United StatesHealthcare and life sciences2026 – ongoingSentara Health
Ambient AI documentation for virtual nurses
Sentara reported about 15 minutes saved on admission or discharge documentation in early AI tests
Problem
Nursing documentation consumed time that Sentara wanted available for patient care and clinical thinking.
Approach
Sentara introduced ambient AI documentation within its virtual nursing unit. Virtual nurses supported admissions and discharge preparation, and frontline nurses helped shape the changes. Early tests assessed the time spent documenting an admission or discharge.
Results
Takeaway
The reported saving came from early ambient documentation tests. Patient-experience improvements from the broader virtual nursing program were a separate result.
Categories
- Size
- Large enterprise
- Industry
- Healthcare and life sciences
- Business function
- Internal work and knowledge management
- Innovation type
- Process innovation
- AI technology
- Generative AI
- Adoption
- Vendor solution
- Evidence
- Company's own claim
Sources
Source summaries
Sentara's chief nursing officer described virtual nursing and its ambient documentation initiative. Early tests reportedly reduced admission or discharge documentation time by about 15 minutes.
Full details are in the original sources.