Key Takeaways:
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Documentation is consuming a growing share of physician time, further straining a workforce already facing shortages.1,2
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Ambient AI that automates documentation and administrative workflows is helping return physician time to patient care, improving productivity and reducing burnout.3
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With healthcare projected to face a workforce shortage of millions by 2030,4 technologies like ambient AI that improve clinical productivity could become increasingly important.
For patients, a doctor's appointment typically ends when they leave the room. For physicians, documenting that visit often comes next. That work now consumes nearly as much time as patient care itself—for every eight hours they're with patients, physicians spend nearly six hours in EHRs, their digital charting tools.5 And the charting work doesn't stop when the office closes. Nearly one in four physicians spent more than eight hours a week on after-hours charting in 2025, up from one in five the year before.1
This documentation burden is growing at a time when healthcare systems are already struggling with workforce shortages, including a projected U.S. physician shortfall of up to 86,000 and a global gap of 11 million healthcare workers by 2030.2,4 With demand for care rising as the population ages, each hour spent on paperwork is an hour unavailable for patient care.2
Where AI Already Helps
Ambient AI, often deployed as an AI scribe, is beginning to change the equation by handling documentation tasks that earlier software still left to physicians. Previous tools still required physicians to type, dictate, or click through templates, pulling their attention away from the patient. Ambient AI works in the background, listening to the conversation and automatically generating clinical notes. That allows physicians to stay focused on the patient rather than the documentation. Companies including Microsoft's Dragon Copilot, Abridge, and Ambience Healthcare are developing these tools to reduce administrative burden and return more time to patient care.6
Early evidence suggests the impact extends beyond convenience. In a recent study, physician burnout fell after just 30 days of using an ambient AI scribe, suggesting these tools could improve both clinician well-being and healthcare productivity.3
Less Burnout, More Room for Patient Care
Share of clinicians reporting burnout, before and after 30 days on ambient AI3.png?width=800&height=380&name=burnout_before_after_chart_editable-01%20(1).png)
Source: JAMA Network Open, multicenter study of ambient AI scribe adoption across 263 clinicians and six health systems, 2025
The Cleveland Clinic Rollout
Clinicians appear to be embracing the new technology. In 2024, Cleveland Clinic evaluated five ambient AI vendors before selecting Ambience Healthcare for an exclusive five-year partnership. Within 15 weeks of the spring 2025 rollout, 4,000 of the health system's 6,000 eligible physicians were actively using the platform, covering more than 1 million patient encounters.7 Early adoption suggests these tools are filling a meaningful need within clinical workflows.
The Workforce Math
The implications extend well beyond documentation. Every hour reclaimed from charting is an hour that can be redirected toward patients, care coordination, or a more sustainable workload for clinicians. As healthcare systems search for ways to meet growing demand with limited staffing, improving workforce productivity is becoming increasingly important.
AI won't solve healthcare's workforce shortage on its own. But it can help the workforce that already exists operate more efficiently. By reducing administrative burden and freeing up clinician time, AI can expand clinical capacity without adding headcount. This is one piece of the broader thesis behind the Tema Healthcare AI ETF (HLTH), which invests across drug discovery, diagnostics, clinical AI, and care delivery.
