From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— A recent study from UW Health found using an automated AI scribe helped care providers cut down on documentation time while reducing burnout.
The health system today announced the findings of research conducted with the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, published in the New England Journal of Medicine Artificial Intelligence.
It focused on the use of an “ambient” AI system, which can record, transcribe and analyze conversations with patients, creating notes that can be used in health records.
Dr. Joel Gordon, chief medical information officer for UW Health, says care providers have to dedicate a lot of time to documenting patient visits, including both what they hear from the patient and their own assessments.
“Ambient AI can draft notes securely in the background while the provider and patient interact directly,” Gordon said in a statement, adding it helps them “focus on diagnosis, treatment and bonding with the patient.”
The study included a randomized clinical trial from August 2024 to March 2025 with 66 doctors and advanced practice providers, who were grouped into three equal segments. Each participant was surveyed multiple times and monitored while using the technology and afterwards. Their wellbeing was assessed based on the Stanford Professional Fulfillment Index, a tool for measuring burnout.
Researchers found the ambient AI system was linked to a “clinically meaningful reduction” in burnout scores. And it reduced the time spent documenting by 30 minutes a day per provider while improving the accuracy of notes and more.
Since that trial, UW Health has expanded its use of ambient AI, with about 800 doctors and other providers now using the technology. Dr. Majid Afshar, associate professor of medicine for the UW SMPH, says patients, physicians and APPs all “seem pretty happy with it.”
“We hope this work gives other health systems the tools and data they need to determine how they can use ambient AI successfully,” he said.
In addition to the study on the AI system’s impact, the research team published another scientific article providing a framework for other health systems to deploy and test this kind of technology. That “playbook” document is available online as an open-source guide.
See the release below.
— Two Assembly co-authors of legislation that would apply the state’s Spills Law to abortion drug manufacturers are split on an amendment that would drop requiring the use of catch kits to dispose of pathological waste after using an abortion-inducing drug.
Rep. Nate Gustafson, R-Omro, on Tuesday introduced a substitute amendment to AB 718 that doesn’t include the provision that would require doctors who prescribe abortion pills to send women home with a medical waste bag and instructions for their return.
The substitute amendment still includes the call for requiring manufacturers to take remediation steps if endocrine-disrupting chemicals from abortion-inducing drugs are found in wastewater.
Rep. Lindee Brill, R-Sheboygan Falls, said the bill’s current language requires no changes to achieve the goal of “Clean Water for All Life.” Her release yesterday included a statement from the president of Students for Life Action calling Gustafson’s decision to introduce the amendment “inexplicable” and referring to the lawmaker as “so-called pro-life, Republican, Rep. Gustafson.”
Dems have ripped the proposal with Sen. LaTonya Johnson, D-Milwaukee, calling it “one of the most disturbing pieces of legislation I have ever encountered.”
The State Senate Democratic Committee earlier this week sought to take credit for the substitute amendment Gustafson proposed, attributing it to public pressure over the bill.
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