AI Scribes Cut Documentation Time by 69% in Simulated Primary Care Visits, Study Finds

Healthcare attorney Dan Silverboard was quoted in a Medical Economics article about a University of Toronto study on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted notetaking during doctors' visits. The study compared primary care physician appointments with and without the scribes and found documentation took up around 36 percent of the visit without a scribe and 11 percent with one, making for a difference of 69 percent. Although researchers did not report a difference in the total time for each visit, the gap between time spent charting manually versus relying on AI was significant, and one of the study's authors noted using the tool gave physicians the opportunity to take other notes and ask follow-up questions, potentially creating a more meaningful encounter that deepens the patient relationship and enhances overall care in the long run. One concern the use of AI does raise, however, is human oversight. In the study, physicians reviewed, pasted, edited and saved the notes from the AI scribe. Dan emphasized the importance of maintaining this protocol as healthcare providers increasingly incorporate AI technology into their practices.

"I think it comes back to the standard of care and just ensuring that providers, even if they're relying heavily on it, that they're still checking to make sure that whatever is in the medical record is accurate," he said.

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