Full Breakdown
Ontario Auditor General Flags AI Scribe Errors in Provincial Healthcare
5/15/2026, 7:41:55 AM
Audit Findings
On May 12, 2024, Ontario Auditor General Shelley Spence released a special report on AI-driven medical scribe tools used in the province’s health system. The audit, part of a broader review of public-sector AI, identified systematic inaccuracies in the 20 approved transcription programs.
AI Scribe Adoption
Provincial health officials have promoted AI scribes to reduce physicians’ documentation burden, estimating that roughly 5,000 Ontario doctors now use the technology. The tools listen to doctor-patient conversations and generate SOAP notes for electronic health records, with patient consent required.
Testing Errors
Supply Ontario evaluated each system with two simulated clinical dialogues, finding that 60% recorded a different drug than prescribed, twelve misidentified medications, and seventeen omitted key mental-health details. Nine systems produced “hallucinations,” fabricating treatment suggestions such as therapy referrals or blood-test orders not mentioned.
Clinical Impact
The auditor warned that inaccurate notes—such as wrong drug entries, missed mental-health information, or invented interventions—could lead to inadequate or harmful treatment plans, shifting clinicians’ workload from documentation to error detection and undermining the intended time-saving benefit of AI scribes.
Government Response
Minister Stephen Crawford said physicians review and approve all AI-generated notes, noting the tools can free hours per week for patient care. Health Ministry spokesperson reported about 5,000 physicians use the scribes and that no patient harm has been reported. Ema Popovic said clinicians must manually verify documentation and obtain patient consent before AI use. The auditor issued ten recommendations; nine were accepted, focusing on security, privacy and procurement controls.
Opposition
Green Party leader Mike Schreiner called the audit results “deeply disturbing” and urged stricter testing before deployment. The auditor warned of patient harm; a ministry spokesperson said no incidents have been reported. Procurement records show vendors omitted third-party audit reports, and only 3% of staff completed AI training.
Quotes
- “Inaccuracies in medical notes generated by AI scribe systems could potentially result in inadequate or harmful treatment plans that may potentially impact patient health outcomes.” — Shelley Spence, Auditor General
- “The doctors that go through and use this product oversee every aspect of it. So, every decision that is made that comes out of any artificial intelligence anywhere is overseen by a professional.” — Stephen Crawford, Minister of Procurement
- “Use of this technology is entirely voluntary and requires patient consent, including informing patients how AI will be used, before it is used during an appointment.” — Ema Popovic, Health Ministry spokesperson
- “The audit results are ‘deeply disturbing.’” — Mike Schreiner, Green Party Leader
Next Steps
Ontario’s procurement agency will implement IT controls requiring physician attestation of reviewed notes, and the government plans to finalize the remaining recommendation on AI governance within the next quarter.
