Microsoft Launches Dragon Copilot in Ireland to Support Clinicians with AI-Driven Documentation
Microsoft Dragon Copilot, an AI clinical assistant designed to streamline documentation, surface critical information, and automate routine tasks, has officially launched in Ireland.
The platform brings together the trusted natural-language voice dictation capabilities of Dragon Medical One (DMO) with the ambient listening technology of Dragon Ambient eXperience (DAX) Copilot, fine-tuned generative AI, and healthcare-specific safeguards. Built as part of Microsoft for Healthcare, Dragon Copilot enables healthcare organisations to deliver more efficient and connected care experiences for both clinicians and patients.
Over 200 clinicians across seven healthcare organisations in the UK and Ireland participated in a private preview programme involving more than 10,000 consultations. The feedback helped fine-tune Copilot’s integration with electronic patient records (EPR) and shape its generative-AI-driven clinical documentation features.
Responding to workforce and demographic challenges
The launch comes as Ireland faces rising workforce and demographic pressures. The Department of Finance’s Long-Term Demographic Outlook (September 2025) projects sustained ageing trends over the next four decades, while the HSE’s Medical Workforce Analysis Report 2024-2025 highlights ongoing retention and workload challenges.
Across Europe, similar patterns are emerging. The OECD’s Health at a Glance: Europe 2024 report cites a region-wide workforce deficit and growing burnout among clinicians. Technologies such as AI, the report notes, are increasingly viewed as essential tools to augment productivity and free clinicians to focus on patient care.
AI for better care and clinician wellbeing
“Dragon Copilot is helping to reshape how clinicians manage time-consuming administrative tasks, such as documentation, referrals and after-visit summaries, freeing up valuable time for patient care,” said Ciara Perciavalle, Head of Health at Microsoft Ireland.
“By streamlining workflows and integrating seamlessly with electronic patient records, Dragon Copilot not only enhances operational efficiency but also supports clinician well-being, retention, and patient experiences. As Ireland continues to address growing demand and resource constraints, solutions like Dragon Copilot are vital in building more resilient and compassionate healthcare for the future.”
A Microsoft-commissioned survey found that 40% of patients have experienced consultations where clinicians seemed overly focused on screens. Dragon Copilot aims to restore the human connection by reducing administrative tasks and enabling more face-to-face engagement during patient encounters.
Clinical perspectives
Dr Peter-Marc Fortune, Paediatric Intensive Care Physician and Chief Medical Information Officer at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, described how AI assistants such as Dragon Copilot are changing the clinical experience:
“It should reduce the burden of ensuring that you’re capturing everything, so clinicians can actually focus on the interaction with the patient. Consultations now feel more face-to-face, like they would have in the GP surgery 20 years ago, before everyone had PCs on their desk. The most important thing is to develop a relationship with a patient.”
Proven outcomes from early adopters
Microsoft reports that organisations in the US already using Dragon Copilot’s ambient-AI technology have achieved measurable results:
Five minutes saved per encounter, on average.
70% of clinicians reporting reduced feelings of burnout and fatigue.
62% saying they are less likely to leave their organisation.
93% of patients reporting a better overall experience.
Dragon Copilot builds on Microsoft’s proven Dragon Medical and DAX technologies, which together have supported the documentation of billions of patient records and assisted over three million ambient patient conversations across 600 healthcare organisations in the past month alone.
For more information, visit Microsoft Health Solutions – Dragon Copilot.