Doctors often spend a large part of their day doing paperwork. This includes writing clinical notes and entering data into electronic health records (EHRs). Sometimes, they work at home after hours, called “pajama time.” Ambient AI scribe technology helps by using computer programs that listen to doctor-patient talks and write notes automatically in real time.
The Permanente Medical Group (TPMG) in Northern California showed how this works. From late 2023 to December 2024, they used AI scribes in over 2.5 million patient visits. Doctors saved about 15,791 hours of documentation time in one year. That is almost 1,800 full workdays, which adds up to almost five years of work time saved.
The technology uses microphones on smartphones during visits. It listens quietly but does not record full conversations. It also ignores non-medical talk like greetings or chats about children or pets. This way, it keeps notes accurate and focused. Doctors at TPMG only needed a one-hour online class and some local training to start using it easily in their busy work.
One big help from the AI scribe is that doctors can spend more time talking with patients instead of typing notes. At TPMG, 82% of doctors said they were happier at work after they started using the AI scribe. Also, 84% of doctors said patient talks improved. Patients noticed too: 47% said their doctors looked less at the computer, and 56% felt the visits got better because of the AI scribe.
Because doctors do not need to type as much during or after visits, they can spend more face-to-face time with patients. This is especially true in busy areas like primary care, psychiatry, and emergency medicine, which used the technology the most.
The use of AI scribes at TPMG grew fast. In just ten weeks, 3,442 doctors used it in 303,000 patient visits. This was the fastest technology use ever in the group. Over 63 weeks, 7,260 doctors used it more than 2.5 million times. Doctors who used it a lot made nearly 90% of all uses and saved more than twice the time per note than those who used it less.
The technology worked well for doctors of all ages and experience levels. Women doctors tended to use it more in areas with many notes, like mental health and primary care. This shows the AI scribe suits many types of doctors and places in the U.S.
Before starting the technology, TPMG looked for a system that made few mistakes. It was important that the AI could ignore non-medical talk and not make up wrong information about treatments or procedures. While there were some small errors, the system helped doctors spend less time fixing notes after visits.
Privacy was also a big concern. The AI does not use patient data to train itself. All notes are kept confidential. The system uses safe devices and only listens without recording full audio. This helped both doctors and patients feel more secure.
Some doctors said editing AI notes could take longer than typing by hand when the system did not match their usual note style. This means future improvements should focus on making the AI work better with various electronic health record systems, especially in large practices with many sites.
Reducing paperwork is good for doctors’ well-being. Writing notes can cause stress and burnout. The AI scribe gave back about one hour a day to doctors at TPMG. Many used this time to connect better with patients, instead of seeing more patients quickly. This supports care that is focused on quality, not just quantity.
Less paperwork also helps keep doctors in their jobs and attract new ones. Medical centers in the U.S. can use this technology to make work more satisfying. Cutting burnout supports efforts to keep enough healthcare workers to meet growing demands.
AI scribes are part of a larger move toward using AI to make medical work easier. These tools help with tasks needed for rules and billing. For example, AI can recognize speech to get data, understand clinical notes, and help plan visits. But AI scribes do not make medical decisions or suggest treatments.
AI tools can connect with systems for scheduling, billing, and clinical help. Auto-generated notes make documentation faster and more accurate. This helps doctors and staff work better and focus more on patients.
For instance, Simbo AI works on automating phone tasks, while AI scribes help with medical documents. Both reduce manual work using AI technology.
Medical practice leaders should think about how AI scribes fit with their current digital tools. Benefits include:
Good use of AI scribes needs work to connect with EHRs, training for doctors, and rules to protect privacy and patients’ rights. Practices should remember that AI helps with notes but does not replace doctors’ judgment.
The Permanente Medical Group shows how AI scribes can fit well in U.S. medical care. Clinics have more paperwork and need to improve patient talks at the same time. AI scribes help balance this by being safe, scalable, and doctor-friendly tools.
In busy U.S. health systems where burnout threatens care and staff stability, AI scribes have shown they can give doctors more time and improve patient visits. Thousands of doctors of all ages and career levels use these tools, showing their wide usefulness.
For leaders who manage healthcare operations and technology, understanding the costs, training, and workflow changes is key to getting good results. The proof so far supports using AI scribes as a helpful way to meet the problem of doctor paperwork.
Using ambient AI scribe technology in a major U.S. healthcare system helped cut doctor documentation time by about an hour each day. It also improved doctor-patient talks. These AI tools let doctors focus more on patients, reduce after-hours paperwork, and increase job satisfaction. Some challenges remain, like fitting the AI with existing systems and fixing occasional note errors. Still, many doctors in many specialties are using AI scribes, which shows the technology has strong potential for the future.
AI continues to grow as a useful helper in medical notes and office work. For healthcare managers and leaders, ambient AI scribes are an important choice to make work better and protect doctors’ health in busy health care settings. Data from groups like The Permanente Medical Group provide a clear example of how to use AI scribes well. This fits with national efforts to improve care, lower costs, and support medical workers.
The ambient AI scribe uses a secure smartphone microphone to transcribe patient encounters in real-time without recording audio. It applies machine learning and natural language processing to filter and summarize clinical content, generating physician notes that accurately document the visit while excluding irrelevant conversation.
The AI scribe saves physicians an average of one hour daily by reducing documentation time at the keyboard. This freed-up time allows doctors to focus more on patient interaction, reducing burnout and improving job satisfaction without increasing the number of appointments scheduled.
Within 10 weeks, 3,442 out of 10,000 physicians used the AI scribe in over 303,000 patient encounters across 21 locations in Northern California, marking the fastest technology adoption in the group’s history.
Selection criteria included high note accuracy to minimize physician edits, ease of use with minimal training, and strong privacy safeguards ensuring patient data from The Permanente Medical Group was not used to train the AI model.
The group conducted one-hour training webinars and provided onsite trainers at 21 locations. Patients received informational handouts and posters, with consent obtained prior to AI scribe use in visits, ensuring transparency and comfort with the technology.
By automating documentation, physicians spend more time directly engaging with patients, enhancing communication and improving patient experience through focused attention, rather than administrative tasks.
Occasional AI ‘hallucinations’ occurred where the scribe incorrectly documented events, such as falsely noting an exam had been performed or misdiagnosing based on conversation, highlighting an ongoing need for refinement and physician oversight.
Primary care physicians, psychiatrists, and emergency doctors have been the most enthusiastic adopters, benefiting from reduced documentation burden and improved workflow efficiency in high-demand, documentation-intensive environments.
Reducing documentation workload helps alleviate burnout, restoring joy in medical practice and making the institution more attractive to talented physicians, thereby aiding retention and recruitment efforts.
Continuous refinement is needed to address occasional inaccuracies or hallucinations. The goal remains improving note accuracy, enhancing ease of use, safeguarding privacy, and expanding benefits to both physicians and patients without increasing physician workload.
Simbo is using AI agents to automate all phone related workflows. Connect now to know more.
Schedule AI Agents Demo Now© Since 2019, Simbo AI.
