Can an AI scribe give clinicians their attention back? Two OHSU primary care physicians explain how ambient AI clinical documentation actually works in the exam room — how OHSU selected its AI scribe, what the data shows on documentation time and burnout, how patient consent works, and where the technology still needs a human in the loop. In this episode: - How OHSU ran a 12-vendor RFP and a 100-clinician crossover pilot instead of buying the most convenient tool. - Why chart closure time dropped to roughly half of what it was — and why replacing a burned-out primary care physician takes over a year and several hundred thousand dollars. - How clinicians ask patients for consent, what happens when a patient says no, and why consent is re-obtained at every visit. - Where AI scribes still fall short: verbalizing the physical exam, speaker diarization in family and pediatric visits, and clinical language like "poorly controlled". - Data privacy specifics — recordings deleted after 30 days, transcripts never entering the medical record, and vendors contractually barred from training on patient data. - The open question in medical education: if AI drafts the note, where do residents build their differential? Hosts: Ani Chintalapani, M.D., and Tammy Wagner, M.D.,F.A.A.P., Associate Chief Health Information Officers at OHSU. Guests: Tim Joslin, M.D., family medicine physician, medical director of OHSU Family Medicine at South Waterfront and associate residency director, who has been at OHSU for 22 years and co-led the AI scribe evaluation from 2023. Brian Ricce, M.D., internal medicine and primary care physician of 15 years at OHSU, an early AI scribe adopter who now uses it in nearly every visit. Topics covered: AI scribe, ambient clinical documentation, physician burnout, EHR documentation burden, clinical informatics, patient consent for AI, Epic Chapters: 00:00:00 Introduction and Guest Bios 00:04:01 Documentation Burden Before AI 00:09:46 How OHSU Chose Abridge 00:13:50 Burnout, Retention, and Metrics 00:17:31 AI Scribe in Practice 00:20:27 Errors, Hallucinations, and Language 00:22:38 Explaining AI to Patients 00:26:07 Inside a Scribe Visit 00:31:44 Data Privacy and Retention 00:34:28 Future Tools and Learners Links and resources: abridge.com | OHSU Primary Care at South Waterfront, ohsu.edu/primary-care/ohsu-primary-care-clinic-south-waterfront | "The Cost of Technology," Elizabeth Toll, JAMA 2012, doi.org/10.1001/jama.2012.4946 | More Innovate Health episodes, podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/innovate-health/id1872730471 Innovate Health is a production of ITG Clinical Informatics and Strategic Communications. Produced by Meeka Kullberg. #AIScribe #AmbientAI #HealthcareAI #PhysicianBurnout #ClinicalInformatics #DigitalHealth #HealthIT #EHR #PrimaryCare #MedEd
