Speakers
Majid Afshar, MD, MS
Associate Professor
Director, Learning Health Systems
Departments of Medicine and Biostatistics & Medical Informatics
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Mary Ryan Baumann, PhD
Assistant Professor
Departments of Population Health Sciences and Biostatistics & Medical Informatics
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Keywords
Artificial Intelligence; Burnout; Provider Well-Being; Learning Health System
Key Points
- Documentation in the Electronic Health Record (EHR) is a driver of clinician burnout; it can reduce their capacity to connect with patients during an appointment and spill over into daily life, i.e. “work outside of work.” The research team sought to assess whether the use of an ambient Artificial Intelligence (AI) scribe could improve clinician well-being by automating the documentation process.
- The stepped-wedge, individually randomized trial took place over 24 weeks at UW Health. 66 providers across various specialties were randomized to receive access to ambient AI at Week 1, Week 7, or Week 13. The primary endpoint was physician well-being, measured by the Professional Fulfillment subscale and a burnout composite.
- The research team found a 20% reduction in burnout and a trend towards improvement in professional fulfillment. These effects were sustained over the course of the trial. Use of the technology also decreased “work outside of work” by an average of 30 minutes and “time in notes” by 21 minutes.
Discussion Themes
Qualitative interviews found that patients of the clinicians in the trial appreciated the reduced computer interaction and felt that communication was clearer and more open.
The research team worked with the EHR company to develop a rubric for evaluating the AI-generated notes for accuracy, i.e. the presence of AI hallucinations or falsifications.
Following the trial’s success, UW Health scaled the project from 66 to over 600 licenses. An operational dashboard was developed for real-time monitoring of utilization and documentation metrics to ensure sustained performance and coding compliance.