I didn't set out to build a RAG application. I set out to solve an annoying problem I kept watching happen.
I work as a senior software developer in healthcare technology in Belfast. A big part of that job is understanding what actually slows them down, and figuring out where software can help. Not what's technically impressive what's genuinely useful.
One thing I kept noticing: a lot of time gets spent navigating documents. Not reading them carefully and thoughtfully — just navigating. Ctrl+F for a patient name. Scrolling to find a medication dosage. Hunting for a follow-up instruction buried in paragraph four of page seven of a discharge summary.
It sounds small. Multiply it by every clinical document, every working day, and it adds up fast.
When I started thinking about RAG as a solution, the first thing I did was slow down and think about what "accuracy" means in a clinical setting — because it means something different here than it does in most software contexts.
