AI Scribes Significantly Reduce Physician Burnout, Enhancing Patient Care

How generative AI scribes are reducing physician burnout

Mass General BrighamAug 22 2025 A new study led by Mass General Brigham researchers reveals that ambient documentation technologies - generative artificial intelligence scribes that record patient visits and draft clinical notes for physician review before incorporating them into electronic health records - led to significant reductions in physician burnout. The findings, published in JAMA Network Open, draw on surveys of more than 1,400 physicians and advanced practice providers at both Mass General Brigham based and Atlanta's Emory Healthcare. At Mass General Brigham, use of ambient documentation technologies was associated with a 21.2% absolute reduction in burnout prevalence at 84 days, while Emory Healthcare saw a 30.7% absolute increase in documentation-related wellbeing at 60 days. Ambient documentation technology has been truly transformative in freeing up physicians from their keyboards to have more face-to-face interaction with their patients. Our physicians tell us that they have their nights and weekends back and have rediscovered their joy of practicing medicine. There is literally no other intervention in our field that impacts burnout to this extent." Rebecca Mishuris, MD, MPH, MS, Study Co-Senior Author and Chief Medical Information Officer, Mass General Brigham Physician burnout affects more than 50% of U.S. doctors and has been linked to time spent in electronic health records, particularly after hours. There is additional evidence that the burden and anticipation of needing to complete their appointment notes also contributes significantly to physician burnout. "Burnout adversely impacts both providers and their patients who face greater risks to their safety and access to care," said Lisa Rotenstein, MD, MBA, a co-senior study author and director of The Center for Physician Experience and Practice Excellence at Brigham and Women's Hospital. She is also an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the UCSF School of Medicine. "This is an issue that hospitals nationwide are looking to tackle, and ambient documentation provides a scalable technology worth further study." The researchers analyzed survey data from pilot users of ambient documentation technologies at two large health systems. At Mass General Brigham, 873 physicians and advanced practice providers were given surveys before enrolling, then after 42 and 84 days. About 30% of users responded to the surveys at 42 days, and 22% at 84 days. All 557 Emory pilot users were surveyed before the pilots and then at 60 days of use, with an 11% response rate. Researchers analyzed the survey results quantifying different measures of burnout at Mass General Brigham and physician well-being at Emory Healthcare. Qualitative feedback from users touted that ambient documentation enabled more "contact with patients and families," improvements in their "joy in practice," while recognizing its potential to "fundamentally [change] the experience of being a physician." However, some users felt it added time to their note-writing or had less utility for certain visit types or medical specialties. Since the pilot studies initiated, the AI technologies have continued to evolve as the vendors make changes based on user feedback and as the large language models that power the technologies improve themselves through additional training, warranting continued study. The study authors added that given that these were pilot users and there were limited survey response rates, these findings likely represent the experience of more enthusiastic users, and more research is needed to track clinical use of ambient documentation across a broader group of providers. Mass General Brigham's ambient documentation program launched in July 2023 as a proof-of-concept pilot study involving 18 physicians. By July 2024, the pilot, which tested two different ambient documentation technologies, expanded to more than 800 providers. As of April 2025, the technologies have been made available to all Mass General Brigham physicians, with more than 3,000 providers routinely using the tools. Later this year, the program will look to expand to other healthcare professionals such as nurses, physical and occupational therapists, and speech-language pathologists. Ambient documentation's use will continue to be studied with surveys and other measures tracking burnout rates and time spent on clinical notes inside and outside of working hours. Researchers will evaluate whether burnout rates improve over time as the AI evolves, or if these burnout gains plateau or are reversed. "Ambient documentation technology offers a step forward in health care and new tools that may positively impact our clinical teams," said Jacqueline You, MD, MBI, lead study author and a digital clinical lead and primary care physician at Mass General Brigham. "While stories of providers being able to call more patients or go home and play with their kids without having to worry about notes are powerful, we feel the burnout data speak similar volumes of the promise of these technologies, and importance of continuing to study them." Mass General Brigham Journal reference: You, J. G., et al. (2025). Ambient Documentation Technology in Clinician Experience of Documentation Burden and Burnout. JAMA Network Open. doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.28056

