Tens of thousands of South African doctors and allied health-care workers are rapidly adopting AI tools that promise to “humanise care” while stripping away the administrative burden that fuels burnout and undermines clinical performance.
At the centre of this shift are speech-to-text transcription applications — most barely two years old — that allow clinicians to focus fully on patients rather than juggling note-taking, prescriptions, coding and referral letters. Many now go further, integrating clinical guidelines, providing relevant research and even enabling cross-disciplinary referrals or surgical collaborations.
One example is orthopaedic surgeon Michiel Ter Haar, who has used an AI-enabled platform to connect public sector surgeons with private sector colleagues who have spare theatre capacity. His pilot links surgeons at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital in Durban with a private hospital in Kloof. Waiting times for orthopaedic surgery at the public facility can be between 2½ and three years, with operating lists running at about 40% below capacity, according to senior clinicians.
In just 13 months, Ter Haar’s initiative facilitated 102 joint replacements at the private hospital, using a model that cuts professional fees and provides free theatre time.
The national department of health has taken note, with clinical leadership now in discussions with several AI providers.
Among them is Heidi, a platform that automates much of a clinician’s administrative workload. It structures consultations, retrieves relevant data and can access multiple digital systems simultaneously.
Heidi’s co-founder, Eritrea-born Waleed Mussa, says about 15,000 South African doctors have signed up. The system has been used in about 1.5-million consultations. The platform integrated capabilities from an Australian medical education company that trains junior doctors using virtual patients.
I’m no longer buried in a file. I’m looking at the patient, having a natural conversation, picking up body language and cues
— David Roytowski
Another fast-growing entrant is Nora, developed by Cape Town entrepreneurs James Gordon and Robert van Biljon. With backgrounds in finance rather than technology, the pair spotted the potential of large language models following the release of GPT-4 in 2023. They built tools to generate study material from lectures before pivoting to health care, where they saw larger unmet needs.
Nora now functions as an automated clinical scribe and workflow assistant. Its developers report monthly user growth of about 20%, with doctors saving up to three hours a day. Its parent network has expanded its user base by 23% a month, while maintaining an 85% paid-user retention rate. Clinician satisfaction scores average 4.5 out of five, with users rating their likelihood of recommending it at nine out of 10.
The broader appeal of these tools lies in the ability to reclaim time. Heidi’s developers estimate doctors can save up to eight hours a week on administrative tasks — time that can be redirected to patient care or simply to recovery in a profession marked by chronic exhaustion. Accurate, real-time note-taking also strengthens medicolegal protection, a growing concern in South Africa’s litigious health-care environment.
Cape Town neurosurgeon Dr David Roytowski, who works in the public and private sectors, was an early adopter. He describes the technology as reinforcing the three pillars of his practice: “Be good, be fast and don’t get sued.”
Using AI as a “clinical buddy”, he says, ensures that he asks the right questions and has immediate access to relevant evidence tailored to local conditions. Crucially, it also captures accurate contemporaneous notes, eliminating the need to reconstruct consultations hours later.
“I tested it by taking my own notes at the same time,” he says. “The AI summary was more accurate.”
It has changed how he interacts with patients. “I’m no longer buried in a file. I’m looking at the patient, having a natural conversation, picking up body language and cues.”
The knock-on effects extend beyond the consulting room. Administrative staff spend far less time typing up notes, freeing them to support broader practice needs.
Academic institutions are also taking an interest. The University of Cape Town’s medical school is exploring incorporating such tools into training, including simulated patient examinations. Heidi has begun offering professional licences to students and registrars as part of this push.
Fields like psychology and social work — where documentation is particularly intensive — stand to benefit significantly.
Developers insist the technology is compliant with the Protection of Personal Information Act, with encrypted data and alignment to Health Professions Council of South Africa guidelines, including requirements for human oversight, transparency and accountability.
In an overburdened health-care system, the early evidence suggests these tools are doing more than saving time. They are reshaping workflows, stretching limited resources — and, increasingly, restoring the human connection at the heart of medicine.
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