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A University of Toronto and Women’s College Hospital study found that AI scribes reduced time spent documenting patient-chart notes by 69.1% in simulated primary-care encounters. That result points to a possible way to ease one part of physicians’ administrative burden; it does not show that AI scribes reduced physician burnout.

What the study found

The University of Toronto’s September 22, 2026 account describes research led by LaShawn Murray, a PhD student in the university’s Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, in collaboration with Women’s College Hospital researchers. Nine primary-care physicians each completed four simulated patient encounters with and without AI assistance. The study appeared in JAMIA Open, according to the university’s report.

  • The university account reports that AI scribes reduced the time required to document patient-chart notes by 69.1% in the simulated encounters.
  • Without the tools, physicians spent more than one-third of each simulated encounter taking notes, according to the same account.

These figures describe documentation time in a simulated setting. They should not be read as a 69.1% reduction in all administrative work, nor as a measured reduction in burnout.

How AI scribes changed the visit workflow

Physicians using AI scribes typically reviewed and edited generated notes after the encounter rather than documenting continuously during the visit. Some still took scratch notes, which the university account says helped reduce switching attention between the patient and the computer.

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The researchers also observed that creating a chart during a visit could prompt clinical thinking and further questions. That is a workflow observation, not evidence that either approach improved or harmed patient care. Less typing during a visit may change how clinicians pay attention and reason; the reported documentation-time result alone does not establish which workflow is better overall.

Why the result does not prove less burnout

The university account does not say that burnout was measured as a study outcome. The finding is narrower: under simulated conditions, AI scribes reduced time spent on one documentation task. Less documentation work could plausibly help with a source of strain, but whether that translates into lower burnout in routine practice remains unestablished.

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As Murray put it, “When the technology was new, the conversation was very much that this would solve all our problems.” He described a more limited view now: “hey, maybe this is just one piece of the overall documentation burden that we’re seeing,” because charts are not the only administrative burden physicians face.

What remains unknown in everyday clinical practice

The university says more research is needed to understand how AI scribes perform in routine clinical settings. Simulated encounters cannot by themselves establish how well the tools fit real appointments, patient relationships, or day-to-day clinical systems.

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The account also identifies practical questions that the reported result does not resolve:

  • Will patients be comfortable with an AI scribe and the fact that an encounter is being recorded?
  • Who can access recordings, and what happens when a patient does not consent?
  • Will acceptance or performance differ across patient populations?
  • How will clinicians handle errors or editing demands in real notes?

Documentation is only one administrative responsibility. Referrals, prescription orders, billing, and regulatory expectations remain, so a gain in note-taking time would not remove those other tasks.

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What the study says about products

The university account says the research team had previously compared six products and used three in this study, but it does not name them. The available account therefore does not support a product ranking, a vendor endorsement, or a conclusion about which AI scribe to choose.

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