• Lance M Owens, Joshua J Wilda, Peter Y Hahn, Tracy Koehler, and Jeffrey J Fletcher.
• Department of Primary Care, University of Michigan Health West, Grand Rapids, MI, United States.
• Fam Pract. 2024 Apr 15; 41 (2): 869186-91.

BackgroundThe burden of documentation in the electronic medical record has been cited as a major factor in provider burnout. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between ambient voice technology, coupled with natural language processing and artificial intelligence (DAX™), on primary care provider documentation burden and burnout.MethodsAn observational study of 110 primary care providers within a community teaching health system. The primary objectives were to determine the association between DAX™ usage and provider burnout scores on the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) as well as the effect on documentation time per patient encounter (minutes).ResultsThe completion rate for the survey was 75% (83/110) and high DAX™ use (>60% of encounters) was seen in 28% of providers (23/83). High DAX™ use was associated with significantly less burnout on the OLBI disengagement sub-score (MD [Mean Difference] -2.1; 95% confidence interval [CI] -3.8 to -0.4) but not the OLBI disengagement sub-score (-1.0; 95% CI -2.9 to 1.0) or total score (MD -3.0; 95% CI -6.4 to 0.3). Nineteen providers with high implementation of DAX™ had pre and postimplementation data on documentation time per encounter. After DAX™ implementation average documentation time in notes per encounter was significantly reduced by 28.8% (1.8 min; 95% CI 1.4-2.2).ConclusionsThe use of ambient voice technology during patient encounters was associated with significantly reduced documentation burden and primary care provider disengagement but not total provider burnout scores.© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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