Dr. Hoberman on how ambient AI empowers doctors

Over the past year, ambient AI scribe technology has made headlines and remains one of the higher profile uses of generative AI in health care. Its deployment is being closely watched because it not only reduces the time clinicians spend taking notes, but it also allows them to concentrate more on the primary task of taking care of their patients. This health care innovation is seen as bellwether for future AI usage in health care organizations, as it helps physicians perform their jobs better and more efficiently. 

Brian Hoberman, MD, executive vice president of IT and chief information officer for The Permanente Federation, recently spoke with The Washington Post about Kaiser Permanente’s experience with the technology after the successful roll-out of an ambient scribe tool to more than 24,000 physicians across 8 states and Washington, D.C.

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Improving operational efficiencies is a critical ingredient to supporting physician and clinician wellness. Many physicians experienced record levels of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic and the burden of clerical work, like capturing and editing notes on patient visits, remains a major source of burnout and turnover.  

The Post column cited a 2024 survey showing more than 90 percent of the physicians surveyed said they experienced burnout and 64 percent named clerical work as the main cause. 

Enter ambient AI scribe  

After a rollout of ambient AI technology used to record and transcribe patient visits in Northern California by The Permanente Medical Group, patients and physicians provided positive feedback overall. Describing the tool as “magic,” physicians have told Dr. Hoberman that it is often capturing more information than their memory can recall. The AI-generated drafts are still edited by physicians, who have shared with Dr. Hoberman that the resulting notes are “more detailed and richer.” 

Dr. Hoberman noted that ongoing work continues to adapt ambient AI tools in areas such as specialty or emergency care to ensure that specific templates and information are integrated into the system. But the Kaiser Permanente deployment has already yielded valuable lessons and is generating positive results toward reducing the burden of digital paperwork for physicians. 

“People say, ‘This just makes me a better doctor,’” Dr. Hoberman told The Post. “‘This lets me concentrate more on what I really came here to do … which is engaging with my patients and helping make them better.’” 

Read the full story here.