Evidence Mounts That AI Scribes Benefit Clinicians Including Decreased Burnout
By Christopher Cheney
A new study found significant benefits for physicians and advanced practice providers from ambient listening artificial intelligence tools, which are also known as AI scribes, in the ambulatory care setting.
AI scribes record an encounter between a clinician and a patient, then they produce a clinical documentation note for the electronic health record that can be used to craft care plans and provide information for billing claims sent to payers. According to healthcare executives who have participated in the HealthLeaders AI in Clinical Care Mastermind program, AI scribes are the most widely used AI technology in clinical settings.
The new study, which was published on Oct. 2 by JAMA Network Open, features data collected from 263 ambulatory care physicians and advanced practice providers at six health systems. The researchers surveyed the clinicians before they used an AI scribe and 30 days after using an AI scribe.
The key findings of the study feature a significant reduction in clinician burnout after using an AI scribe, with the burnout rate falling from 51.9% to 38.8%. The study also found reduction in cognitive task load, less time spent documenting after hours, more focused attention on patients, and improvement in patient access to care.
A study published by JAMA Network Open in August has similar findings. That study found AI scribes were associated with a significant drop in clinician burnout, with one cohort’s burnout rate falling from 50.6% to 29.4% after 42 days of AI scribe use. The study suggests that AI scribes can create more accurate and robust documentation, which may help healthcare providers combat the rising volume of claim denials.
Experience with AI scribes at two health systems
Clinicians are generating benefits from using AI scribes at OSF HealthCare and Virtua Health.
OSF HealthCare launched an AI scribe pilot program in July 2024, and the health system found the technology was particularly helpful at primary care practices. Use of an AI scribe was expanded in October 2024, with an emphasis on primary care clinicians, then other outpatient specialty clinics.
“Today, we have hundreds of clinicians who are using the software, and we have done about 500,000 patient encounters using the AI tool,” says Tyler Fitch, MD, director of medical informatics at OSF HealthCare. “We are planning to expand use of the AI tool beyond ambulatory offices.”
From an anecdotal standpoint, implementation of an AI scribe has been the most appreciated technology tool among clinicians that has ever been deployed at OSF HealthCare, according to Fitch.
Many OSF HealthCare physicians also report that using an AI scribe has reduced burnout and cognitive task load, Fitch says.
In terms of decreasing administrative burden, OSF HealthCare has seen a daily reduction of 15 to 20 minutes in physician time spent on documentation.
“Many physicians are leaving work earlier and are not working on documentation after normal working hours—we know we are giving time back to them,” Fitch says.
At Virtua Medical Group, clinicians are using an AI scribe for ambulatory patient encounters.
“We have been getting many of our primary care clinicians involved and are spreading the technology to our specialty care clinicians,” says Steven Santangelo, DO, assistant vice president of clinical operations at Virtua Medical Group.
For most of the Virtua Medical Group clinicians who have used an AI scribe, the most common term they use to describe the experience is “game changer,” according to Santangelo.
“Based on my personal experience and on speaking with other AI scribe users, it has helped decrease work outside of office hours and helped with timely chart closures,” Santangelo says. “Most of the time, we are leaving our offices with our clinical notes completed and signed off. Using an AI scribe has done a lot to decrease cognitive burden and ultimately decrease burnout.”
Advice for adopting AI scribes
At OSF HealthCare, the lessons learned from adopting and implementing an AI scribe tool include the necessity to get many departments involved in the effort, including the legal department and compliance department, Fitch explains, adding there are other key steps.
“You need to be aware of state laws such as eavesdropping laws,” Fitch says. “You need to make sure your organization has an AI use policy. You need to have a good sense of patient expectations, and you need to communicate the benefits of this technology to patients.”
While some clinicians can get started on using an AI scribe with an email message that includes a video demo, health systems, hospitals, and medical groups should be prepared to give clinicians elbow-to-elbow support to promote widespread adoption of the technology, according to Santangelo.
“Ideally, you should have an informatics team that includes clinicians to help demo the tool and teach clinicians along the way of the adoption process,” Santangelo says. “For clinicians who have had that kind of support in place, we have found that they are more apt to stay with the tool for a longer period of time.”
It also is helpful to identify “super-users” to boost adoption of AI scribes, Santangelo explains.
“These are clinicians who have used an AI scribe for a while and are passionate about it,” Santangelo says. “We have been using these clinicians as agents for change and education, whether that is in their own offices or other offices.”
In the future, offering AI scribes as a tool for clinicians will become crucial for healthcare organizations. According to Santangelo, the average time saved per patient visit is about five minutes.
“With many clinicians facing burnout, particularly in primary care, health systems are going to have to adopt AI scribes,” Santangelo says. “Offering AI scribes for the new generation of clinicians will become essential. They are eager to use the latest and greatest technology.”
Christopher Cheney is the CMO editor at HealthLeaders.