Changes in Clinician Time Expenditure and Visit Quantity With Adoption of Artificial Intelligence–Powered Scribes

Artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled scribes have been proposed to reduce electronic health record (EHR) burden and improve clinician satisfaction. There is limited evidence about their associated results across multiple sites and relative benefits for different clinician groups.

To assess the association of AI scribe adoption with changes in EHR time expenditure and visit volume and how associations vary by clinician characteristics. Design, Setting, and Participants: Multisite, longitudinal cohort study of AI scribe adoption conducted at 5 US academic health care institutions that introduced AI scribes to their clinicians between June 2023 and August 2025. Participants were ambulatory clinicians. Exposures: AI scribe adoption, defined as receiving access to an AI scribe. This was determined by opt-in decisions by eligible physicians at 4 of the 5 sites. Main Outcome and Measures: Total time spent on the EHR, time spent on documentation, and time spent on the EHR outside scheduled hours or on unscheduled days, all normalized to 8 scheduled patient hours; weekly visit volume.