Frequently asked questions about ambient clinical intelligence (ACI)

There are two questions I get asked more than any others…

Question One: Who should be using ACI?

Physicians who currently spend 10+ minutes per encounter just putting orders in, viewing data, and charting. Also, physicians who clock up hours of pajama time and still close their encounters late.

When AI captures your conversations with patients, and automatically creates accurate, compliant clinical notes, your evenings suddenly become your own again, and billing starts happening on time.

ACI is also a game-changer for any physician with high patient volumes who’s struggling to get people though the clinic fast enough. The seven minutes per encounter that ACI typically saves a physician soon adds up to many more patients seen.

Question Two: If we can, should we give ACI to everyone?

No, not yet. Physicians in specialties where documentation is relatively simple—where you check the boxes and you’re done—will not see the same productivity benefits.

In most healthcare organizations, there is also a small minority of physicians who are already documenting their encounters extremely efficiently. Not to mention an even smaller minority who see documentation as a pleasure rather than a chore, and will fight for the right to choose every word themselves, however long it takes them.

While these physicians—and their patients—could still benefit from ACI’s ability to support more natural, face-to-face conversations, you’re unlikely to include them in an initial rollout.

(One last thought. When a provider asks me these questions in real life, my answer is actually, “Well, let’s find out.” We can identify the precise cohort of physicians who will see the greatest ROI and satisfaction with ACI, simply by looking into the EHR and running the right reports.)