Ambient AI Helps 93% of Doctors Provide Patients with Their “Full Attention”, Sutter Health Study Shows
Key Takeaways:
- Ambient augmented intelligence significantly reduced after-hours documentation and cognitive burden among participating clinicians, with 93 percent reporting they could give patients their full attention.
- Burnout indicators improved, with self-reported after-hours note-taking falling sharply and overall stress scores declining following the pilot’s introduction.
- Despite early challenges around EHR integration and note customisation, clinicians expressed strong enthusiasm for continued use and future development of the technology.
Introduction: Tackling documentation burden with ambient AI
For many clinicians, the administrative workload associated with electronic health record (EHR) systems extends well into the evening, contributing to frustration, diminished work satisfaction and widespread burnout. At Sutter Health in California, leaders have undertaken a substantial effort to determine whether ambient augmented intelligence (AI) could help relieve this pressure and restore time and attention to patient care.
A recent pilot study, published in JAMA Network Open, involved physicians and non-physician providers across the organisation. Participants reported spending less time on after-hours notes, feeling more present with patients during consultations and experiencing early signs of reduced stress. Although limitations remain, the findings suggest that carefully implemented AI-supported documentation could contribute meaningfully to clinician well-being.
National data from the American Medical Association (AMA) illustrate the scale of the problem. Burnout rates among physicians peaked at 62.8 percent in 2021, before falling back to near-2011 levels by 2023. Clinicians remain 82 percent more likely to report burnout than workers in other fields, according to research published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
The documentation challenge: A core driver of burnout
The EHR has long been identified as a key contributor to rising workload. Prior research shows that clinicians are “spending two hours of desktop medicine documenting for every hour that they’re spending with patients,” noted Veena Jones, MD, a paediatrician and Sutter Health’s Chief Medical Information Officer, speaking at the 2025 American Conference on Physician Health in Boston.
Sutter Health is a member of the AMA Health System Member Program, which supports health systems with enterprise-level tools designed to strengthen leadership and improve the future of clinical care.
Dr Jones highlighted the cumulative impact of documentation on clinician well-being: “Another national survey showed that about 77 percent of physicians reported that these excessive documentation tasks were leading to longer clinic hours or the need to work from home. Those clinicians who indicated that they had a more favourable view and experience and were highly satisfied with the EHR were less likely to be burned out, which can suggest that changes made to the EHR, particularly through documentation, may be able to provide some relief to this.”
Pilot design: Bringing ambient AI to 100 clinicians
The pilot involved 100 clinicians across multiple specialties and eight medical groups in Northern and Central California. Leaders intentionally recruited a diverse cohort, including primary care clinicians, various specialty clinicians and informatics champions who could model the technology for peers.
Survey findings following the pilot demonstrated significant improvements:
- The proportion of clinicians reporting they spent one hour or less each week on after-hours notes rose from 14 percent to 54 percent.
- The percentage who felt able to give patients their full attention increased from 58 percent to 93 percent.
- Burnout scores dropped from 42 percent to 35 percent.
Cheryl Stults, PhD, senior scientist at the Sutter Health Centre for Health Systems Research, described reductions in cognitive burden: “Regarding task load and cognitive burden, all three of the measures – difficulty accomplishing note writing performance, having to complete notes at a hurried and rush pace, and just the overall mental demand from these tasks – decreased statistically significantly from the pre to the post period.”
The AMA continues to lead efforts to reduce administrative strain through targeted support and system reforms to help clinicians rediscover a greater sense of professional fulfilment.
Early limitations: Integration and customisation gaps
Despite promising outcomes, clinicians identified several challenges during the pilot. These included limited EHR integration, reduced freedom to customise note formats and gaps in specialty-specific templates for physical examinations.
Stults noted: “Despite all of the benefits, there were also some challenges and limitations that they noted from their experience with AI. When our pilot was launched back in April 2024, at the time it was not fully integrated into the EHR. Physicians either had to copy and paste into the EHR or do an additional step to incorporate it into that.”
Since the pilot, full EHR integration has been implemented, resolving one of the most significant issues.
Clinicians also wanted greater flexibility in document structure. As Stults explained: “Additionally, physicians were unhappy that they were unable to customise or format the progress note for future ones, so if they like their note formatted a certain way, they would have to do it every single time – they wanted a way for the AI to remember or to have a level of permanent customisation.” The inclusion of clinicians from a wide range of specialties was intentional, helping ensure templates could be refined more effectively over time.
