We’ve all dreamed at some point of having a personal assistant to handle our documentation. Imagine someone taking notes for you during every conversation. In the healthcare industry, though, if you’re relying on a documentation assistant, the most important factor is that it’s trustworthy and accurate.
Ambient listening software steps in to fulfill this role by capturing physician-patient conversations and transforming them into comprehensive clinical notes. It summarizes the key points of the discussion in a structured format that healthcare professionals are familiar with, helping to ease the burden of documentation.
But what does the research say about this technology, and what should be the benefits of ambient listening in healthcare? Let’s explore the potential advantages and the impact it can have on clinical workflows.
What is ambient listening in healthcare?
Ambient listening in healthcare refers to the use of AI-powered technology to automatically capture and document conversations between healthcare providers and patients during appointments. There was research in 2014 that is still relevant today, showing that the average doctor spends almost 17% of their working hours on administration. People should always be at the heart of healthcare, and this is one of the tools to reduce the administrative burden on physicians and automate clinical documentation.
In essence, ambient listening technology records patient visits in the background, processing the data to generate clinical notes and optimize the documentation process.
Considering all the AI tools we have at our disposal, we should use them, especially in healthcare where fax machines are still the king, to avoid spending excessive time on manual data entry and shift their attention.
The technology behind ambient listening
Ambient listening technology leverages artificial intelligence, natural language processing (NLP), and voice recognition technology to automatically capture medically relevant information from physician-patient interactions. This technology processes the spoken conversation, identifies key clinical information, and converts it into structured electronic health records (EHR).
The ambient listening tools can operate in the background during patient visits, ensuring that every word spoken in the exam room is captured and used to generate notes with high accuracy.
Healthcare organizations adopting this technology can experience significant time savings by reducing the need for physicians to review charts and manually enter data after patient encounters.
What could be the benefits of ambient listening in healthcare?
1. Reduced administrative burden
Many people equate administration with boring tasks, and it certainly can feel that way. However, it's also one of the most crucial components of any successful operation, whether in healthcare or other industries. The same holds true for software development teams—one of the least exciting tasks is often reading the documentation. But as our colleague Rino pointed out in one of his blogs, "RDFD," taking the time to thoroughly understand the project now will save a lot of headaches later. In other words, it may seem like more work upfront, but it makes everything easier in the long run.
The same principle applies to healthcare administrative tasks. While these tasks can feel mundane, they are vital for ensuring that healthcare providers have accurate, organized records to rely on during patient visits. Proper administration now—whether it’s handling clinical documentation or managing patient records—ensures smoother workflows and better patient outcomes later.
But, what if there is a documentation practice that can help you handle the documentation? One of the most significant benefits of ambient listening technology in healthcare is its ability to reduce the administrative burden on physicians and healthcare professionals. The task of manual data entry and generating clinical notes can be overwhelming, especially when combined with the volume of patients healthcare providers see daily. By automating clinical documentation through ambient listening, doctors can eliminate much of the routine work associated with capturing and documenting patient encounters.
It helps physicians no longer need to review charts or manually input data into electronic health records (EHR) after each patient visit.
University of Michigan Health - West introduced ambient listening technology to draft physicians' notes, and they noted down an average time savings of 10 minutes per physician per day.
2. Enhanced patient-doctor interaction
Have you ever tried to multitask? So much of the things are important, so you end up going from one thing to another. One study shows that only 2.5% of people are able to multitask effectively. But, the concentration needed in healthcare is on a whole another level than the one you need in marketing.
The goal of every practice is to free the staff from time-consuming manual scheduling and repetitive tasks so that they can focus on what truly matters: patient care.
Ambient listening technology could also help in enhancing the quality of patient-doctor interaction. Traditionally, physicians often find themselves juggling between focusing on their patients and documenting their conversations simultaneously. Because of the nature of their work, sometimes doctors are forced to spend more time entering data into the system rather than engaging with their patients.
I stumbled upon this survey, and although it had a small number of respondents (21), 81% of them reported that "their physician spent less time looking at the computer screen than in their previous visits."
3. Improved accuracy in documentation
According to the healthtech magazine:
"Ambient listening goes beyond generating a transcript — the key feature of traditional dictation services — to create clinically accurate summaries, generate billing and diagnostic codes, and capture information to draw up orders for labs, prescriptions, follow-up visits or other procedures."
If ambient listening technology is done right, it should capture every detail of the conversation in the exam room in real-time and minimize the risk of missing medically relevant information.
This real-time documentation should also lead to more consistent and complete electronic health records (EHR), helping to enhance the quality of care provided during follow-up visits.
4. Using data for better insights
Another key benefit of ambient listening technology is its ability to generate structured and actionable data. As healthcare providers gather vast amounts of information during patient visits, ambient listening can help transform that unstructured dialogue into organized, meaningful data that can be easily integrated into existing workflows and systems.
In this article, they discuss the integration of an AI tool into clinical practice to streamline documentation for urologists. The tool records patient encounters, generating summaries that include the history of present illness, assessment, and treatment plans, which can be seamlessly pushed into the electronic health record (EHR).
Not a replacement for clinicians
When something becomes popular in any industry, it often turns into a buzzword, frequently featured in newspapers and articles as the next big thing, promising to revolutionize everything. Text-to-speech tools using natural language processing have been around for years, but today’s technologies are pushing the boundaries further, making them more efficient and accurate.
However, despite all the hype, it’s important to acknowledge that every new technology—like the older ones—has its limitations. For instance, one medical group implemented ambient listening for ten months, and while it significantly helped with documentation, there were still instances where errors occurred. In one case, a physician mentioned scheduling a prostate examination, but the AI scribe inaccurately summarized that the exam had already been performed.
These inconsistencies highlight the need for physicians to review and edit the generated notes to ensure that they accurately reflect the physician-patient interaction. Ambient listening tools can streamline the documentation process, but they are not flawless.
You may be wondering if these notes still require review and editing, why use ambient listening at all? That’s a fair question—and one that requires thorough research and data to back up its benefits. The key consideration is how much time these tools actually save. It’s important to measure the difference between the time spent manually creating clinical notes versus the time spent simply reviewing and editing what ambient listening technology captures.
Another important consideration is patient confidentiality. Healthcare providers must ensure that patients are informed about the use of this technology and that their privacy is fully protected.
Ultimately, ambient listening is a powerful tool, but it’s just that—a tool. It won’t replace healthcare professionals, nor should it. Like all AI tools, its role is to assist, not replace, human judgment and expertise. In healthcare, where the stakes are especially high, knowing how to use this technology properly is key to improving care without compromising the human element.
