Impact of Ambient Artificial Intelligence Notes on Provider Burnout

Abstract

Background: Healthcare provider burnout is a critical issue with significant implications for individual well-being, patient care, and healthcare system efficiency. Addressing burnout is essential for improving both provider well-being and the quality of patient care. Ambient artificial intelligence (AI) offers a novel approach to mitigating burnout by reducing the documentation burden through advanced speech recognition and natural language processing technologies that summarize the patient encounter into a clinical note to be reviewed by clinicians. Objective: To assess provider burnout and professional fulfilment associated with Ambient AI technology during a pilot study, assessed using the Stanford Professional Fulfillment Index (PFI). Methods: A pre-post observational study was conducted at University of Iowa Health Care with 38 volunteer physicians and advanced practice providers. Participants used a commercial ambient AI tool, over a 5-week trial in ambulatory environments. The AI tool transcribed patient-clinician conversations and generated preliminary clinical notes for review and entry into the electronic medical record. Burnout and professional fulfillment were assessed using the Stanford PFI at baseline and post-intervention. Results: Pre-test and post-test surveys were completed by 35/38 participants (92% survey completion rate). Results showed a significant reduction in burnout scores, with the median burnout score improving from 4.16 to 3.16 (p=0.005), with validated Stanford PFI cutoff for overall burnout 3.33. Burnout rates decreased from 69% to 43%. There was a notable improvement in interpersonal disengagement scores (3.6 vs. 2.5, p<0.001), although work exhaustion scores did not significantly change. Professional fulfillment showed a modest, non-significant increase (6.1 vs. 6.5, p=0.10). Conclusions: Ambient AI significantly reduces healthcare provider burnout and modestly enhances professional fulfillment. By alleviating documentation burdens, ambient AI improves operational efficiency and provider well-being. These findings suggest that broader implementation of ambient AI could be a strategic intervention to combat burnout in healthcare settings.