AI is changing what happens during your doctor visits, and many patients don’t notice it.

You might see a phone or tablet on a desk during your appointment. Or your doctor may talk out loud while moving around the room. In many cases, this is because of a tool called an ambient scribe – a form of artificial intelligence (AI). This is a type of artificial intelligence that listens to your conversation with the doctor and writes a draft of the doctor’s notes.

This technology is now used in many health systems across the United States. Some examples include Penn Medicine, Kaiser Permanente, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Many clinics tell patients when they are using an AI tool like this. They also ask for permission before any recording starts. Ask your doctor or care team if they are using an ambient scribe during your visit. Find out what it records, how they keep your information safe, and whether you can decline.

The ambient scribes do not decide your diagnosis or your treatment. It only helps write a draft of the notes. Your doctor is still responsible for checking, editing, and approving everything before it becomes part of your medical record.

What ambient scribes do

Ambient scribes are now part of the daily work in many medical offices. It is not there to replace your doctor. Instead, it works behind the scenes as an assistant that helps with the paperwork side of patient care.

To understand why this is happening, it helps to know what doctors have been dealing with for many years.

The documentation problem

When doctors started using digital records in the early 2010s, the paperwork didn’t go away; it moved to a screen.

Physicians work an average of 57.8 hours per week. Of those hours, they spend only 27.2 hours with patients. They spend another 13 hours writing notes, entering orders, and reviewing test results. An additional 7.3 hours go to insurance paperwork and prior authorizations, the approval process that insurers require before covering certain treatments.

Put another way: for every hour your doctor spends with you, they’re spending nearly as much time, sometimes more, on a computer.

More than 22% of doctors spend over 8 hours on digital records outside of normal work hours, in the evenings and early mornings. In medicine, people sometimes call this “pajama time.” It is a real and growing problem.

All that time on the computer has a cost in the exam room too. Research shows that documentation demands lead doctors to make less eye contact, have more closed body language, and share less information with patients during visits.

Ambient scribes were developed to fix this. By handling note-taking automatically, they give doctors more time to focus on the person in front of them, instead of a keyboard.

How ambient scribes work

Recording medical visits isn’t new. For decades, doctors dictated notes after the patient left the room. A human transcriptionist received the audio file, typed the notes, and sent them back, often 24 to 48 hours later. Many practices employed full-time transcriptionists whose entire job was turning recorded visits into written records.

Over time, that changed. Medical scribes, people trained to document visits, began working alongside doctors in real time, writing notes during the appointment itself. Then AI entered the picture.

Today, an ambient scribe does that job automatically. It listens to your appointment as it happens and writes a draft of the doctor’s notes.

Here’s how it works. The doctor starts the ambient scribe using an app on their phone or a desktop computer. The visit happens as usual. When the appointment ends, the doctor stops the scribe. The tool produces a draft note — typically within seconds or a few minutes. The doctor reviews it, makes any edits, and approves it before it goes into your medical record.

AI produces the first draft. Your doctor is responsible for the final version.

At Kaiser Permanente in Northern California, over 7,200 physicians used ambient scribes across approximately 2.5 million patient encounters over 14 months. The goal is straightforward: less time on the computer, more time with you.

What ambient scribes do before your doctor visit

Most patients think an ambient scribe is only active during the visit.

Your doctor can read an AI-created summary before they walk in the office door to see you. It gives doctors and nurses a quick, organized picture of your care. This summary includes recent visits, medical history, what happened at your last appointment, what the doctor prescribed, and what the care team flagged, all condensed and ready to review.

That means the notes from your last visit may shape what your doctor knows and focuses on before they even say hello. The accuracy of those notes matters more than most patients realize.

Even with that review step, errors can still happen. The AI may mishear words. Clinicians may leave out details. Summaries are not always accurate. Medical documentation has never been perfect. In a study of more than 136,000 patients who read their visit notes, 1 in 5 found an error. Of those, 40% described the mistake as serious, including errors in diagnoses, medications, medical history, and test results.

This is why reading your after-visit notes in your patient portal is worthwhile. And knowing how to request a correction if something isn’t right matters more than most people realize.

Ambient scribes still require a clinician in the room

An ambient scribe does not make decisions about your care. It listens. It writes a draft note. Your doctor reviews it, makes any changes, and approves the final version before it becomes part of your medical record.

As a UX designer, I worked directly with an ambient scribe company and clinical teams. I saw how seriously clinicians took that review step. I also saw how quickly they pushed back when a tool did not earn their trust. They wanted to know whether the AI captured what was actually said. They wanted to understand where AI made mistakes. And they made clear that they, not the AI, made the decisions at every step.

That’s the standard these tools are held to. The AI writes the draft. The clinician is responsible for what goes into your record.

Some surveys show that AI helps clinicians spend more time on work that requires human judgment, experience, and relationships with patients. The idea is straightforward: let the software handle what software does well, so doctors and nurses can focus on what only people can do.

What this means for you

Your doctor works within a health system that is actively building training, rules, and oversight for AI use. In fact, 74% of clinicians say patients are now arriving at appointments already informed about AI. And 63% say those informed patients are valuable partners in their care. Asking questions isn’t disruptive. It’s exactly what good care looks like.

Your consent matters — and you have rights

When your doctor uses an ambient scribe during your appointment, they should tell you. In many cases, your doctor or health facility must inform you before any recording begins through policy, state law, or both.

Some states require your consent before any audio recording can start. Others have less clear rules. Either way, many doctors never tell patients that an ambient scribe is in use. And not every health system has handled this consistently.

