Why AI medical scribes are a must-have for modern private practices

When you see a patient, you split yourself in half: the interviewer asking questions and listening to the patient’s responses on the one hand, and the note-taker documenting every insight in the EHR on the other hand.

But juggling both roles is tricky. You either fail to take a critical note that’s essential for diagnosis or miss the chance to build a real connection with a patient. Later, you’re left catching up on charts long after the last patient has left.

It’s a pattern that’s all too common in healthcare right now — and it’s fueling rising rates of burnout, frustration, and patient dissatisfaction.

AI scribes offer a smarter way forward. They handle documentation during the visit, so providers can stay focused, present, and engaged without sacrificing accuracy or time. This guide covers what they are and their key benefits.

An AI medical scribe is a tool that automates parts of the clinical documentation process, like capturing, organizing, and structuring clinical notes.

These tools use ambient listening, natural language processing, and language learning models to capture the nuances of patient-provider dialogue in real time. This sets them apart from traditional medical transcription, which typically involves sending audio files out after an encounter for manual typing and can result in delays and incorrect formatting. AI scribes also differ from virtual scribes (i.e., remote human assistants) by being autonomous and integrated without needing to consider scheduling or per-hour human resource costs. 

Here’s how an AI scribe works:

Here are the impacts for providers from having AI solutions powering their documentation.

According to Tebra research, providers spend about 30 minutes on EHR documentation for every hour they spend with patients. And TrendBurden found that 83% of physicians regularly work late or bring documentation home.

With AI scribes, doctors can eliminate the need to type during or after their visit. In fact, physicians who use AI scribes typically report 30% less time spent on working after hours each day, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. AI scribes free up more time to answer follow-up questions and explain next steps to patients.

62% of physicians cite too many bureaucratic tasks (charting and paperwork) and too much administrative work as the top source of burnout, according to Medscape’s Physician Burnout and Depression Report 2024. AI scribes reduce after-hours work and documentation stress, helping providers regain work-life balance.

AI scribes capture the entire conversation, documenting details that a physician might otherwise miss when splitting their attention between listening and typing. They recognize natural, conversational speech (languages, accents, and dialects) and turn it into accurate, structured notes, which cuts down on errors and improves note quality. 

80% of physicians report that documentation demands actively interfere with patient care, according to TrendBurden.

AI scribes handle note-taking in the background, allowing doctors to stay present, actively listen, and connect with patients. That kind of undivided attention can strengthen doctor-patient relationships and improve patient satisfaction scores.

AI scribes are rapidly moving from a nice-to-have to an essential component of competitive practice operations. This is due to several converging factors:

AI scribes can generate detailed, structured notes that align with coding and billing requirements and help to ensure that billable procedures and diagnoses are accurately recorded. They can also help providers comply with insurance documentation.

Newer clinicians entering practice have grown up with modern technology and expect modern tools at their disposal to enhance efficiency. Forward-thinking practices that aim to scale or attract and retain talent understand they need to offer solutions that respect providers’ time and reduce cognitive load.

With more appointments to get through and less time to do it, falling behind on notes can be frustrating and hurt your workflow, patient experience, and bottom line. AI scribes handle the documentation as you go, reducing burnout and freeing up hours to take on extra appointments or finally log off on time.

When evaluating AI scribes, keep these key features in mind:

Ready to transform your practice’s documentation process? Tebra’s AI Note Assist is an ambient AI scribe that captures clinical notes in real time — all within your Tebra EHR.

Here are some of Tebra’s AI Note Assist’s advantages:

Tebra customers have found that AI Note Assist helps to reduce 30–50% of time spent on notes.

Angela Davis-Taylor, FNP-C, INHC, shares this about the tool: “My notes used to take 30 to 60 minutes because they would be so detailed. With the Tebra AI Note Assist, each of my notes today took not even 5 minutes.”

Clinical documentation is essential — but it doesn’t have to be exhausting. By implementing AI medical scribes like Tebra’s AI Note Assist, your practice can:

Learn how Tebra’s AI Note Assist can bring lasting efficiency to your documentation process.