A 16-week trial across 21 specialties. What happens when over 100 clinicians get the documentation burden lifted.
Clinicians across Queensland, and indeed globally, are facing increasing pressure to do more with less. This mounting administrative and documentation burden has become a significant barrier to person-centred care.
Many clinicians reported spending more time writing notes than delivering care, leading to cognitive overload and rising burnout. This inefficiency contributed to suboptimal clinical records, putting both clinician well-being and patient care at risk.
At Gold Coast Health, some clinicians who had already experienced the benefits of ambient listening tools like Lyrebird in their private practice became champions for change. This internal interest spurred the Digital Transformation and Research Division to formally partner with Lyrebird Health.
The 16-week trial launched in July 2024. It was built on the belief that successful digital transformation must go beyond mere efficiency. It must improve care, restore connection, and reduce clinician fatigue.
The initiative was grounded in strong governance and robust change management, with real-time co-design to ensure the technology was adapted safely and effectively to the complex public health environment.
The implementation of Lyrebird delivered a transformative impact on clinical efficiency, most notably through an 80% reduction in documentation time for many clinicians. By significantly lowering the administrative burden, valuable clerical time is directly converted back into meaningful, patient-facing care.
The results go beyond mere speed. The faster documentation turnaround fostered a healthier work-life balance and reduced the cognitive load on the entire clinical team.
The Lyrebird-generated notes were not just faster. They were better. 88% of clinicians reported that Lyrebird improved note quality, validated by Lyrebird-generated notes outperforming traditionally written notes when assessed against the PDQI-9, a validated framework for measuring clinical note quality.
The technology also enabled improved personalisation of documentation, capturing the nuances of the patient conversation more completely.
The core goal of restoring focus was achieved. 68% of patients reported that their clinicians spent more time directly engaging with them during the consultation.
By freeing the clinician from constantly typing, the technology facilitated a return to direct, empathetic, and present care. The kind of care that brought most clinicians to medicine in the first place.
The Gold Coast Health and Lyrebird Health partnership has successfully demonstrated that emerging ambient listening technology can be safely and effectively embedded within a complex clinical environment. The project developed clear recommendations for safe, scalable deployment.
This initiative serves as a powerful model, proving that digital tools can be leveraged not just to cut costs, but to reduce clinician fatigue and reinforce person-centred care. Gold Coast Health is now poised to leverage these insights for a full rollout, transforming the daily experience for both its dedicated clinicians and the patients they serve.
