Brad Smith Vice Chair and President at Microsoft | Official website
Microsoft has announced the launch of Microsoft Dragon Copilot, an AI assistant designed to enhance clinical workflows in healthcare. This new tool combines natural language voice dictation and ambient listening capabilities with advanced generative AI and healthcare-specific safeguards. Part of Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare, Dragon Copilot aims to improve experiences and outcomes for both providers and patients.
The introduction of this technology comes as clinician burnout in the U.S. decreased from 53% in 2023 to 48% in 2024, partly due to technological advancements. However, a significant workforce shortage is anticipated due to an aging population and ongoing burnout issues. Health systems are increasingly adopting AI solutions to streamline administrative tasks, improve care access, and accelerate clinical insights globally.
Joe Petro, corporate vice president of Microsoft Health and Life Sciences Solutions and Platforms, stated: “At Microsoft, we have long believed that AI has the incredible potential to free clinicians from much of the administrative burden in healthcare and enable them to refocus on taking care of patients.” He added that Dragon Copilot introduces "the first unified voice AI experience" drawing on Microsoft's extensive expertise.
Dr. R. Hal Baker from WellSpan Health noted that Dragon Copilot enhances patient experiences while streamlining clinician workflows across their organization. The tool integrates DMO’s speech capabilities with DAX’s ambient AI technology, which has been used extensively across healthcare organizations.
Key features include streamlined documentation through multilanguage support, automated tasks such as note summaries and referral letters, and embedded AI for medical information searches. Clinicians across various care settings will benefit from its secure speech capabilities for documenting care and navigating electronic health records (EHR).
Dragon Copilot will be available in the U.S. and Canada starting May, followed by launches in the U.K., Germany, France, and the Netherlands. Glen Kearns from The Ottawa Hospital expressed enthusiasm about being among the first Canadian users of this technology.
Microsoft emphasizes that Dragon's new capabilities align with responsible AI principles focusing on transparency, reliability, fairness, inclusiveness, accountability, privacy, and security.
