?
As we scale globally, our immediate goals include expanding into new markets while deepening partnerships with existing clients. We’re also investing heavily in R&D to enhance our product capabilities.
AI is set to influence broader trends like personalised medicine, telehealth expansion, and predictive care models. We see immense potential in leveraging these technologies not just for efficiency but also for improving equity in healthcare access worldwide.
Our ultimate vision remains clear: empowering every clinician with an intelligent assistant that transforms how they deliver care—making it faster, more accurate, and deeply human-centred at its core.