Participants also sought further functionalities, such as greater accuracy in direct dictation and more precise word-for-word transcription.
Despite these limitations, enthusiasm remained high. As one clinician commented, “I’m very committed to making this work and I really believe that AI will be the way we chart in the future.”
The AMA’s broader work in digital health includes the recent launch of the AMA Centre for Digital Health and AI, designed to ensure clinicians have a strong voice in shaping the use of AI technologies in patient care.
Scaling responsibly: Support over mandates
Following full integration into the EHR, Sutter Health transitioned from the pilot phase to systemwide expansion. Clinicians opted in using a simple self-service form, and most were able to implement the technology after completing two short e-learning modules.
Dr Jones explained: “Part of the uncertainty of knowing how this would go drove us towards a staged monthly implementation where we had our physicians indicate interest with subsequent onboarding. Once we had full EHR integration, we began a self-enrolment process, which was a really simple form. If anyone wants it, they go to our site, they sign up and within a month they will be provisioned.”
Training was streamlined as well. Early analysis suggested that more than two-thirds of clinicians felt confident going live without intensive support. As a result, Sutter Health created a self-guided e-learning module consisting of two seven-minute videos.
Clinical champions remained available to provide at-the-elbow guidance, while a digital academy support team carried out follow-up and troubleshooting.
The AMA’s STEPS Forward webinar, “AI Tools for Documentation: The Newest Member of the Care Team,” provides further insight into how ambient AI can support clinicians and improve care delivery.
Monitoring use and supporting adoption
Sutter Health monitors engagement through monthly utilisation reports. Dr Jones described the organisation’s proactive outreach strategy: “We run monthly reports looking at utilisation and have the team do targeted outreach to those who are not using it to say: Hey, can we help you? And if not, we actually go through a licence repurposing programme.”
This targeted support has helped increase adoption considerably. In March, Sutter Health also became the first organisation to launch a fully integrated inpatient workflow with its ambient AI vendor. This decision came only after the integrated tools demonstrated sufficient maturity to support hospital-based documentation.
As of September, the organisation has been extending the self-service enrolment model across hospitals and emergency departments (EDs).
The shift in clinician demand has been striking. As Dr Jones observed, the usual dynamic of “pushing” new technology has shifted towards clinicians actively requesting access: “The pull versus push has been incredible. In my career, this is one of the most exciting things to be a part of because physicians are pulling for it, and they want it. We have over 1.2 million notes written and that’s increasing at 50,000 a week.”
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Mayo Clinic Launches AI-Powered Nurse Virtual Assistant to Support Frontline Care
Key Takeaways:
- Mayo Clinic nurses have led the design and development of an in-house, AI-powered Nurse Virtual Assistant to streamline access to clinical information.
- The tool consolidates patient summaries, evidence-based guidelines, and clinical policies into one tab within the electronic health record, reducing administrative burden.
- More than 9,600 nurses across Mayo Clinic’s inpatient and emergency departments are now using the system, with ongoing feedback ensuring it continues to evolve with nursing practice.
Streamlining access to critical information
High-quality care depends on timely access to electronic health records, clinical policies, and evidence-based practice guidelines. However, navigating multiple systems to retrieve this information can be time-consuming for nurses, detracting from direct patient care.
To solve this challenge, Mayo Clinic’s Department of Nursing led a multidisciplinary initiative to create Nurse Virtual Assistant – a generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool developed entirely in-house by nurses for nurses. Integrated into Mayo Clinic’s electronic health record (EHR) system, the tool presents essential information within a single tab, making it easier to retrieve and act upon.
Nurses can view a curated, nurse-specific patient summary and access direct links to key evidence-based resources, including Lippincott procedures, IV administration guidelines, and Mayo Clinic’s clinical policy library – all in one place.
This streamlined interface allows nurses to spend less time searching and more time focusing on what matters most: the person receiving care.
Augmenting – not replacing – human connection
Mayo Clinic emphasises that Nurse Virtual Assistant is designed to support, rather than replace, the expertise and human presence that nurses bring to clinical practice.
“It is an amazing tool,” says Nick Flynn, a registered nurse in the Emergency Department at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Arizona. Flynn highlights the value of consolidated patient data from inpatient stays, outpatient visits, and phone calls:
“You have easy access to a history of their illness, and that is available just moments after they arrive.”