Ambient documentation technologies reduce physician burnout and restore 'joy' in medicine, study shows

A study led by Mass General Brigham researchers reveals that ambient documentation technologies -- generative artificial intelligence scribes that record patient visits and draft clinical notes for physician review before incorporating into electronic health records -- led to significant reductions in physician burnout. The findings, published in JAMA Network Open, draw on surveys of more than 1,400 physicians and advanced practice providers at both Mass General Brigham based and Atlanta's Emory Healthcare. At Mass General Brigham, the use of ambient documentation technologies was associated with a 21.2% absolute reduction in burnout prevalence at 84 days, while Emory Healthcare saw a 30.7% absolute increase in documentation-related well-being at 60 days. "Ambient documentation technology has been truly transformative in freeing up physicians from their keyboards to have more face-to-face interaction with their patients," said study co-senior author Rebecca Mishuris, MD, MPH, MS, chief medical information officer at Mass General Brigham and a primary care physician in the health care system. "Our physicians tell us that they have their nights and weekends back and have rediscovered their joy of practicing medicine. There is literally no other intervention in our field that impacts burnout to this extent." Physician burnout affects more than 50% of U.S. doctors and has been linked to time spent in electronic health records, particularly after hours. There is additional evidence that the burden and anticipation of needing to complete their appointment notes also contributes significantly to physician burnout. "Burnout adversely impacts both providers and their patients, who face greater risks to their safety and access to care," said Lisa Rotenstein, MD, MBA, a co-senior study author and director of the Center for Physician Experience and Practice Excellence at Brigham and Women's Hospital. She is also an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the UCSF School of Medicine. "This is an issue that hospitals nationwide are looking to tackle, and ambient documentation provides a scalable technology worth further study." The researchers analyzed survey data from pilot users of ambient documentation technologies at two large health systems. At Mass General Brigham, 873 physicians and advanced practice providers were given surveys before enrolling, then after 42 and 84 days. About 30% of users responded to the surveys at 42 days, and 22% at 84 days. All 557 Emory pilot users were surveyed before the pilots and then at 60 days of use, with an 11% response rate. Researchers analyzed the survey results, quantifying different measures of burnout at Mass General Brigham and physician well-being at Emory Healthcare. Qualitative feedback from users touted that ambient documentation enabled more "contact with patients and families," improvements in their "joy in practice," while recognizing its potential to "fundamentally [change] the experience of being a physician." However, some users felt it added time to their note-writing or had less utility for certain visit types or medical specialties. Since the pilot studies initiated, the AI technologies have continued to evolve as the vendors make changes based on user feedback and as the large language models that power the technologies improve themselves through additional training, warranting continued study. The study authors added that given that these were pilot users and there were limited survey response rates, these findings likely represent the experience of more enthusiastic users, and more research is needed to track clinical use of ambient documentation across a broader group of providers. Mass General Brigham's ambient documentation program launched in July 2023 as a proof-of-concept pilot study involving 18 physicians. By July 2024, the pilot, which tested two different ambient documentation technologies, had expanded to more than 800 providers. As of April 2025, the technologies have been made available to all Mass General Brigham physicians, with more than 3,000 providers routinely using the tools. Later this year, the program will look to expand to other health care professionals, such as nurses, physical and occupational therapists, and speech-language pathologists. Ambient documentation's use will continue to be studied with surveys and other measures tracking burnout rates and time spent on clinical notes inside and outside of working hours. Researchers will evaluate whether burnout rates improve over time as the AI evolves, or if these burnout gains plateau or are reversed. "Ambient documentation technology offers a step forward in health care and new tools that may positively impact our clinical teams," said Jacqueline You, MD, MBI, lead study author and a digital clinical lead and primary care physician at Mass General Brigham. "While stories of providers being able to call more patients or go home and play with their kids without having to worry about notes are powerful, we feel the burnout data speak similar volumes of the promise of these technologies, and the importance of continuing to study them."

