United StatesHealthcare and life sciences2023 – ongoing

Kaiser Permanente (The Permanente Medical Group)

Ambient AI scribe for clinical notes

An ambient AI scribe used in 2.5 million visits saved Kaiser physicians an estimated 16,000 hours of note-writing

WorkingCompany's own claimOfficial ↗

Problem

Physicians at The Permanente Medical Group (TPMG), part of Kaiser Permanente, spent much of their day typing visit notes into the electronic health record. Documentation load was linked to burnout and to doctors looking at screens instead of patients.

Approach

In October 2023 the group made a commercial ambient AI scribe available to 10,000 physicians and staff. The tool listens to the conversation during a visit and drafts a clinical note that the physician reviews and edits. The group switched vendors between the pilot and the 2024 rollout, and its own researchers tracked use, time spent on notes and surveys of physicians and patients.

Results

~16,000hours of documentation time saved, estimated over October 2023 to December 2024Company's own claim[1][2]

2.58Mpatient visits in which the scribe was used in the same periodCompany's own claim[1]

7,260physicians who used the toolCompany's own claim[1]

47%patients surveyed (118 responses) who said their doctor looked at the computer lessCompany's own claim[1]

Takeaway

Use spread widely: 7,260 physicians used the tool in its first 15 months, and 3,447 of them used it in at least 100 visits. The hours saved are the group's own estimate.

Sources

AI-assisted notetaking gains steady support from Kaiser Permanente physicians
Kaiser Permanente Division of Research1 Apr 2025Company publication
AI scribes save 15,000 hours—and restore the human side of medicine
American Medical Association2025News article
Ambient Artificial Intelligence Scribes to Alleviate the Burden of Clinical Documentation
Kaiser Permanente Division of Research2024Research paper or report

Source summaries

[1]Kaiser Permanente Division of Research1 Apr 2025

Kaiser Permanente's researchers reported in NEJM Catalyst that 7,260 physicians used the ambient scribe in about 2.58 million visits between October 2023 and December 2024, saving nearly 16,000 hours of documentation time. Of 102 surveyed physicians, 88% reported a positive effect on visits, and 47% of 118 surveyed patients said their doctor looked at the computer less. The group changed vendors between pilot and rollout without naming either.

[2]American Medical Association2025

AMA News reports that a follow-up NEJM Catalyst analysis estimated The Permanente Medical Group saved 15,791 hours of documentation time, equal to about 1,794 eight-hour workdays. It describes the tool as a way to give physicians more face-to-face time with patients.

[3]Kaiser Permanente Division of Research2024

Tierney and colleagues reported in NEJM Catalyst in 2024 that the group made the tool available to 10,000 physicians and staff in October 2023. In the first 10 weeks, 3,442 physicians used the tool in up to 303,266 patient encounters, and 968 used it in 100 or more encounters.

Full details are in the original sources.

Added 25 Oct 2026 · Updated 25 Oct 2026