Last week we saw yet another peer-reviewed study looking at the clinical impact of ambient scribing, this time in JAMA:
“Changes in Clinician Time Expenditure and Visit Quantity With Adoption of Artificial Intelligence–Powered Scribes A Multisite Study”
Once again the study showed a modest reduction in time-in-EHR (16 minutes per week), and a modest increase in productivity (~0.5 incremental visits per week).
As more of these studies come out, I feel like I’m hearing more concerns about the ROI for ambient scribing and whether the technology is “worth the expense”. To which I say:
1.) Even if there were no productivity improvements at all, the impact on provider well-being alone is worth every penny we spend on ambient. We have a finite supply of providers and a limited ability to generate ones, so anything we can use to keep providers in their chosen profession and see patients is well worth it. Provider burnout is costly.
2.) In terms of the modest time and productivity benefits we’re seeing so far, I’d remind everyone that it’s literally bottom of the first inning in terms of adoption of the technology. Relatively few hospitals and health systems have more than a year’s experience using the tech, and we’re still learning how to optimize ambient to deliver productivity benefits. Impact will accrue in a non-linear fashion.
3.) The real benefits of ambient will start to hit when we can connect upstream and downstream processes to the visit. For example, on the front end when we can use AI to collect the patient history, summarize recent notes, and deliver insights right at the point of care (part of the Commure product suite now), we’ll likely see significant throughput improvements. Similarly, on the backend when we can automate orders and referrals (also part of the suite) and have them teed up for the provider when they leave the patient’s side, we’ll see even more productivity benefits.
Sometimes it can be difficult with new technology to understand the second and third order effects of their implementation, but there’s no question that we’re just scratching the surface right now in terms of what’s possible for providers with AI.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2847319