AI Can Fix the Most Soul-Sucking Part of Medicine

Modern doctors aren't just caregivers; they're also clerks. They spend much of their day seeing patients and much of what remains drafting and inputting clinical notes of those visits. That takes a toll. More than 45% of physicians suffer from burnout, according to the American Medical Association -- and the clerical demands of their work, which often spill into their evenings, are a documented part of the cause. But now there may be a solution: According to a new study published in JAMA Network Open, artificial intelligence systems known as ambient documentation technology, which record patient visits and draft notes for the doctors, can reduce burnout rates by nearly 31%.

Note-Taking AI Reduces Doctor Burnout

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterTHURSDAY, Aug. 21, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- It can be spooky to realize that Alexa or Siri has been listening in on you, when a device in your home inadvertently springs to life. But eavesdropping artificial intelligence (AI) can prove a godsend to overworked doctors, protecting them from burnout by handling some of their paperwork, a new study says. Ambient AI "scribes" that listen in on patient visits and draft clinical notes from recordings contributed to significant reductions in doctor burnout, according to findings published today in JAMA Network Open. Burnout fell by 21% at the Mass General Brigham health care system in Boston thanks to AI scribes, while Emory Heathcare in Atlanta saw a nearly 31% reduction, results show. "Our physicians tell us that they have their nights and weekends back and have rediscovered their joy of practicing medicine," co-senior researcher Dr. Rebecca Mishuris, chief medical information officer at Mass General Brigham, said in a news release. "There is literally no other intervention in our field that impacts burnout to this extent." Burnout affects more than 50% of U.S. doctors and has been linked to time spent filling out electronic health records, particularly after hours. In particular, the burden of completing patient appointment notes weighs heavily on docs, researchers said in background notes. "Burnout adversely impacts both providers and their patients who face greater risks to their safety and access to care," said co-senior researcher Dr. Lisa Rotenstein, director of the Center for Physician Experience and Practice Excellence at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "This is an issue that hospitals nationwide are looking to tackle." For this study, researchers surveyed doctors who were pilot users of AI scribe technology, which is also known as "ambient documentation." The AI programs listen to patient visits and then draft clinical notes for the doctors, who review the AI-generated reports before entering them into electronic health records. Mass General Brigham's ambient documentation program launched in July 2023 with 18 docs, and by a year later it had expanded to more than 800 physicians. As of April 2025, the AI scribes had been made available to all of the system's providers, with more than 3,000 routinely relying on the tools. About half of 264 Mass General Brigham doctors surveyed said they used AI scribes in at least 50% of their patient visits, and around 44% of 62 Emory docs said they used the AI for most or all of their visits, results show. At both health care systems, doctors gave the systems a "likely-to-recommend" score of 8 out of 10, meaning they would vouch for the AI's usefulness to other physicians. "Exceptionally helpful," one doctor said in written comments. "Definitely improves my contact with patients and families, and definitely makes clinic easier." Another wrote: "It definitely improves my joy in practice because I get to interact with patients and look them in the eye without worrying I will forget what they are saying later. As the tools grow, I think they will fundamentally change the experience of being a physician." However, the doctors weren't shy about noting the downsides of AI scribes. One doc said the AI note-taking gives them back an hour out of their day, but another complained that it added one to two hours to their daily note writing. "It is a nuisance to copy and paste and do all the editing, but that is somewhat mindless work, whereas actually creating the text from scratch hours later requires more thinking," a third doctor said. "In the afternoon, I don't focus as well and when busy charts will stack up, I no longer have the bandwidth to do the notes. Having them already half done is great." Researchers said they will continue to track whether burnout rates improve over time as the AI evolves. "Ambient documentation technology offers a step forward in health care and new tools that may positively impact our clinical teams," said lead researcher Dr. Jacqueline You, a digital clinical lead and primary care physician at Mass General Brigham. "While stories of providers being able to call more patients or go home and play with their kids without having to worry about notes are powerful, we feel the burnout data speak similar volumes of the promise of these technologies, and importance of continuing to study them," she added in a news release. More information The Cleveland Clinic has more on AI in health care. SOURCE: Mass General Brigham, news release, Aug. 21, 2025