Dr. Ali Okhowat, a Canadian physician with a background spanning humanitarian work in conflict zones to co-founding the World Health Organization (WHO) Innovation Hub, is now using artificial intelligence to solve one of healthcare's most persistent problems: administrative burden. Through his company Aya Health Technologies Inc., he has developed an AI scribe solution called "Autochart.ai Health Assistant". The team joins the Canadian Technology Accelerator for startups in the second half of 2025, leveraging Taiwan's proactive push toward "smart hospitals" to enter Asian markets.
Describing himself as "a physician by training, but a geek at heart," Dr. Okhowat's career trajectory is unique. After completing training in Canada, he worked with the International Committee of the Red Cross in low-resource and conflict areas, including Gaza and Afghanistan, followed by a post with the WHO overseeing the Middle East and North Africa. This field experience heavily influenced his belief in using technology to make care more accessible and efficient, eventually leading him to co-found the WHO Innovation Hub in Geneva.
The Genesis of Autochart.ai Health Assistant
The concept for Autochart.ai was born from the direct experience of a practicing physician. Following his return to Canada and involvement in the COVID-19 response, Dr. Okhowat co-established a medical clinic in British Columbia intended to function as an innovation lab for digital health solutions.
The resulting product, Autochart.ai, is an AI health assistant and clinical workflow solution designed to reduce the time health providers spend on documentation.
"The first part is that a note has to be generated documenting what actually happened and what the next steps were," Dr. Okhowat explained. "We are trying to help all health providers who are somewhat burdened with this task of having to create that initial clinical document, and then all of the downstream documents that are also needed, things like referral notes, patient communications messages."
The solution, which is built on the Microsoft Azure Foundry and leverages various Large Language Models (LLMs), has been fully commercialized since November 2024 and is currently being used by subscribers in Canada and the US, including several British Columbia providers and health facilities involved in a provincial AI Scribe pilot program.
A Focus on Multilingual Context
A key differentiator for Autochart.ai is its robust support for diverse linguistic environments. Recognizing the need for global utility, the company prioritized multilingual capability from the start.
"We translated the public-facing website fully into 10 different languages, and the interface into 13 different languages," Dr. Okhowat stated. "The number of languages that we accept in terms of input languages and output languages are over 100 different languages and dialects," including support for both simplified and traditional Chinese text. This focus aims to address not only single-language needs but also multilingual, multi-issue, and multi-patient encounters common in clinical settings. The software can also integrate visual context, such as analyzing images of dermatologic lesions, into the generated documentation.
Scaling in Taiwan's Smart Hospital Ecosystem
Dr. Okhowat's visit to Taiwan for the Startup Acceleration Program is timely, aligning with the government's recent initiative to encourage hospitals to transform into "smart hospitals" by digital transformation, robotics, and AI.
In response to Taiwan's changing demographics and rising healthcare needs, the government has just launched the "Healthy Taiwan Deep Cultivation Plan" (2025–2029) in April with a total budget of NT$48.9 billion (US$1.63 billion), focusing on four key areas-better working conditions for medical staff, diverse talent cultivation, smart healthcare technology, and sustainable, socially responsible medicine-to advance tiered care, workforce retention, and healthcare system reform.
Autochart.ai's strategy for entering the market centers on three pillars:
1. Localization and Integration: Finding local partners to customize the solution and integrate it with Taiwan's established Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) and world-class hardware manufacturers.
2. Regulatory Adherence: Gaining a deep understanding of local data security and Taiwan FDA health pathway regulations to ensure full compliance. The system is already designed to support on-premise or local secure cloud environments to meet strict data privacy demands.
3. Investment Synergy: Engaging with the local investor community to secure funding necessary for scaling the solution, with the goal of making it a "homegrown solution in Taiwan."
The company offers flexible business models, including Software as a Service (SaaS), API-based integration, and licensing. Dr. Okhowat noted the potential for innovative monetization, moving toward a value-aligned model such as a per-chart fee with a managed upper cap to reduce costs for health systems.
Future Vision: AI as a Total Health Assistant
Looking ahead five years, the vision for Autochart.ai Health Assistant expands beyond supporting providers to directly empowering patients.
"We want to be able to help the patients just as much," Dr. Okhowat said. The company is currently developing a patient-facing AI scribe, voice agents, and physical AI implementations that would help individuals own and manage their medical records, make appointments, and summarize complex medical discussions for loved ones and their "circle of care." This evolution aims to transform the system into a comprehensive AI health assistant for all stakeholders, from providers to patients to health systems.
Article edited by Joseph Tsai