Nurse-driven innovation from concept to rollout
The project began in 2024 as part of Mayo Clinic’s strategy to ease administrative pressures in a rapidly digitising healthcare environment. Crucially, nurses were involved at every stage – from conceptualisation to design and testing – ensuring the tool meets real-world clinical needs.
Early-access users played an active role in shaping the system’s features, providing feedback that directly informed improvements.
Brendon Bloomfield, a registered nurse in Psychiatric Acute Care at Mayo Clinic Hospital – Rochester, explains:
“To see a concept I was passionate about, AI-enhanced communication, actually get built – and to be invited to help shape it – reinforces that frontline nurses’ voices matter and that we have the power to influence the future of care.”
The solution underwent a research study approved by an Institutional Review Board before scaling to more than 9,600 nurses across inpatient and emergency department units.
Evolving with nursing practice
Nurse Virtual Assistant has been released as a Minimum Lovable Product – a version that not only solves an immediate problem but is designed to be engaging and impactful for end users. Nurses can submit feedback directly through the tool, allowing the solution to continuously evolve with frontline input.
Enhancements already implemented include improved search result accuracy, refined content layouts, and new functionality based on user suggestions.
Privacy, security, and compliance at the core
Built to the highest standards of data privacy, the Nurse Virtual Assistant is a patent-pending solution developed in full compliance with HIPAA regulations and other applicable requirements. This ensures that patient information remains secure while enabling timely and efficient access for clinical teams.
Shaping the future of nursing care
Mayo Clinic’s Chief Nursing Officer, Ryannon Frederick, sees the innovation as a milestone in supporting nursing practice:
“Nurse Virtual Assistant is an example of how Mayo Clinic nurses are driving innovation and shaping the future of care. By reducing administrative burden, we allow nurses to focus on the most important part of their work: caring for patients with skill, compassion and presence.”
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Vanderbilt Researchers Use AI to Address Gaps in Long-Term Obesity Care
Key Takeaways:
- A $1 million Eli Lilly grant will fund a two-year Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) project using artificial intelligence (AI) to address gaps in obesity care.
- The initiative will analyse electronic health records (EHRs), survey patients and clinicians, and build a multi-agent AI system to develop evidence-based strategies for improving long-term engagement.
- A patient-facing mobile application will be designed and piloted in VUMC obesity clinics to support shared decision-making and sustained weight management.
Major investment in addressing gaps in care
Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) has secured a $1 million grant from Eli Lilly and Company to fund a two-year research project aimed at improving continuity of care for people living with obesity. The initiative seeks to understand why many individuals discontinue treatment and to create scalable solutions to help them stay engaged in long-term care.
“Obesity is a chronic, relapsing condition that requires ongoing management, yet too often it is treated episodically because of barriers like delayed medication access,” explained You Chen, PhD, Associate Professor of Biomedical Informatics and the project’s Principal Investigator for informatics and technology. “We’re combining data-driven insights, stakeholder input and multi-agent AI to understand where continuity breaks down and to design evidence-based interventions that keep patients engaged.”
Data-driven insights and stakeholder engagement
In its first year, the research team will analyse VUMC’s electronic health records to identify patterns distinguishing people who remain in continuous follow-up from those who disengage. Patient and clinician surveys will be conducted to capture real-world barriers to care, including logistical, financial and psychological challenges.
The findings will be integrated into a multi-agent AI system, featuring simulated physician, nurse and dietitian agents. This system will generate and prioritise strategies for maintaining engagement, which will then be reviewed by panels of clinicians, informaticians and patient representatives.
Patient-facing app to support engagement
The second year of the project will focus on designing and piloting a mobile application to be used in VUMC obesity clinics. This app is intended to help patients view and interpret their own health data, complete pre-visit tasks, and communicate more effectively with their care teams.
“By helping patients view and interpret their own data, complete previsit tasks, and communicate more effectively with care teams, the app will aim to strengthen shared decision-making and sustain engagement over time,” said Chen.
Clinical leadership and broader impact
The project’s clinical lead is Gitanjali Srivastava, MD, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism.
“Medicine has evolved, and we need to adapt to new technological advances while catering to patient needs,” Srivastava stated. “It’s about designing practical tools and processes that fit naturally into patients’ lives and clinicians’ workflows, ultimately supporting healthier weight management over time.”
Chen emphasised that the project is intended to be scalable across health systems. The researchers believe that the human–AI collaborative approach developed through this project could serve as a reproducible framework for improving continuity of care for other chronic conditions that require long-term management.
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