JAMA Netw Open

AI scribes show promise in easing clinician burnout, documentation burden

October 9, 2025

Ambient AI scribes were associated with substantial reductions in clinician burnout and administrative burden, as well as enhanced patient focus and access.

Study details: A multicenter, pre-post quality improvement study evaluated 263 ambulatory physicians and advanced practice practitioners across six U.S. health systems. Participants used the same ambient AI scribe platform for clinical note documentation over 30 days. Outcomes were assessed via surveys before and after implementation, focusing on burnout, cognitive task load, after-hours documentation, patient attention, and urgent scheduling capacity.

Results: After 30 days, burnout prevalence decreased from 51.9% to 38.8% (odds ratio, 0.26; 95% confidence interval, 0.13-0.54). Significant improvements were observed in note-related cognitive task load (mean difference, 2.64 points on a 10-point scale), focused attention on patients (2.05 points), ability to add urgent patients (0.51 points), and reduction in after-hours documentation (0.90 hours). Patient understanding of care plans from notes also improved.

Source:

Olson KD, et al. (2025, October 1). JAMA Netw Open. Use of Ambient AI Scribes to Reduce Administrative Burden and Professional Burnout. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41037268/