Peer-reviewed research
Comparing ambient scribes: a randomized crossover clinical trial addressing ambient scribe technologies' impact on physician burnout
Chowdhury A et al., Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 2026 · DOI 10.1093/jamia/ocag018
Read the originalRead on October 16, 2026
- What it is
- A randomized crossover trial at Duke Primary Care that compared two ambient scribe products, labelled product A and product B in the abstract. Both products reduced burnout scores, while product B cut time in notes by more and clinicians rated it higher on workflow satisfaction.
- How much weight it carries
- Peer-reviewed, with a randomized crossover design and 136 survey respondents analysed. It is one primary care site, and the abstract does not name the products, so it cannot rank the commercial tools in general. The authors note that pajama time was largely unaffected, possibly because of selection bias and timing.
Facts taken from this source
- In the Duke crossover trial, both scribe products reduced personal and work burnout scores, and the difference between the two products on burnout was not meaningful.
“Both tools reduced personal and work burnout scores, but differences between tools were not meaningful.” (Results)
- In the Duke crossover trial, product B reduced time in notes by 3.19 more minutes per day than product A.
“Product B demonstrated greater reductions in average minutes-in-notes per day compared to product A (B - A = -3.19 minutes; 95% CI -4.87 to -1.50).” (Results)