MADISON, Wis. — UW Health is working to quadruple the number of care providers using an artificial intelligence tool in the first half of 2025 so that providers have higher-quality patient interactions.
This AI technology is an ambient listening tool that can record, transcribe and analyze the discussion a health care provider and patient have during an appointment, creating a draft note that the provider reviews and uses as part of the patient’s visit documentation.
Ambient listening gives providers more time to focus on patients and improve the quality of those interactions, according to Dr. Joel Gordon, chief medical information officer, UW Health. It also reduces the significant burden of administrative work that providers face, creating a path for better work-life balance and well-being for providers, he said.
“This tool allows our care team members to look away from their computer screen and not split focus between their notes and their patient,” Gordon said. “It also means providers are experiencing a significant decrease in clerical burden, leading to reduced burnout and an improved joy of practice. Early measures show that this is already making a positive difference.”
In June 2024, UW Health began the ambient listening pilot program with 20 providers. These providers were based in Wisconsin, self-selected to be part of the pilot and only worked in clinic — non-inpatient — settings. By the end of 2024, UW Health had approximately 100 ambient listening users, and the technology is currently used in more than 20 different specialties and subspecialties like family medicine, pediatrics and dermatology.
Several early adopters describe the tool as life-changing, such as Dr. James Bigham, family medicine physician, UW Health.
The tool can summarize a condition and care plan for the patient, and it can also filter out non-medical discussions, he said.
“If I talk to a patient’s parent about their child’s most recent basketball game, that would not go in the notes, but the tool allows me to have more of those connections with my patients since I am not taking notes in real time,” Bigham said. “It’s really a remarkable innovation.”
Patients are always informed when a provider plans to use ambient listening and can opt out of the tool being used in an appointment. Providers are still responsible for reviewing all ambient listening appointment notes and adjusting them for accuracy before they are considered final notes for a patient’s chart, according to Gordon.
In the first six months of 2025, UW Health aims to roll out the technology to 300 additional clinic users, totaling 400 users in Wisconsin and northern Illinois.