Physicians at Cleveland Clinic have embraced ambient artificial intelligence for clinical documentation. The health system rolled out Ambience Healthcare’s platform after a rigorous evaluation. Results show real gains in time saved and reduced administrative load.
More than 4,000 physicians and advanced practice providers started using the tool within 15 weeks of the spring 2025 launch. They have documented over one million patient encounters. Active users apply it to 76 percent of scheduled office visits. Those figures come directly from the system’s own reporting.
The gains add up. Clinicians spend two fewer minutes writing and reviewing notes per appointment. That totals 14 minutes less per day. Some days the difference feels small. Over weeks and months it frees hours that once vanished into charting. And those hours matter.
Rohit Chandra, chief digital officer at Cleveland Clinic, described the shift in straightforward terms. “The promise of AI in healthcare is that it will enable us to care for patients with a higher level of safety and quality, and a better patient and caregiver experience,” he said in the organization’s February 2025 announcement. “Our implementation of ambient AI technology delivers on that promise because it helps our providers fully engage with their patients, saves time and alleviates some of their administrative burden.” (Cleveland Clinic Newsroom)
The technology works by recording conversations through a phone app after patients give verbal consent. It generates structured notes inside the Epic electronic health record and produces after-visit summaries. Physicians review every word. They edit for accuracy before signing. The system adapts to specialties. A sleep-medicine visit pulls out bedtime habits. A cardiology encounter focuses on relevant cardiac details. Flexibility like that helped win over skeptical clinicians.
Eric Boose, a family physician and associate chief medical information officer who led the pilot, tested the software with his own patients. “Oftentimes, with technology, people aren’t ready for change,” he told Business Insider. “In this case, we actually had people who were not part of the pilot program asking if they could have it.” Most patients accepted the tool. Boose recalled only two or three declines over two years. Many appreciated the extra face-to-face time. (Business Insider)
The pilot itself set a high bar. In 2024 Cleveland Clinic asked 250 physicians to evaluate five different ambient documentation products across more than 80 specialties. Teams measured accuracy, user experience, provider satisfaction, ease of implementation and potential return. All five vendors performed well. Ambience stood out for note quality, immediate usability and partnership strength. The health system chose it for a five-year exclusive arrangement that covers documentation, clinical documentation integrity and point-of-care coding. (Cleveland Clinic Consult QD)
Beri Ridgeway, enterprise chief of staff, highlighted clinician feedback after the pilot. “Our clinicians reported their enjoyment with more face-to-face patient interaction, and that the software provided detailed notes that improved care coordination across specialties. Importantly, they also felt less burnout.” The organization positioned the project as a workforce strategy rather than a simple technology purchase.
Broader research supports the pattern. A multicenter quality improvement study published in JAMA Network Open in 2025 tracked 263 clinicians across six health systems. After 30 days with an ambient AI scribe, burnout in ambulatory settings fell from 51.9 percent to 38.8 percent. Odds of burnout dropped by 74 percent. Participants also reported lower cognitive task load, less after-hours documentation and greater ability to focus on patients. (JAMA Network Open)
Other recent findings align. A May 2026 analysis across five academic centers found ambient scribes cut documentation time by 16 minutes per encounter and total electronic health record time by 13.4 minutes. Clinicians added nearly half a patient visit per week on average. The data suggest the tools deliver consistent but modest time savings that accumulate into meaningful schedule flexibility. (2 Minute Medicine)
Yet the Cleveland Clinic rollout reveals limits as well as promise. Not every physician reaches for the tool. Adoption sits near 70 percent among eligible providers. Some already maintain efficient documentation habits. Others prefer their established routines. The organization made use voluntary and offered training without mandates. That choice contributed to rapid uptake among enthusiasts while respecting individual preferences.
Privacy questions surface regularly. Patients ask what happens to recordings. Cleveland Clinic holds them for about 30 days, then de-identifies and deletes the data. Physicians can pause recording at any moment. Boose emphasized transparency. “We want people to feel comfortable that their data is not living somewhere in perpetuity.”
Accuracy demands constant oversight. Boose calls the output an excellent draft rather than finished work. “It’s a showcase of artificial intelligence, not intelligence.” Hallucinations and omissions remain risks. Every note requires full physician review. Chandra stressed vigilance on those points. The system does not diagnose or treat. Clinical judgment stays with the human.
Even so, many doctors report renewed satisfaction. Chandra noted that some physicians feel “joy” return to caregiving. They did not enter medicine to drown in paperwork. Less time staring at screens during visits means stronger eye contact, fuller attention and richer conversations. Patients receive clearer summaries. Care teams gain better coordination across specialties.
The time recovered also carries downstream effects. Shorter documentation windows can translate into earlier chart closure, faster billing and improved access for urgent appointments. Some physicians say the tool has delayed retirement plans. One told Boose he had considered cutting hours until the scribe changed his daily experience.
Health systems elsewhere report similar trajectories. Emory Healthcare, Mass General Brigham and Cooper University Healthcare have documented reductions in burnout and documentation burden after ambient scribe deployments. A February 2025 survey of primary care providers using a different ambient tool found 60 percent fewer reported burnout feelings and notable drops in after-hours work.
Cleveland Clinic continues to study outcomes. Leaders track not only time saved but also note quality, patient experience scores, coding accuracy and clinician retention. Early signals point to positive movement across those measures. The organization plans to explore additional AI applications such as pre-visit agents that surface patient concerns or post-visit tools that reinforce care instructions.
Boose offered a grounded assessment. “AI is going to make us more and more efficient, but it will never replace physicians. But it is a very exciting time for efficiency in healthcare. We haven’t had this big of a change in a long time that can make things smoother for physicians and patients.”
The Cleveland Clinic experience shows ambient AI scribes can deliver tangible relief when selected carefully, implemented thoughtfully and paired with strong human oversight. Two minutes here. Fourteen minutes there. Over thousands of visits the numbers compound. Physicians regain presence with patients. Administrative weight eases. The technology remains a support, not a substitute. Its value lies in how clinicians choose to spend the time it returns.
Cleveland Clinic’s Ambience AI Scribe Delivers Measurable Relief to Physicians first appeared on Web and IT News.