How can artificial intelligence really help in everyday practice without creating new hurdles? Two experienced healthcare professionals report on how Swiss HealthAssist, the AI solution from AlpineAI in cooperation with HIN, makes their day-to-day work in practices and clinics noticeably easier - from the initial consultation to the annual report.
Documenting with structure - a silent assistant in the background
Swiss HealthAssist automatically transcribes conversations and creates structured summaries. These can be used for reports, progress documentation or to prepare future sessions. Annemieke Balk, a federally recognized psychotherapist from Davos, uses Swiss HealthAssist on a daily basis and is impressed by the service:
"My conversations have been well summarized. It certainly saves me a quarter of an hour in the initial consultation. That's a lot when you consider how busy the day-to-day running of the practice is."
— Annemieke Balk, Polyvista Practice, Davos
The system makes initial consultations in particular easier: content is documented reliably and completely, and structured raw texts are available for post-processing, which can be enriched with additional data, for example to create a progress report. Swiss HealthAssist creates predefined output formats at the touch of a button, allowing you to finish work earlier.
Swiss HealthAssist in strategic everyday clinical practice: 50-80% time savings
Dr. Javier Blanco, former medical director of various Swiss clinics and now a healthcare transformation leader, uses Swiss HealthAssist primarily to take minutes during complex meetings. The system really shines, especially in medical boards—where numerous stakeholders are involved and sensitive data must be processed with a high degree of accuracy.
"I've saved 80% of the time on an annual report with Swiss HealthAssist. It used to take six to eight hours - now it takes a maximum of two. For complex medical protocols, thanks to the use of the Listener function with the transcription of conversations, I save at least 50%. That's a real game changer."
— Dr. Javier Blanco, Healthcare Transformation Leader
Blanco particularly emphasizes the combination of data security and Swiss server locations with the development tailored specifically to the healthcare sector as a competitive advantage - especially in comparison to well-known generic systems from overseas.
Data protection creates trust among professionals and patients
Data protection is a key concern for both professionals - especially when dealing with psychologically vulnerable patients or highly sensitive medical information. Integration with HIN gives both professionals confidence:
"For me, the secure handling of sensitive data is one of the most important reasons why I use Swiss HealthAssist. Trust in a Swiss solution is crucial."
— Dr. Javier Blanco, Healthcare Transformation Leader
Integration into the HIN trust room and access with the tried-and-tested HIN login provide an additional level of security and ease of use in everyday life. This makes Swiss HealthAssist ideal for use in a mental health or somatic context.
Multilingualism and patient response: small factors, big effect
Everyday practice demonstrates just how important low-barrier communication is. The consent forms provided in multiple languages enable even multilingual or uncertain patients to make informed decisions. This has a positive effect on acceptance—even though, according to Annemieke Balk, a small proportion of patients fundamentally reject its use, for example due to skepticism toward AI. Most, however, react with interest or neutrality. It is important to communicate openly and transparently about what the system does and what it does not do.
Limits and outlook: Swiss HealthAssist 2.0
Swiss HealthAssist is already convincing today - and at the same time offers scope for useful extensions:
- Understanding the context of complex therapy processes (e.g. biographical issues)
- Upload limits for large amounts of data (e.g. audio or image files)
- Intelligent agents that automate recurring tasks (e.g. progress documentation)
"I believe it makes sense to bring in additional partners—especially to integrate Swiss HealthAssist into existing practice systems and make it easier for therapists to use. This would further reduce the administrative burden and help the application gain widespread adoption."
— Annemieke Balk, Polyvista Practice, Davos
This is precisely the aim of HIN AI, the emerging AI framework from AlpineAI and HIN: a new standard for Large Language Model (LLM)-based support in the healthcare sector. HIN AI forms the basis for the secure, practical and interoperable development of AI services, e.g. by providers of practice information systems or other partners in the HIN network. In this way, we create sustainable digital relief, embedded in the familiar working environment and tailored to everyday life in the Swiss healthcare system.
Conclusion: AI entry is worthwhile - especially with strong partners
Whether in an individual practice or in a clinic structure: Swiss HealthAssist offers real added value with its combination of intelligent documentation, high time savings and trustworthy data protection - as the application is context-appropriate, structured and secure. Everyday psychotherapeutic practice benefits above all from administrative and documentary tasks. And: trust in a data protection-compliant, Swiss solution is a key door opener - for professionals and patients alike.
According to Annemieke Balk, anyone who wants to convince their colleagues of the solution’s merits can rely on simple arguments:
“You can really say: This makes your work easier—if it’s used correctly.”
Would you like to learn more about Swiss HealthAssist or try the service for yourself?
For more information: https://www.hin.ch/de/services/swiss-healthassist/swiss-healthassist.cfm
