Microsoft to launch Dragon Copilot in Ireland to support Irish Clinicians and Patients

Microsoft Dragon Copilot, an AI clinical assistant, has launched in Ireland.

Dragon Copilot brings together the trusted natural language voice dictation capabilities of Dragon Medical One (DMO) with the ambient listening capabilities of Dragon Ambient eXperience (DAX) Copilot, fine-tuned generative AI and healthcare-adapted safeguards. Part of Microsoft for Healthcare, Dragon Copilot is built on a secure modern architecture that enables organisations to deliver enhanced experiences and outcomes across care settings for clinicians and patients alike.

More than 200 clinicians with a wide range of medical disciplines across seven healthcare organisations, in the UK and Ireland, tested Dragon Copilot as part of a private preview programme that involved over 10,000 consultations.

In September, The Department of Finance published a long-term demographic outlook projecting sustained ageing trends over the next four decades. Meanwhile, the HSE’s “Medical Workforce Analysis Report 2024-2025” outlines workforce retention challenges. These national challenges mirror broader European trends; according to the OECD’s “Health at a Glance: Europe 2024 – State of Health in the EU Cycle” the EU faces a health workforce deficit that stems from an ageing population, impacting both patients and the health workforce, as well as difficult working conditions that are contributing to staff burnout and retention challenges. The report notes that technologies, such as AI, will be essential to augment the health workforce’s productivity and ability to focus more on patient care.

Recognising the pressing challenges facing Ireland’s healthcare—including an ageing population, workforce shortages, and persistent waiting lists—“Dragon Copilot is helping to reshape how clinicians manage time-consuming administrative tasks, such as documentation, referrals, and after-visit summaries, freeing up valuable time for patient care,” said Ciara Perciavalle, Head of Health at Microsoft Ireland.

“By streamlining workflows and integrating seamlessly with electronic patient records (EPR), Dragon Copilot not only enhances operational efficiency, but also supports clinician well-being, retention, and patient experiences. As Ireland continues to address growing demand and resource constraints, solutions like Dragon Copilot are vital in building more resilient and compassionate healthcare for the future.” 

In a recent Microsoft commissioned report, 40 percent of patients surveyed reported having a consultation where they felt the clinician was too focused on the screen to provide their full attention. With the clinician-patient experience serving as the heart of high-quality care, AI solutions like Dragon Copilot offer practitioners a solution that helps improve human connection by reducing administrative tasks and facilitating more personalised care with enhanced data-driven insights.

Dragon Copilot combines fine-tuned generative AI with Dragon Medical One’s speech capabilities, which has helped clinicians document billions of patient records, and Dragon Ambient eXperience’s (DAX) ambient AI technology, which has assisted over 3 million ambient patient conversations across 600 healthcare organisations in the past month alone. With these ambient AI capabilities, organisations in the US have already realised significant outcomes:

Clinicians reporting five minutes saved per encounter.

70% of clinicians reporting reduced feelings of burnout and fatigue.

62% of clinicians stating they are less likely to leave their organisation.

While 93% of patients report a better overall experience.

For more information go to – https://www.microsoft.com/en-ie/health-solutions/clinical-workflow/dragon-copilot

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