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Do I Need Patient Consent ?

You must obtain explicit patient consent before recording any consultation, whether in-person or via telehealth. This is a legal requirement in both Australia and New Zealand. Echo-Health.ai supports this by securely deleting audio after transcription and storing only clinician-approved notes. Consent should be sought clearly at the beginning of the consult, and practices are responsible for ensuring this step is followed.

🎙️ Do I Need Patient Consent?

Yes. If you are using Echo-Health.ai or any other system that records audio from a consultation, you must obtain explicit patient consent. This applies in both Australia and New Zealand, and is a legal requirement — not optional.

🧾 Legal Overview

  • Australia: Each state and territory has surveillance legislation that makes it illegal to record conversations without consent from all parties.

    For example, in New South Wales, this is covered under the Surveillance Devices Act 2007 (NSW).

  • New Zealand: Under the Privacy Act 2020 and Health Information Privacy Code 2020, patients must be informed of any recording and must agree to it — even if the recording is not kept.

✅ Best Practice for Consent

Let patients know at the beginning of the consultation. For example:

“I’d like to record this consultation to help generate accurate clinical notes using our secure AI tool. The audio is deleted immediately after processing, and only the notes I review and approve are saved. Is that okay?”

You may also include this:

  • In your verbal consent script

  • As a display message in telehealth platforms

  • Or as part of your practice's general consent documentation

🔐 How Echo-Health.ai Uses Recordings

  • Audio is temporarily stored only for transcription.

  • Once processed, the recording is deleted.

  • Only the clinician-approved summary is retained.

  • No personally identifiable information (PII) is stored unless your practice specifically links it.

💡 Summary

Consent to record is legally required and good clinical practice. Echo-Health.ai is built to align with privacy laws in Australia and New Zealand, but the responsibility to obtain consent sits with the clinician or practice.

If you'd like help drafting a consent clause for your forms or verbal script, our team can assist during onboarding.