# Sort a new patient's outside records with AI

By Ali Peivandizadeh, business growth and AI implementation specialist.
Published Nov 13, 2026. Last checked Nov 13, 2026. Last changed Nov 13, 2026.
Section: AI at Work. Verdict: ACT
Who it is for: Medical practices. 6 to 30 providers. Manager, provider, IT.

A bank used an AI agent to put new clients' records into one standard format, and staff review what the agent is unsure about. A practice can use the same pattern on the outside records a new patient brings. The provider still reads the result before the visit.

## Why
Northern Trust, a bank, unveiled the agent on Nov 9, 2026. It converts years of client records from many formats into the bank's standard format. Data preparation took two and a half weeks before. The bank reports it now takes three days. That number covers preparation only, and staff handle the uncertain items. A specialty practice has the same kind of step. A new patient's records arrive as faxes, scans and portal downloads in different layouts. Someone reads them and types the history, the medication list and past results into the chart.

## Steps
1. Time how long staff take to prepare one new patient's outside records. Do it for the next ten new patients.
2. Ask your EHR vendor whether it already has a feature that reads outside records.
3. Use only a tool whose maker has signed a business associate agreement (the contract a vendor must sign before it handles patient information).
4. Write your standard intake sheet: problems, medications, allergies, past procedures, recent results and the referring doctor.
5. Test on ten past new patients whose charts staff already prepared.
6. Ask the tool to mark every item it is unsure about, and to show the page each fact came from.
7. Have a nurse or a medical assistant compare the two results and count every error.
8. On live charts, staff check every medication and allergy against the source page.
9. The provider reviews the sheet before the visit.

## What data may go in
Outside records are patient information. They go only into a tool covered by a signed business associate agreement. Never use a personal AI account.

## Who checks the output
A nurse or a medical assistant checks the marked items and every medication and allergy. The provider reviews the sheet before the visit. In Texas, the practitioner must review records made with AI.

## Cost and time
The report gives no cost. The bank built a custom system with Microsoft. A practice starts with a feature of its EHR or an approved AI tool. About one day for the first ten charts.

## The rule to check
The tool sorts and copies what the records say. It does not diagnose, and it does not decide care. Texas requires that patients are told when AI is used in their care. Check your state's rule.

## What can go wrong
The bank reports a first-pass quality score above 96%, so staff still find and fix the rest. One wrong medication or allergy in a chart can harm a patient. That is why staff check every medication and allergy, marked or not.

## Sources
- CIO, news report, Nov 9, 2026: https://www.cio.com/article/4245961/northern-trust-streamlines-client-onboarding-with-ai-agent.html

General business information, not medical or legal advice.

Page: https://healthcaregrowthjournal.com/ai-at-work/sort-a-new-patients-outside-records-with-ai/