Digital treatment need assessment to improve access to treatment and make better use of healthcare professionals’ time

At present, the need for treatment is always assessed by a healthcare professional. Wellbeing services counties already use digital symptom assessment tools, but such assessments cannot be used to automatically assess the need for treatment under the Healthcare Act. According to the proposal, a digital assessment of the need for treatment would be carried out by a medical device, which could make use of artificial intelligence. The assessment would have to be based on criteria approved on medical or dental grounds. The regulation would apply to primary healthcare and oral healthcare. Patients could always choose an assessment made by a professional The digital assessment would be voluntary for patients. Patients would always retain the right to have their need for treatment assessed by a healthcare professional. Before the assessment, patients would have to be clearly informed that the assessment would be carried out in an automated manner. Patients could continue to contact healthcare services by other means, such as by telephone. If the automated system carried out the assessment of the need for treatment in its entirety, the timeframe within which the patient must gain access...