1 in 3 Primary Care Physicians Have Already Tried AI Scribe Tools, Outlook Is Cautiously Optimistic, Finds Elation Health Survey

Survey of more than 200 clinicians highlights optimism about improvements to physician and patient experiences while pointing out some early barriers to artificial intelligence adoption

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Elation Health, the clinical-first technology company powering innovation in primary care, today announced the results of a survey of 229 primary care physicians focused on the benefits, desired features, and hurdles to adoption of artificial intelligence–powered (AI) medical scribe tools in the EHR. AI scribe tools use speech recognition and natural language processing to capture and transcribe conversations between a physician and a patient during clinical encounters.

According to the survey, 67% of primary care physicians have not yet tried an AI scribe solution and are looking to EHR vendors to guide them to the best option that integrates with their system. Among those surveyed who are holding off, they report lack of confidence in accuracy and lack of integration or access through existing tools, along with no time to research options — as key obstacles to adoption.

“Historically, healthcare technologies have been perceived to reduce physicians’ ability to connect with patients, underdeliver on time-saving promises, and distract them from delivering high-quality care,” said Kyna Fong, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of Elation Health. “This survey affirms that our clinicians are cautiously optimistic about the potential of AI and its promise. As we continue in our mission to serve primary care physicians with trusted solutions that support high-value patient care, our team is thoughtfully building and applying AI’s powerful capabilities to meaningfully support clinicians that rely on Elation’s modern EHR platform.”

When considering how AI would be applied within their practices, independent primary care physicians who have not yet tested AI scribe tools ranked three key areas where they hope to benefit substantially:

• Time savings: 93% anticipate reduced documentation burden, and 84% hope to reduce “pajama time”;
• Clinician care experience: 83% expect higher quality documentation, 81% expect reduced cognitive burden, and 89% hope for improved job satisfaction; and
• Patient care experience: 84% expect these tools will improve patient focus, and 87% anticipate more time for care coordination.

Of those surveyed, 33% reported they are already trialing AI scribe technologies. This group of early adopters reports being relatively dissatisfied with current solutions, expressing the need for more advanced features that better support template personalization, patient education materials, and automation of repetitive processes like lab, imaging, and referral orders. For those who have tried AI scribing and have decided not to purchase yet, they are also looking to EHR vendors to provide a solution.

“While there’s a lot of early interest in AI tools in the clinical setting, it is clear that there are still many perceived risks right now for most physicians,” shared Dr. Steven Waldren, MD, MS, chief medical informatics officer at AAFP. “It is more important than ever for healthcare technology vendors to lean on industry best practices and guidance standards when it comes to integrating AI. Through the AAFP Ethical Application of Artificial Intelligence in Family Medicine guidelines, we are helping protect the sacred relationship between patients and clinicians to preserve and improve high-value care.”

This survey was conducted from 229 independent primary care clinicians who are current Elation Health customers. For more on the full results from Elation’s AI scribe survey, visit here.

About Elation Health

Elation Health is the most trusted technology platform for high-value primary care. Since 2010, the company has delivered clinical-first solutions — built on a collaborative EHR platform — that help primary care organizations start, grow, and succeed in delivering the highest-quality personalized care to patients. Elation supports the mission of primary care by providing technology solutions that ease burden and allow physicians to focus on caring for their patients. The company serves 30,000 clinicians caring for more than 12 million Americans, including thousands of small independent practices and large prominent digital health innovators. Learn more at elationhealth.com, LinkedIn, and X.