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Scribe Impact, Certuma, and the Tip of the AI Iceberg
April 2, 2026
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Together with
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“What’s happening now is everyone you know, and probably you yourself, are checking your
medical problems with AI. But then what happens when you want action? The AI, after giving you a wonderful, accurate diagnosis of what’s wrong with you, says ‘I am not a doctor.’”
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Certuma CEO Martin Varsavsky
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Ambient scribes are back in the spotlight after a new study in JAMA confirmed that they move the needle on productivity metrics, but the jury’s still out on whether that’s the best yardstick for success.
This was a big one. The study examined the impact of AI scribe use on over 1,800 clinicians at five major academic medical centers from 2023 to 2025.
- The academics: MGB, YNHH, UCSD, UCSF, UC Davis
- The scribes: Abridge, Ambience, Microsoft DAX Copilot
Here’s what they found. Clinicians who used AI scribes:
- Saved 16 minutes of documentation time per eight hours of patient care
- Saved 13 minutes of EHR time
- Could see one additional patient every two weeks
- Saw no significant impact on EHR timeoutside of working hours
Usage patterns helped color in the story. While 1,800 AI scribe adopters is one of the largest samples out there, the 6,770 control clinicians were also offered scribes and opted not to use them.
- The biggest gains went to the biggest users. Clinicians who used the AI scribe for over 50% of visits experienced twice the reduction in EHR time and 3x the reduction in documentation time, yet only 32% of adopters fell into this bucket.
What’s counted? What matters? This isn’t the first study we’ve covered that scores AI scribes based on metrics that researchers can easily measure (EHR time, visits), which isn’t necessarily the same as the metrics that matter most to patients or clinicians.
- Although this study solidifies that scribes can cut documentation time, the question now is if that time gets reinvested in ways that improve care and outcomes for patients.
- The results also confirm that the mechanism of action for scribes reducing burnout isn’t through time savings, but it’s still unclear whether it’s from having a couple more moments to take a deep breath throughout the day or from reallocating the extra minutes to things that feel valuable.
The Takeaway
This study offers the most definitive real-world data yet that AI scribes have a modest impact on productivity metrics, but it also confirms that cleaner notes aren’t the only key to improving healthcare experiences.
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Start Practicing With a Partner
What began with notes now supports the work that surrounds them. From conversations to clinical questions and follow-ups, Heidi brings the full clinical day into one platform. See why clinicians across the country are making Heidi their trusted AI Care Partner.
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Get a Front Row Seat to Health AI
AI isn’t just changing healthcare, it’s completely redefining it. Join the innovators making it happen at the Digital Health & AI Innovation Summit to explore the future of AI with 150+ speakers that are already shaping what comes next across providers, payors, pharma, and beyond. Grab a front row seat to healthcare AI at DHAI 2026 in Boston on June 8-9th.
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- Certuma’s FDA-Approved AI Doctor: Certuma raised $10M of seed funding to fuel the development of the first FDA-approved AI doctor. The upcoming AI doctor will initially be targeting a list of 25 common medical conditions that take up a lot of primary care doctors’ time but are treated with a standard protocol, such as urinary tract infections and sore throats. Definitely a big vision, but Certuma CEO Martin Varsavsky has a track record of big visions that are now worth over $1B. Forbes just ran a solid profile with all the details.
- Abridge Clinical Decision Support: Abridge is officially rolling out clinical decision support, backed by trusted evidence from UpToDate and “shaped by the conversation in the room.” Unlike isolated clinical evidence solutions that aren’t familiar with the patient, Abridge surfaces information that’s relevant to the clinical picture as it forms in real time – incorporating medical histories, medications, and other context the moment it comes up. We got a stellar demo at ViVE for anyone looking to see the new evidence engine in action.
- Governing the Tip of the AI Iceberg: A great editorial in NEJM AI makes the case that health systems are focused on governing the tip of the AI iceberg, yet the slow pace of adoption is what’s pushing physicians to risky tools beneath the surface. AI governance in health systems was designed to assess AI tools for specific use cases, which allows their potential harms to be measured and mitigated. That approach fails for general-purpose LLMs because the range of risks varies depending on how physicians are using it. The end result is that the governance process designed to make sure clinicians are using safe tools is now the very reason they’re using unsafe tools.
- Penguin Introduces Gwen: Penguin Ai took the lid off Gwen, its new “Build-Your-Own AI Platform” for care operations. Gwen allows healthcare organizations to design, deploy, and scale digital workers across administrative workflows, similar to the Agent Factory that Epic debuted at HIMSS. It also ships with a library of more than 100 pre-built clinical digital workers covering HCC retrospective coding, prior authorization intake, clinical documentation summarization, and eligibility verification.
- Stedi Series C: Stedi landed $50M of Series C funding to accelerate the expansion of its claims clearinghouse in the wake of a big growth year. The announcement touts a 6x increase in customers and a 7x increase in billed transactions year-over-year, and Stedi is apparently now processing more than a billion claims and eligibility transactions annually. It’s only been seven months since Stedi closed its $70B Series B, but it needed to fill up the gas tank after processing more transactions in February alone than in the entire first half of 2025.
