Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Medical Informatics
Date Submitted: Dec 12, 2025
Date Accepted: Aug 31, 2026
Ambient Artificial Intelligence Scribe Technology and Perceived Documentation Efficiency Among Surgeons: A Cross-Sectional Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Clinical documentation demands a significant share of surgeons’ time and can contribute to burnout. While electronic health records (EHRs) offer accessibility and completeness, they also impose a significant documentation burden. Ambient artificial intelligence (AI) scribe solutions aim to reduce this burden by capturing patient-clinician dialogue in real time to automate documentation. Yet, its specific impact on surgical practice remains unanswered.
Objective:
We aimed to evaluate the impact of ambient AI technology integrated within the EHR on documentation efficiency and burnout among surgeons in outpatient clinical encounters.
Methods:
We conducted a cross-sectional survey of all surgical faculty members at a tertiary-care academic institution. A total of 368 faculty surgeons representing 12 surgical subspecialties were included. Clinicians were queried three months following the implementation of DAX Copilot to evaluate their experience with the AI tool. Targeted survey questions assessed perceptions of documentation efficiency, documentation quality, and burnout using standardized Likert scales.
Results:
The survey was completed by 105/368 participants (28.5% response rate), with 40 participants (38.1%) reporting active usage of the ambient AI tool. Of those who had previously perceived a high documentation burden, 25 (75.8%) reported improved efficiency following implementation of the ambient AI tool (p < 0.001). Similarly, 19 surgeons (70.4%) previously concerned with documentation timeliness reported improvement post-implementation (p < 0.001). In post-implementation specific questions, 29 respondents (72.5%) also reported enhanced documentation accuracy, detail, and consistency. Self-reported burnout levels remained unchanged.
Conclusions:
Use of an ambient AI scribe technology was associated with significant improvements in perceived documentation efficiency and timeliness among surgical faculty in outpatient surgical settings. These findings underscore the potential of ambient AI tools to alleviate documentation-related challenges associated with EHR use in surgical care.
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