Primary care in the United States faces major challenges because more patients need care and there are not enough providers. Over 100 million Americans do not have good access to primary care. This causes problems in the healthcare system. It affects how easy it is to get care, the quality of care, and how well providers can work. Medical administrators, clinic owners, and IT managers keep looking for ways to make care run better. They want providers to spend more time with patients and less on paperwork. One way to do this is by adding artificial intelligence (AI) directly into clinical workflows. This article explains how AI inside care processes helps manage provider schedules and reduces paperwork in primary care.
The need for primary care in the U.S. is growing faster than the number of providers. There is a shortage that equals about 2 billion hours of primary care each year. This happens because more people need care and there are not enough workers. Administrative tasks add to the problem. Providers often spend almost as much time on paperwork and scheduling as they do seeing patients. This causes delays in provider schedules, long waits for patients, and burnout for providers.
With many care hours not filled, making care more efficient is very important. Hiring more clinicians alone will not fix these problems. Adding AI into clinical settings offers a way to improve workflows and serve more patients.
AI tools added to clinical workflows can do routine administrative work on their own. Unlike older systems that only collect data and give reports, these AI agents manage things like patient scheduling, outreach, and medication monitoring 24/7 with the care teams.
One example is “Tom,” an AI platform created by Lumeris with Google Cloud. Tom works as part of the care team and automatically does tasks such as scheduling screenings, following up with patients after discharge, and giving personalized patient information. Tom connects directly with electronic health records (EHR) and the provider’s workflow. This helps reduce the time clinicians spend on paperwork and improves appointment scheduling to match patient and provider needs.
Mike Long, CEO of Lumeris, says this AI system helps address the 2-billion-hour shortage by giving better care access to underserved groups. John Doerr, Board Member of Lumeris, says Tom can lower healthcare costs by more than half while helping 100 million Americans who currently have trouble getting primary care.
Many tasks in primary care are manual, repetitive, and prone to errors. These include making appointments, updating patient records, processing insurance claims, and clinical documentation. AI automation can take over these tasks to lower mistakes, save provider time, and reduce burnout from too much paperwork.
A 2025 AMA survey found that 66% of doctors use AI tools, and 68% say these tools help patient care. Popular AI tools like IBM Watson, Microsoft Dragon Copilot, and systems from Lumeris and Commure help automate work so clinicians can focus more on diagnosis and treatment.
Commure’s Ambient AI works with many EHR systems and automates clinical notes in real-time. It listens to patient and provider talks, structures notes automatically, and adds the information directly to EHR sections. Doctors using it report saving 90 minutes each day on paperwork. This saves brain power, improves schedule handling, and allows more patient interaction.
David Norris, CEO of Affineon Health, says automating the provider inbox—which includes clinical notes and lab result management—is key to reducing admin work and clinician burnout. Commure and Affineon’s AI inbox technology show how automating inbox tasks simplifies work and keeps clinicians focused without interruptions. This helps with tasks like prescription renewals and sorting messages.
Good schedule management is important to improve access and efficiency in primary care. Traditional scheduling mainly relies on office staff who make manual changes. This can be slow and cause mistakes like no-shows, double bookings, or long waits.
AI in workflows improves this process in several ways:
AI inside provider workflows lets these scheduling tasks happen smoothly without adding admin work. This reduces unused appointment slots and helps clinics see more patients.
One key to AI working well is combining many data sources. AI platforms like Tom use data from EHRs, insurance, and even health apps or wearables. Bringing these data streams together lets AI make smart decisions rather than just simple rules.
This mix helps AI think about things like a patient’s social situation, how well they follow medication, and clinical rules when scheduling or sending reminders. For example, knowing social factors helps reduce no-shows by adjusting outreach to each patient’s situation.
Google Cloud’s AI systems support powerful AI models like Gemini Flash, making sure data is handled safely and securely. Human oversight stays involved to use AI responsibly.
