What this means for your practice
Measure the complete task, including preparation, review and rework. Compare similar communication types and record quality issues rather than counting output volume alone.
An example to discuss with your team
Compare fictional or authorised sample tasks with and without assistance.
A practical conversation with your supplier
Illustrative comparison for the same routine message: writing it manually takes 8 minutes, followed by 2 minutes of review, for 10 minutes in total. With assistance, preparing the input takes 2 minutes, generating and editing the draft takes 1 minute, and review and correction take 8 minutes: 11 minutes in total. The first draft arrived sooner, but the finished task took longer. These are invented timings to show the calculation, not a claim about the saving your team will achieve.
Record the same stages for comparable fictional or authorised tasks, including any abandoned draft that had to be rewritten. Agree the standard for an acceptable finished message first and note factual errors alongside time. A faster message that fails that standard is not a successful result.
Plan the first improvement
Choose comparable sample tasks before measuring time. A short appointment administration message and a complex service explanation require different effort, so combining them can hide where assistance helps or hinders. Agree what counts as a finished acceptable result and include the reviewer's time, preparation and any rework after feedback. Record factual corrections separately from stylistic preferences; both take time, but they suggest different improvements. Use fictional or otherwise authorised material under the organisation's information-handling arrangements.
Ask staff to note when a draft was abandoned and rewritten, rather than excluding unsuccessful attempts from the comparison. Review results by task type and experience of the user where relevant. The decision may be to keep assistance for some tasks while revising the process for others. Do not set a word-volume target that encourages people to generate more than they need. The useful question is whether the practice obtains acceptable communication with a manageable total effort and clear accountability.
How to check the result
Measure accepted output time and correction burden together.
Turn reading into a next step
Your action checklist
Work through these checks with your team or supplier. Tick the ones you have resolved and leave unknowns open.
Record what you know, what is still missing and the answer you need from your team or supplier.
Use project decisions only, without personal, patient or confidential details. Entries stay in this page and are not submitted to Kay & Co. Copy or download before leaving; this page does not save your notes.
Further reading
These sources provide background for the topic. The practice examples and checklist are illustrative planning suggestions from Kay & Co.
Related guides
Need help with this?
Tell us what is getting in the way. Kay & Co. can help you understand the options and turn the next step into something that works for your practice.
Explore ai & automation services or discuss your project.
Try the free Healthcare Digital Planner to find your starting priority.