Study finds Nuance’s AI documentation tool may not significantly improve key metrics for Atrium Health

Last year, Atrium Health, now part of Advocate Health, made headlines for being the first U.S. health system to implement AI-driven ambient clinical documentation through Nuance’s Dragon Ambient Experience copilot. However, a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine AI found that the general availability of this tool did not lead to significant improvements in key metrics for the organization.

Research study details

Researchers from Atrium Health and Wake Forest University School of Medicine conducted a post-implementation study to evaluate outcomes for clinicians after the health system deployed Nuance’s DAX Copilot. They enrolled 238 clinicians specializing in family medicine, internal medicine, and general pediatrics from outpatient clinics in North Carolina and Georgia in five waves between June and August 2023.

Participants in the study group received training and were set up with accounts for the DAX Copilot via their Epic EHRs. The researchers evaluated various outcomes related to EHR usage over 180 days, including time spent in the EHR, work time outside of regular hours, completion rates for appointments and notes, note length, and financial metrics like work relative value units per visit.

The final sample included 112 clinicians in the DAX user group and 103 clinicians in the control group. While high DAX users saw a decrease in documentation hours compared to the control group, the researchers found few statistically significant differences between the two groups, except for note time.

Industry trends

Despite the mixed results at Atrium Health, many organizations have expanded their use of DAX Copilot in the past year. Other health systems like Intermountain Health and WellSpan Health have also implemented the tool, and EHR vendors like Epic and Meditech have integrated it into their platforms to combat clinician burnout.

In fact, Microsoft reported that DAX was used in at least 50% of patient encounters at Northwestern Medicine, resulting in clinicians spending less time on notes and seeing more patients on average.

Conclusion

While the study suggests that AI-enabled documentation tools like DAX may lead to decreased burnout for some clinicians, widespread implementation may not significantly increase productivity for healthcare systems. Further research is needed to explore the utility of these tools for different clinician subgroups and clinical settings.