Currently submitted to: JMIR Medical Informatics
Date Submitted: Aug 26, 2026
Open Peer Review Period: Sep 3, 2026 - Oct 29, 2026
(currently open for review)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Sustained Burnout Improvements One Year After System-Wide Rollout of Ambient Documentation Technology: Cross-Sectional Survey Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Clinician documentation burden contributes to burnout. Ambient documentation technology (ADT) generates draft clinical notes from clinician-patient conversations and may reduce administrative burden.
Objective:
To assess ADT adoption, clinician experience, and the association between self-reported ADT use and burnout one year after system-wide deployment at Mass General Brigham (MGB).
Methods:
We conducted an anonymous electronic survey of MGB clinicians with active ADT licenses from June 24 through July 31, 2025. Complete responses with all burnout and use items were analyzed. Burnout was measured using the Professional Fulfillment Index; an unadjusted logistic regression modeled burnout across six ordered ADT-use tiers.
Results:
Of 3670 license-holders, 683 submitted complete responses (20.3%). Overall, 55% (379/683) reported ADT use in at least 50% of encounters. Positive ratings were reported by 85.5% (548/641) for note accuracy, 79.5% (508/639) for note quality, and 78.4% (500/638) for time savings. Each higher ADT-use tier was associated with 12% lower odds of burnout (odds ratio 0.88, 95% CI 0.79-0.99; P=.028).
Conclusions:
ADT remained widely used one year after system-wide deployment, and greater self-reported use was associated with lower odds of burnout. Longitudinal studies using objective-use measures are needed to assess causality and durability.
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