AI automation goes beyond scheduling and notes. It also helps manage clinical inboxes, lab results, prescription renewals, and billing. These tasks take a lot of provider time in primary care.
Affineon Health’s AI inbox tools automate sorting important lab results, referral letters, and prescription requests so they are never missed or delayed. Commure’s Ambient AI works inside popular EHRs like MEDITECH Expanse Now, so doctors use AI without leaving their usual system. This makes adopting AI simpler and speeds up improvements.
Automating clinical notes saves time, lowers errors, improves billing, and helps with legal rules. AI collects and analyzes info about visits right away, so notes match the real patient encounter without lots of typing.
AI also improves billing and insurance claims by matching codes and minimizing delays or denials. This helps the financial health of practices and keeps admin workflows smooth.
Many primary care providers feel burned out because of too much admin work. Using AI to automate these tasks is key to making their jobs better and keeping them in the field.
Top AI companies work together to cut provider inbox overload, paperwork times, and scheduling problems. A survey shows 57% of doctors think automating notes and inbox is the best way AI helps reduce burnout. This automation frees up time and mental energy for doctors to focus on patients.
Health systems like Bethany Children’s Health Center have worked with companies like Commure to lower admin work and boost clinician productivity. Their work shows better efficiency and patient experience, even in busy hospital and outpatient care.
In U.S. primary care, AI and workflow automation are part of a big change toward making care more data-driven, efficient, and patient-centered. Putting these tools into clinical workflows brings many benefits:
These tools help clinics schedule better, follow up with patients, reduce missed visits, and manage chronic illnesses more effectively.
Primary care administrators and IT managers who want to improve provider schedules should consider investing in AI tools built into clinical workflows. By lowering admin work and automating routine tasks, these tools let providers spend more time with patients and make better decisions. This helps with both how many patients can be seen and care quality in a strained healthcare system.
From the experience of companies like Lumeris, Commure, and Affineon, successful AI use needs close connection with existing workflows and teamwork with healthcare staff. Clinics should focus on smooth EHR integration, keeping data safe and private, and helping users accept AI through training and clear policies.
As primary care faces more staff shortages and patient needs grow, adding AI automation into workflows is a good way to improve schedule management, patient access, and reduce admin work across the U.S.
Tom is an AI-powered Primary Care as a Service™ solution developed by Lumeris to support overburdened physicians and expand primary care access by integrating into clinical workflows and executing autonomous patient management actions.
Tom tackles primary care provider shortages, administrative burdens, limited patient access, and the growing mismatch between demand and supply by expanding care capacity and proactively managing patient care tasks.
Unlike traditional systems that only provide information, Tom autonomously acts on data in real-time, scheduling appointments, monitoring medication, conducting outreach, and personalizing care within shared care plans.
Tom autonomously schedules screenings and appointments, manages care coordination, monitors ongoing patient needs, and escalates complex cases, effectively optimizing provider schedules and reducing administrative workload.
Tom incorporates social determinants of health data alongside clinical guidelines to personalize patient interventions, improving engagement and outcomes while addressing non-clinical factors impacting health.
Tom aims to bridge the 2-billion-hour annual shortage in primary care by expanding provider capacity and enabling access for an estimated 100 million Americans without primary care providers.
Collaborators include BJC Health System’s Center for Health AI, Endeavor Health, MIT Computer Science and AI Lab, Oliver Wyman, ŌURA, and Wolters Kluwer, bringing expertise in AI, healthcare delivery, decision support, and wearable tech.
Lumeris reports improved quality metrics, better patient experiences, enhanced physician satisfaction, and high CMS star ratings (4.5 to 5.0) across multiple Medicare populations using Tom.
By increasing primary care capacity, reducing administrative burdens, and enabling proactive patient management, Tom lowers care costs by over 50% through improved efficiency and prevention.
Being embedded allows Tom to operate 24/7 alongside care teams, providing real-time insights and taking immediate, appropriate actions without disrupting provider workflows, thus enhancing schedule management and care delivery.
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