Paralegals: Automating Medical Discovery is the New Standard

Is Your Discovery Stuck in the Past?

The legal industry has adopted technology sparingly, but it has transformed the way you file, keep records, and research cases. Artificial intelligence (AI) is the next evolution, and it's making its way steadily into the legal space. 

“AI tools in the legal industry have quickly become mainstream. According to Clio’s latest Legal Trends Report, 79% of legal professionals use AI, and 84% expect adoption to grow.” —American Bar Association

Artificial intelligence tools are popping up in every case management system (CMS), tool, and software you use. When AI makes headlines in the legal industry, suddenly it feels risky. But when your coworker uses an AI email drafting tool to cut an hour off of her admin time, it seems like a life hack worth looking into.  

Indexing records is one of those tedious, necessary tasks that eats up your time, and is well worth automating. With the right AI medical records indexing tool, you could be cutting hours, if not days, off of manual methods. If you’re already using one, make sure it’s not going to wind up making headlines. 

What Are the Biggest Benefits of Using an AI Legal Tool? 

It’s no secret that technology has changed how business operates over the last generation. You wouldn’t hire a new employee without a cursory Google and LinkedIn search. And business travel—from restaurant to airline reservations—is simple to book online. Why continue to use slow, outdated methods for case prep? 

Think back to that stuffy 1970’s office full of ringing phones and yellow legal pads—then fast forward to your modern-day law firm. What does medical records indexing look like in the tech era using AI tools? 

1. You’re saving time. What took days, takes hours. What took hours takes minutes. In a fast-paced industry, extra time is invaluable. 

2. Your mental load is lightened. That free time means you can do more, or do fewer things better. Either way, it’s less stress in your day. 

3. Confidence in your accuracy. Fewer corrections, fewer missed details. You’ve pulled information quickly, and have verified it yourself. Doing it right the first time never felt this easy. 

How to Convince Your Boss to Upgrade to AI 

If your boss needs more convincing, there are solid reasons to switch to an AI tool for medical chronologies, narrative summaries, and indexed records.

The best AI tools allow you to review, check sources, and finalize—AI just makes sure you’re reviewing the right things instead of drowning in irrelevant pages.

What To Look For In Your Automated Medical Records Indexing Tool 

When looking for an AI tool designed for the unique needs of the legal sector, you want it to not only improve on a process, but fit seamlessly into your workflow. The company also needs to be upfront about its commitment to accuracy and compliance. 

Here’s a checklist to simplify your search for an AI medical records indexing tool: 

• AI Expertise : Experience matters. How much does the company or engineers have in the AI space?

• Self-Validation: Are you able to check for errors? Cite where information was pulled from the records? Make sure the work is checkable and transparent. 

• Accurate Training: Do a little sleuthing: Did the vendor use actual medical records data to train their AI model? Synthetic training data doesn’t count!

• Proof: Has the vendor’s AI tool been used successfully in the past or is this an unproven technology?

• Regular Product Updates: Technology is always evolving. Make sure the company commits to taking user feedback and making updates. 

• Compliance: This is a big one. Make sure they have staff working with the AI team dedicated to staying compliant with the latest legal practices and regulations (including HIPAA).

• Security: Keep your data locked down. Any tool you’re using should have end-to-end encryption, infrastructure and organizational security, cybersecurity insurance, and SOC2 certification. 

• Experience with Legal Support: Ensure you’re using a tool from a company that knows what legal professionals need. Otherwise new features and updates could deviate from what you need for discovery or fail to meet your compliance needs.

• Clear, Flexible Pricing: No one wants to be locked into an endless contract, or be surprised by fees. Make sure there’s a per-page price and other options for higher volume if needed. 

Want to dive in deeper? (Or convince your boss?) Discover our free Vendor Selection Guide here.

Debunking Myths About AI Tools 

 Sure, we all agree in a perfect world AI tools sound great for indexing. But we know you still have concerns. Let’s dive in. 

Myth: “AI will miss something important.” 

It’s more likely tired, strained eyes and overwork will cause missed references. AI tools are trained to scan and identify information as well as (if not better than) humans. But they are still just a tool—it takes someone who can think critically to verify the information given by any technology.  Look for advanced tools like JudyAI that have source links right back to the medical  records, and a chatbot to pull additional information. You can self-verify to your heart’s content. 

AI doesn’t replace your expertise—it enables you to use it more effectively.

Myth: “I’m not tech-savvy; AI is just too complicated.”

Modern legal AI tools have simple, intuitive user interfaces (UI). UI is essentially everything that you see and interact with as the user. If you can handle Outlook and Word, you can handle this. Anything “complicated” is hidden behind simple menus and buttons. 

If you’re worried about a long learning curve, try out an AI legal tool that operates in a web browser—like logging on to a social media or email account. That way there’s no software to install or intense training on new systems. 

Myth: “AI makes up false information all the time.” 

When asking a generic AI (like ChatGPT or Gemini) specific questions, it can get confused when it compiles vast amounts of information. It can fill in the gaps with its own “solutions” that may or may not be real. Thankfully, AI tools specifically made for law firms and legal professionals to use are only taught to find the information they are trained on—in this case, medical records. The system is trained to “find” the right information, not create it. 

The indexed records, medical chronologies, and narrative summaries that are created are simply a compilation of existing information. However, as mentioned previously, it's a best practice to look for a tool that allows you to verify your information by referencing back to the source records. 

AI-powered indexing isn’t the future—it’s the now. The longer you wait, the more nights and weekends you sacrifice to a highlighter and a printer.

Ready to start something better? Consider a free trial for an AI indexing solution and see how it changes your week. Because your weekends should belong to brunch, not binders.