Microsoft Dragon Copilot: Just what the doctor ordered?

Microsoft doubled down on the crowded field of healthcare AI assistants with the launch of Dragon Medical One. Called an AI scribe, this class of AI tools are designed to cure the burnout and fatigue that Microsoft reported 70% of clinicians experience while allowing doctors to spend more time with patients, not paperwork.

Called Dragon Medical One (DMO), Microsoft's AI scribe tool will compete with similar offerings from Abridge, Athelas and Suki. Microsoft claimed its offering outperforms competitors with deep its Electronic Health Record integration and its enterprise-grade security tools ensuring HIPAA compliance, HITRUST CSF certification and GDPR adherence.

Central to DMO is the platform’s integration of Microsoft's DAX Copilot, which focuses on ambient listening of doctor-patient visits. DAX can automatically generate summaries from patient conversations, while DMO allows clinicians to dictate directly into medical records in real-time, creating insights that can be shared securely across a healthcare provider's network.

The DMO and the underlying DAX offering means doctors can actively edit, refine, and input patient data on the spot, rather than relying solely on AI-generated summaries and post-visit updates, Microsoft said. For example, a doctor can dictate a patient’s symptoms and diagnosis directly into the medical record, immediately correct any errors, and structure the note as needed. This eliminates the process of waiting for an AI-generated summary to review later.

An AI apple a day...

Microsoft and other firms offering AI tools for healthcare professionals in patient settings are part of a large AI push to cut costs and time via AI efficiencies. The tools are designed to cut cost and give clinicians more time focusing on patients versus administrative tasks.

Microsoft has not released pricing for DMO, adding the release of the platform is slated for May.

A recent survey from the CyberRisk Alliance (CRA) found 9 in 10 healthcare cybersecurity professionals saying their organizations plan to adopt AI tools into their cybersecurity strategies by year's end, with half of the 200 executives and security practitioners surveyed saying their organization already uses AI tools.

“The future of healthcare is going to be tech-based and tech-implemented as AI in healthcare comes to the fore,” predicted one survey respondent.

Despite the optimism for using AI to secure health IT, over two-thirds of respondents (69%) said data security and privacy were primary concerns over its use.

That concern is not surprising as online services, telehealth and electronic health records (EHR) have become integral to patient care. According to a recent report by cloud vendor Fastly, digitization has increased the healthcare industry's exposure to cyber threats as protected health information (PHI) and personally identifiable information (PII) commands a premium on the dark web.

The healthcare industry suffered the highest cost of a data breach of any industry in 2024, according to an IBM report, but Fastly's report noted that healthcare security will likely involve innovative technology such as AI and machine learning.