Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-19-2025
Abstract
IMPORTANCE: Timely evaluation of ambient scribing technology is warranted to assess whether this technology can lessen the burden of clinical documentation on clinicians.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of ambient scribing technology with efficiency, quality, and perceived burden of clinical documentation in the outpatient setting.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This prospective, single-group pre-post quality improvement study was conducted between April and June 2024 in the outpatient setting of an academic health system in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Participants included physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. Data were analyzed from July to August 2024.
EXPOSURE: Access to an artificial intelligence-driven ambient scribing tool for outpatient notes.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary outcomes were time in notes per appointment, same-day appointment closure, after-hours work time, perceived burden of clinical documentation, and comments on clinicians' experiences using ambient scribing. A mixed-effects model was used. Both objective metrics and survey feedback were obtained. Targeted perspective questions, designed to assess clinician-perceived patient engagement and perceived documentation burden, were assessed on a 7-point Likert scale. Standard System Usability Scale (SUS) and net promoter score (NPS) formulas were used to analyze usability and recommendability data.
RESULTS: This study included 46 clinicians from 17 different medical specialties, with a mean (SD) of 11.1 (8.7) years in practice. From baseline to post intervention, use of the ambient scribing tool was associated with 20.4% less time in notes per appointment (from 10.3 to 8.2 minutes; P < .001), 9.3% greater same-day appointment closure (from 66.2% to 72.4%; P
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this quality improvement study, the use of ambient scribe technology was associated with greater efficiency of outpatient clinical documentation, lower mental burden of documentation for clinicians, and greater sense of engagement with patients during outpatient appointments. Additional studies exploring urgent care settings, examining patient experience, and comparing multiple tools will be important to better understand the effect of ambient scribing on ambulatory care.
Recommended Citation
Duggan, Matthew J.; Gervase, Julietta; Schoenbaum, Anna; Hanson, William; Howell, John T.; Sheinberg, Michael; and Johnson, Kevin B., "Clinician Experiences With Ambient Scribe Technology to Assist With Documentation Burden and Efficiency" (2025). SKMC Student Presentations and Publications. Paper 46.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/skmcstudentworks/46
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Supplementary Materials 1
zoi241690supp1_prod_1739220983.39198 (1).pdf (241 kB)
Supplementary Materials 2
zoi241690supp1_prod_1739220983.39198 (2).pdf (241 kB)
Supplementary Materials 3
zoi241690supp2_prod_1739220983.39698.pdf (14 kB)
Language
English
Comments
This article is the author's final published version in JAMA Network Open, Volume 8, Issue 2, February 2025, Article number e2460637.
The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.60637
Copyright © 2025 Duggan MJ et al.