AI Scribes Give Kaiser Doctors Back 15,791 Hours
Quick Summary
The Permanente Medical Group rolled out ambient AI scribes to 7,260 physicians across Kaiser Permanente Northern California. Over 15 months and 2.6 million patient visits, the scribes saved 15,791 hours of documentation time, the equivalent of 1,794 eight-hour workdays.
The Use Case
Physicians were spending hours a day typing visit notes, often at home in the evening, and looking at a screen instead of the patient. With the patient's consent, the physician turns on the scribe at the start of the visit. It records the conversation, transcribes it and drafts a clinical note. The physician reviews and edits before signing. The tool does not suggest diagnoses or treatments. The medical group tracked usage and outcomes from October 2023 through December 2024 and published the analysis.
Real Example
- The physician asks the patient for consent and starts the scribe on a phone
- The visit proceeds as a normal conversation, no typing
- The scribe transcribes the exchange and drafts the note in the chart's structure
- After the visit the physician reads the draft, corrects two details and signs
- The note is filed minutes after the visit instead of that evening
- The next patient is seen on time
Why It Matters
- 15,791 hours saved across 2,576,627 encounters and 7,260 physicians
- 84% of physicians said patient communication improved; 82% said work satisfaction improved
- 47% of patients said their doctor spent less time on the computer