AI can turn a consultation into a structured note in seconds. The risk is that AI can also add details that were never said. In clinical documentation, that is not just “a typo”, it’s something that can create real clinical risk.
What is The Shell?
TORTUS AI has developed The Shell, a protective clinical safety layer that sits between the AI-generated consultation note and the clinician’s sign-off.
In plain terms, it acts like a real-time quality check. It:
- Checks each line of the note against the source consultation
- Finds content that is not supported by what was actually said
- Removes or suggests corrections with detailed reasoning, before the clinician sees the final note
TORTUS AI describes The Shell as an added layer of protection, not a separate product. It runs automatically and users do not currently see the edits it makes.
Why reliable AI matters in general practice
Practice teams are busy. If a tool flags issues and asks clinicians to fix them, it can add friction. The Shell closes that gap by moving from detection to action. It aims to reduce errors upstream, so clinicians spend less time spotting and correcting AI mistakes.
Think of it like this:
Consultation → AI draft note → The Shell checks and fixes → Clinician reviews and signs off
The evidence so far
TORTUS AI reports that in a large-scale production test (150,000+ notes), The Shell:
- Reduced hallucinations by ~93% across detected errors
- Caused over 100% increase in hallucination-free notes
TORTUS AI also describes how it tracks quality using two measures:
- Precision: how much of the note is supported by the consultation
- Recall: how much of the consultation is captured in the note
What this means for Surgery Intellect users
Surgery Intellect, powered by TORTUS, is our ambient scribe for clinical documentation in UK primary care. It supports both face-to-face and telephone consultations, and produces outputs for clinicians to review and approve.
With The Shell now running automatically in the background, practices get an added layer of assurance that it:
- Reduces the chance of made-up details appearing in notes
- Builds confidence and trust in day-to-day use
- Helps reduce cognitive load, because the clinician is not doing all the “error hunting” themselves
Surgery Intellect, powered by TORTUS, is not only about saving time, but choosing a solution designed to be safer at scale. Now it comes with an added safety layer that actively reduces errors before clinicians approve the final record.
Experience safer AI in action
If you’re exploring AI for clinical documentation, don’t just ask how fast it is. Ask how safe it is.
With Surgery Intellect, powered by TORTUS, your team can:
- Capture face-to-face and telephone consultations with ease
- File directly into the patient record (IM1 assured)
- Benefit from a built-in clinical safety layer designed to reduce unsupported content before sign-off
Start your free, two-month trial and see how reliable AI can support your clinicians, not burden them.