- Ovatient Launches Compass: Ovatient expanded its support for the RHT program with the launch of Compass, a comprehensive digital health platform built on Epic that lets states easily deploy a virtual-first model to help rural patients access care. As $50B in RHT funding sweeps across the country through 2030, Compass provides the scaffolding to responsibly invest in telehealth with reporting and outcomes measurement baked in from the start. It’s structured as a tiered platform that includes Compass Core (virtual primary care, urgent care, and integrated behavioral health), Compass Connect (extends Core into employer and payor markets), and Compass 360 (combines Core and Connect).
- Consumers Turn to AI Health Advice: Rock Health’s latest Consumer Adoption Survey found that consumers are quickly adopting AI to manage their health on their own terms. A third of U.S. adults have now used AI chatbots for medical advice – double last year’s figure – and 64% are using them at least weekly or more. About 59% are searching for treatment options, 56% are asking about symptoms, and 55% are investigating medications. The key growth drivers have been speed and convenience, with 65% citing AI’s ability to deliver instant answers and nearly 1 in 5 pointing to barriers accessing traditional care.
- Quiet Cuts at Public Companies: The American workforce has the healthcare industry to thank for a huge chunk of its job growth over the last five years, but a new analysis from STAT shows that isn’t because of large, for-profit companies. Annual filings from 50 of the largest publicly traded healthcare companies – hospitals, pharma, medical device firms, and payors – revealed that many have been cutting jobs that haven’t been previously reported. Elevance is one example, cutting 7,000 people in 2025 despite netting $5.7B on nearly $200B of revenue. The eight largest publicly traded payors and health services companies collectively shed over 20k jobs just last year.
- K Health and Hartford Launch Patient GPT: K Health and Hartford HealthCare teamed up to unveil PatientGPT, a “24/7 AI bridge” to the clinical care team. Patients can access PatientGPT within their Hartford patient portal or app to get personalized education and guidance grounded in their own health data, with the option to connect directly to a clinician through HHC 24/7 virtual care or schedule an in-person primary care or specialty appointment if needed. HHC said it designed the combination of targeted education and streamlined care access will eliminate the “dead end” experience often associated with standalone chatbots.
- Atlantic + Artera: Atlantic Health shared some impressive results after deploying Artera’s AI Agents to guide patients through the colonoscopy prep journey. Preparing for a colonoscopy involves complex multi-day steps that contribute to high no-show rates, so the agents helped move inconsistent, manual reminders to a standardized, AI-driven experience. Within the first 30 days, 43% of patients contacted by the AI Agent successfully answered the phone and verified their identity, 39% confirmed their appointment, and 7% had questions answered about their procedure.
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Medical Transcription That Gets Terminology Right
AssemblyAI’s clinical speech-to-text model was purpose-trained on medical terminology, pharmaceutical names, and industry acronyms. That means it performs the best where it counts the most. 66% fewer missed medical terms. BAA + SOC 2 Type II. Real clinical environments. See why AssemblyAI is the trusted Voice AI infrastructure for healthcare solutions.
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Abridge Named #1 Best in KLAS – Again
KLAS just named Abridge #1 Best in KLAS for Ambient AI for the second year in a row. The recognition was based on direct customer feedback from the nation’s largest and most complex health systems, which gave Abridge the highest overall satisfaction score and A+ ratings across Culture, Loyalty, Relationship, and Value. Discover why Abridge is the market-leading AI platform for clinical conversations.
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- 8 Keys to Gain an AI Edge in VBC: As value-based care models evolve and competition intensifies, healthcare leaders are seeking practical strategies to improve performance across risk, quality, and financial outcomes. Head over to Navina’s roundup of eight key insights from VBC leaders to learn how aligning AI-powered tools with organizational priorities and clinician needs can help secure a measurable competitive edge in value-based care.
- BPM Pro 2 Delivers Data When It’s Needed Most: BPM Pro 2’s built-in questionnaires capture patient context alongside each blood pressure reading, reducing manual outreach and follow-ups. See how BPM Pro 2 is equipping care teams with actionable information upfront, and helping streamline workflows and prioritize interventions where it’s needed most.
- State of Payor Enrollment and Credentialing: Over half of provider orgs are losing revenue due to credentialing delays – with many missing out on over $1M annually. Medallion’s new report unpacks the forces quietly undermining operational and financial performance, and how leaders across the industry are addressing them. Head over to the full report to get insights tailored to your role and org type.
- How MUSC Health Is Bringing Care Closer to Home: MUSC Health teamed up with Ovatient to accomplish a simple goal: ensure access to care isn’t determined by a ZIP code. A third of South Carolina residents live in rural areas, but travel barriers don’t make preventative care any less crucial. See how Ovatient’s virtual-first approach is improving access to urgent care, primary care, and integrated behavioral health and reducing leakage – without MUSC providers doing the heavy lifting.
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