Why not just use ChatGPT or Claude in the cloud?

Clinics handling sensitive patient information must use services that meet Japan's three-ministry medical data guidelines, which makes cloud AI a high hurdle. The clinic instead keeps processing in-house on its own Mac Studio.

What does the clinic actually use the local AI for?

Its main use is summarizing past charts so key details like vaccination history and drug side effects are not buried. It also reads handwritten questionnaires via a local vision model and transcribes consultations with Whisper, though the director says he still types faster.

Does the AI write into the electronic medical record?

No. The clinic only reads chart data and never writes from its own apps, and staff always make the final link between a scanned form and a patient. Muraoka stresses the AI is strictly an assistant because hallucinations occasionally occur.

Large Language ModelsAI Coding AssistantsITmedia AI＋8h agoNov 9, 2026, 10:01 JST

Hongo Masago Heart Clinic runs local AI on a Mac Studio

Send on LINE

3 Key Points

What happened
Director Hironori Muraoka built the clinic's reservation system and dashboard himself using Claude Code, and runs open-weight models and OpenAI's Whisper locally on a 96GB Mac Studio so patient data stays in-house.
Why it matters
Muraoka says the setup reliably does about one office worker's worth of work, helping the clinic see 100-plus patients some days versus 40–50 before, though he says costs include taking on maintenance himself.

Not sure about something? Ask the AI

Questions and answers are published on this page.

Summaries like this, every morning.

Get these free every morning

FAQ

Why not just use ChatGPT or Claude in the cloud?: Clinics handling sensitive patient information must use services that meet Japan's three-ministry medical data guidelines, which makes cloud AI a high hurdle. The clinic instead keeps processing in-house on its own Mac Studio.
What does the clinic actually use the local AI for?: Its main use is summarizing past charts so key details like vaccination history and drug side effects are not buried. It also reads handwritten questionnaires via a local vision model and transcribes consultations with Whisper, though the director says he still types faster.
Does the AI write into the electronic medical record?: No. The clinic only reads chart data and never writes from its own apps, and staff always make the final link between a scanned form and a patient. Muraoka stresses the AI is strictly an assistant because hallucinations occasionally occur.

ITmedia AI＋Read Original Article

Send on LINE

AI news that matters for your work, delivered every morning.

Pick your industry and the AI tools you use, and get news related to your work every day.

Get it free

Free · 30 seconds with Google · unsubscribe anytimeWhat is AIToday? →

Ask AI

Ask AI anything about this article. The AI reads this article, earlier AIToday articles, and Wikipedia, and cites its sources. Q&As are published on this page for other readers too.