Trust gap limits AI adoption in primary care

October 22, 2026

Originally published on October 22, 2026, by Canadian Healthcare Network

Author: Abigail Cukier

When Dr. Usha Parthasarathi opened her virtual psychiatry practice in 2023, she soon realized something she never learned working in a hospital: Running a clinic means running a business.

Dr. Parthasarathi, a Burlington, Ont., psychiatrist and a peer leader with OntarioMD, says using technology, such as scribes, automated intake tools, digital patient communication and workflow automation, has helped her save time and money.

"When working in the hospital, I had helpers, like my residents or social workers, to write my notes. When I started my practice, I had to use two or three hours after my clinic or reduce my patient load to write my notes. So that affected how much money I was making," she said. "I learned that we have to see this as a business. Understanding how the money flows and how to do jobs faster was important. So right from the start, I automated a lot of my work."

Her practice has expanded to three physicians, two staff and a therapist all working virtually, but they still use tech to improve workflows, reduce administrative time and serve patients.

Negotiate with vendors

To help save money on your tech tools, Dr. Parthasarathi recommends never accepting the first price you are offered. "I tend to negotiate very aggressively with vendors to get the best deal. I don't sign long-term contracts. I like to go month to month."

When she opened her practice, Dr. Parthasarathi started trying out AI scribes, which were relatively new at the time. "They were charging $300 a month for one clinician. But they were saving me time because I wasn't spending those three hours at the end of the day.

"Because I hadn't signed a big contract, I could switch to better programs that started coming out and finding lower prices.

"It's important for physicians to know that everything is negotiable. There is no shame in asking if you can get a loyalty deal or seeing if they will offer a better deal."

Communicating with vendors can also help you find better solutions. "When I started, I didn't have an intake person who would register patients and create the patient chart," Dr. Parthasarathi said. "I wanted a system that could take the information and create the whole chart for me, because that would save me 20 minutes per chart."

She took her problem to an AI fax company. Her clinic was one of the first specialist practices to use its AI inbox tool to help create patient charts. "And it's fantastic," she said. "It gave me a lot of time back, which meant I could see more patients. So, if you have an issue, talk to your vendors. They may come up with a solution."

Automate for patients—and for you

Tools like AI assistants and answering services can help save workload for admin staff. Dr. Parthasarathi's practice uses an AI answering service and text messaging. "We don't answer the phone. But we communicate very clearly with our patients. So, if we are running late or are late to send documentation, we're always keeping them updated. That means we receive almost no complaint letters, so that saves a lot of time and a lot of sleep for us."

The office also uses templates for a lot of the notes it sends out. It also uses an AI tool to send an after-visit summary to patients, which details why they met, what was prescribed and any other important information.

"That saves a lot of time because patients don't come back and ask questions. A lot of questions from patients are because the communication has failed somewhere. And these are like money drains for physicians."

New patients also fill out their psychiatric history online before their first appointment. This does more than just save time. "When the patient has done this beforehand, they're invested. So there are minimal no shows." Dr. Parthasarathi said. "In fact, I have not had any no-shows this month, which are a big money drain."

Educating yourself