Many patients are unaware of this. And not every health system has handled disclosure and consent consistently.

Two layers of protection

Your privacy in a medical setting is protected by several layers of rules that work together.

The first is HIPAA, a federal law that controls how health information is used and shared. HIPAA covers all forms of health information, including notes created during your visit. It also requires health systems to have formal contracts with any outside company, including AI companies, that handles your data on their behalf.

The second layer is your state’s recording consent law. The U.S. has no single federal rule about recording conversations. Each state sets its own requirements. In one-party consent states, only one person in the conversation, typically the doctor, needs to agree to the recording. In all-party consent states, everyone in the room must consent before recording begins. That includes you, and any family member or care partner who is present.

The third layer is the health system’s own policies. Many hospitals and medical practices set their own rules for how and when patients are told about AI tools, and whether they must give explicit consent before an ambient scribe begins recording.

Together, these 3 layers – federal law, state law, and health system policy shape how ambient scribes are used in real clinical settings. Understanding that all 3 exist gives you a stronger foundation for asking the right questions at your next visit.

States are also adding AI-specific protections

Some states are going further than recording consent laws and adding new rules specifically about AI in healthcare.

California now requires health providers to tell patients when AI is used in certain communications, including messages sent to patients. Utah and Colorado have introduced or are developing broader rules that may require providers to disclose when AI is involved in care.

New York and several other states have explored policies that would require patients to be told when AI plays a meaningful role in creating their medical records, including during the visit itself.

The rules are still developing. But the direction is clear. More states are requiring health providers to be open about when and how AI is used in patient care. Patients are gaining more visibility into these tools, and more states are making that transparency a requirement, not a choice.

What you have a right to know and ask

You are an active part of your own care, not a bystander. Whether you’re the patient or a care partner supporting a loved one, you have the right to ask questions, access your medical records, and request corrections if something is wrong.

You don’t need to ask all of these questions at every visit. Start with the ones that feel most relevant to your situation. Writing them down before you go can help you remember them in the moment.

Before the visit starts

• Is an ambient scribe or AI tool being used during this appointment?
• What is it capturing, and where does that information go?
• Will I be asked for consent — and can I opt out?
• If a care partner is present, do they also need to consent to recording?

During the visit

• Can the ambient scribe be paused or turned off if I want to discuss something privately?
• Was AI used to assist with documenting or summarizing today’s visit?

After the visit

• Where can I view the notes from this appointment?
• How do I request a correction if something in my notes is wrong?

Health policy researchers, including Stanford’s Nigam Shah, encourage patients to ask where they can view their visit notes, how to request corrections if something is wrong, and whether AI tools like ambient scribes are being used during their appointment.

You can often ask to pause or stop the ambient scribe during a visit, especially if you want to discuss something sensitive. Whether that option is available may vary depending on your health system.

If you are a care partner accompanying a loved one, you can ask these questions during the visit, especially if the patient includes you in the conversation. If a recording is active, your voice may also be captured. In all-party consent states, everyone in the room must agree to the recording before it begins.

What to look for when you review your visit notes

Most health systems give you access to your visit notes through a patient portal. A patient portal is a secure online account where you can view your medical records. After any visit where an ambient scribe was used, it’s worth taking a few minutes to read through your notes.

Look for:

• Your name, date of birth, and the correct date of the visit
• An accurate description of why you came in and what you discussed
• Correct medications, dosages, and any changes made during the visit
• Accurate diagnoses or conditions listed
• The correct care plan, including follow-up appointments, referrals, and tests ordered
• Any documentation related to consent or use of recording tools, and whether it reflects what actually occurred
• Anything that doesn’t accurately reflect the visit

If you find an error, you have the right to request an amendment to your medical record. Contact the provider’s office directly and ask for a correction. Keep a note of what you found and when you reported it.

A note for care partners

If you regularly go with someone to their appointments, consider keeping a simple log. Write down the date, the provider’s name, whether an ambient scribe was mentioned, and any follow-up items from the visit. That record can be very helpful when a loved one sees multiple providers.

You are not overstepping by asking these questions. You are taking part in care in exactly the way good healthcare encourages.

Whether you’re the patient or a care partner, you have the right to ask questions, review medical records, and speak up if something isn’t right. You don’t need to ask everything at every visit. Start with what feels most relevant to your situation. Writing questions down before you go can help you remember them in the moment.

Ambient scribes are one of the most visible AI tools in the exam room. But AI is also being used in some health systems to draft patient messages, summarize medical information, help with scheduling, and handle insurance paperwork.

Sources

• American Medical Association (AMA) — Organizational Biopsy reports (2024)
• American Medical Association (AMA) — Physician Survey on Augmented Intelligence (latest available cycle)
• Annals of Internal Medicine — physician EHR time allocation studies
• Harvard / Dartmouth-Hitchcock-affiliated physician EHR time studies (as published in Annals of Internal Medicine where applicable)
• Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA) — peer-reviewed clinical informatics and AI documentation research
• JAMA Network Open — patient-reported errors in electronic health records (visit notes study, ~136,000+ patients)
• National Academy of Medicine / NEJM Catalyst — health system implementation reports on digital health and ambient
• AI Stanford University — Nigam Shah publications and institutional research on clinical AI and documentation systems
• U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) — HIPAA regulations, guidance, and Business Associate Agreement requirements
• U.S. state statutes — wiretapping and recording consent laws (primary legal texts)