"Physicians notice the impact of having their cognitive load lightened," said Neda Laiteerapong, associate director at UChicago Medicine's Center for Chronic Disease Research and Policy. "We're more focused throughout the day and less mentally exhausted, leaving more energy and compassion to dedicate to improving patients' quality of life, even through seemingly small changes like ordering lab tests further ahead of a clinical visit."

Overall, the researchers found that clinicians who used the ambient AI tool spent 8.5% less total time in the EHR than their matched controls and had an over 15% decrease in time spent composing notes specifically. 

"At first glance, an 8.5% reduction in documentation time might seem small, but when you do the math, a clinician who sees 20 patients per day and saves two or three minutes per patient by using an ambient AI scribe could recoup multiple hours per week," said Kevin Pearlman, a clinical informatics fellow at UChicago Medicine who helped lead the study.

More health systems adopt ambient AI scribes

According to health tech experts, around a third of providers currently have access to ambient AI technology, and adoption will likely grow rapidly over the next few years, especially as providers increasingly prioritize work-life balance.

"It's part of keeping doctors happy," said Robert Wachter, a professor and chair of the department of medicine at University of California, San Francisco. "Health systems that initially might have done a hard-nosed return-on-investment calculation — many are softening on that and realizing that the cost of recruiting and retaining doctors is pretty high."

Currently, several start-ups have introduced their own ambient AI tools that can be integrated into EHRs. Abridge, a generative AI company, is one of these start-ups, and it currently has contracts with over 150 health systems, including Sharp HealthCare, MaineHealth, and Samaritan Health Services.

"Abridge's ambient listening isn't just about capturing conversations; it's about actionable intelligence that saves time in real time," said Sonny Sapra, Samaritan's SVP and chief digital and information officer. "By using Abridge we have providers spending less time in their notes documenting and more time focusing on the patient's well-being. The ROI is not theoretical, it is measurable and meaningful."

Ribbens, from St. Luke's Health System, also highlighted the benefits of implementing ambient AI technology at his organization. At St. Luke's, physicians have reported a 35% decrease in time spent documenting after hours and a 15% increase in face time with patients. The tool also generated $13,049 in annual revenue per clinician, helping the organization achieve an early financial return on its investment.

"For organizations considering ambient listening transcription technology, my advice is to view it as a transformative investment for reducing administrative burdens and enhancing operational efficiency," said Gavin Setzen, a physician at Albany ENT & Allergy Services. "Start by ensuring the technology integrates seamlessly with your existing EHR system and aligns with your practice's specific needs. And customization is key. Look for systems that can adapt to the unique workflows of your specialty.

4 things to consider before implementing ambient AI

By Samantha Wyld, David Enevoldsen, and Sally Hart

As the use of ambient AI tools, such as scribes, becomes more widespread, here are four things leaders should know before they implement the technology at their own organizations.

1. Ambient AI tools will not eliminate provider documentation needs.

Ambient scribing will not wholly eliminate provider documentation needs. Instead, providers may become editors instead of authors.

According to Optum Advisory* partners who have already implemented ambient AI tools, some clinicians complain that they spend significant time editing ambient scribing generated documentation instead of authoring it themselves, even if their overall administrative burden is reduced.

This suggests that while ambient AI technology is helpful, leaders should not overpromise the benefits to providers. The clinicians are still responsible for validating the completeness and accuracy of clinical documentation and will require time to review and edit AI-generated notes.

2. Leaders should understand the impacts of ambient AI tools, both positive and negative.

It's important to monitor data pre-and post-implementation to understand and address the impact of ambient AI tools, both positive and negative.

Organizations should identify baseline data for pre-ambient scribing implementation and monitor the benefits and drawbacks accordingly. Time providers spend documenting can be captured pre-and-post implementation to identify the true time savings provided by the tools. Providers should also pay close attention to clinical documentation-related denials both pre- and post-implementation to identify and strategize around any trends in new denial patterns by payers and service lines.

Providers should also engage in compliance reviews to ensure regulatory guidelines are followed for documentation and query practices. While AI-generated notes enhance efficiency, they tend to follow patterns across repetitive phrasing and internal consistencies (e.g., conflicting symptoms). Without proper oversight, organizations risk repeating the same documentation pitfalls as chart cloning. To comply, providers must review and sign off on AI-generated notes. Providers must be aware of documentation guidelines and best practices to ensure compliance.

3. Clinical nudging should be recorded thoughtfully.

Organizations should be sure that ambient scribing technology is designed to leverage AI-driven clinical nudging to capture precise details and at the point of care. This allows for better documentation habits and improved clinical decision making.

4. It's important to align clinical and financial outcomes.

Revenue cycle leaders should be included in discussions about implementing new ambient AI technology to help align clinical and financial outcomes. Ambient scribing adoption can have downstream implications on financial outcomes, so aligning with revenue cycle and financial leaders at the outset of ambient scribing adoption can help ensure that AI solutions deliver tangible, bottom-line results.

Additional considerations for mobile and ambient AI use

As organizations expand the use of ambient AI tools and mobile device-based documentation, leaders should be aware of workflow risks associated with clinicians moving away from traditional EHR interfaces. When providers document on mobile devices or solely through ambient AI applications, they may not receive Best Practice Alerts (BPAs) or other embedded EHR decision support cues that typically prompt for activities such as clinical condition reevaluation, hierarchical condition category (HCC) recapture, medication monitoring, or required documentation updates. Without these point‑of‑care prompts, there is an increased risk of missed reconciliations, incomplete documentation, or overlooked clinical indicators that normally surface through EHR‑based workflow support.

Organizations should assess which alerts, reminders, and reconciliation workflows are bypassed when clinicians shift to mobile or ambient documentation workflows and identify mitigation strategies. These may include:

• Adjusting alerting logic so key prompts still surface at note signoff or encounter close
• Building post‑encounter reconciliation workflows for HCCs or condition updates
• Ensuring providers receive education on manual review points normally guided by BPAs
• Monitoring downstream impacts such as missed HCC capture, delayed reevaluations, or increased denials tied to documentation gaps

Understanding these workflow shifts is essential to maintaining documentation accuracy, compliance, and revenue integrity as mobile and ambient AI tools become more widely adopted.

*Advisory Board is a subsidiary of Optum. All Advisory Board research, expert perspectives, and recommendations remain independent.