Healthcare / Health system
Kaiser Permanente: Documenting clinical conversations
- Company
- Kaiser Permanente
- Country
- United States
- Adoption stage
- In operation
- Source published
- In use from
- Date basis
- The date the source was published. It can differ from the date adoption started.
- How the source was checked
- Read the full source text
The work problem
Physicians at Kaiser Permanente Northern California spent a lot of time writing clinical notes. Documentation was left over even after working hours ended. During a visit they also had to stay tied to a screen and keyboard.
Technology and data
A generative AI scribe listens to the clinical conversation and produces a draft summary. The physician edits that summary and then puts it into the medical record. It is a person who finalises the record. Vincent Liu of Kaiser Permanente's research division explained that the tool does not make decisions or recommendations about patient care. Metrics and observations from the first year of use were published in an NEJM Catalyst paper. It was used heavily in mental health, emergency medicine, primary care, allergy and cardiology, and little in infectious disease, obstetrics and gynaecology, and urology.
Results
From October 2023 to December 2024, 7,260 physicians used the tool in about 2.5 million encounters. About 3,500 of them used it in 100 or more encounters each. The analysis counted almost 16,000 hours of documentation time saved across all physicians over the 15 months. In a survey of 102 physicians, 84 percent said it had a positive effect on the clinical conversation. In a survey of 118 patients, 47 percent said they felt the physician looked at the screen less.
Limits and open questions
The source does not disclose the vendor or product name of the AI scribe. The time saved is a cumulative figure over 15 months.
Sources
- AI assists in medical visit note-taking - Kaiser Permanente Look insideKP Northern Californialookinside.kaiserpermanente.org, Accessed
Compiled from public sources. These are not results from ATF Works customers.