If you ask most healthcare professionals what part of their day they
enjoy the least, you’ll probably hear a unanimous groan about charting. We got into this field to help people, not to perfect our typing speed or spend our evenings catching up on SOAP notes with a lukewarm coffee and last nights leftovers.
Enter AI-powered medical scribes, the closest thing we have to a clinical documentation fairy godmother. These AI scribes are changing the game by dramatically reducing the time spent on notes, letting us focus on what actually matters: our patients (and maybe even ending the clinical day on time).
Where I work, at Tall Tree Health, we've embraced this shift by inviting clinicians to use AI-powered medical scribes. And let me tell you—it’s like stepping out of the Dark Ages of documentation.
Before experimenting with AI, I actively avoided learning or troubleshooting anything tech-related.
In my mind, I felt almost allergic to it—dreading the inevitable moment when something simple would go wrong, and I’d have to figure out how to fix it.
But here’s the plot twist: AI scribes changed that.
Yep, I’ll admit it—I was able to change my habits 11 years deep into my career. The experience of charting, which once felt like an endless to-do list, is now something I actually finish before leaving the clinic. You know that dream where all your notes are done before you walk out the door? Yeah, that’s real now.
Turns out, change isn’t as impossible as it seems—especially when the right tools make your life easier.
Based on my own experience and other clinician's feedback, those using AI Scribes have seen upwards of a 60-70% reduction in charting time. That’s about 1-2 hours saved per day—time that can be spent seeing more patients, mentoring colleagues, reading research, or dare I say, just going home to spend it where ever you want.
One of our physiotherapists put it best:
“This has completely changed my workflow. I leave the clinic with my notes done—no more staying late to catch up. It’s like having an extra set of hands without hiring an assistant.”
And patients? They notice the difference too:
“This feels like a forward-thinking clinic. I don't think my physio actually looked at their screen once during the session.”
That’s a win-win in my book.
Here are some fun stats about how much time you’d save using an AI medical scribe over a full year (assuming you work 48 weeks per year, full-time and save about 1 hour per workday):
- 240 hours per year
- 10 full days saved
- Nearly 1.5 weeks of extra time
What Could You Do Instead?
- Watch 120 movies (assuming a 2-hour average)
- Read 40 books (assuming a 6-hour average per book)
- Take 30 extra vacation days (if we count an 8-hour workday)
That’s 10 full days of free time every year—whether you use it for professional growth, self-care, or just getting home on time. AI doesn’t just make work easier—it gives you your time back!
Above is an unedited subjective history from a recent patient. Is it perfect? No. Did it hallucinate? Not this time. Did it save me a lot of time? Yes! Was it comprehensive? Perhaps a bit too comprehensive, but I can fine tune the prompt to get me closer to perfection. My AI Prompts are embedded in this short course.
Of course, integrating AI into healthcare documentation isn’t as simple as flipping a switch. There are ethical and legal considerations—because the last thing we want is for AI to accidentally turn a patient’s “mild sprain” into a “mysterious case of spontaneous combustion.”
To keep things transparent and ethical, we’ve updated our workflows in our EMR, Jane, to include specific informed consent measures before using AI-assisted documentation. Patients are clearly informed about:
✔ What data is captured and how it is stored.
✔ How AI is used to generate their medical records.
✔ Their right to opt-out of AI-generated notes at any time.
This ensures trust and control remain firmly in the hands of patients while we leverage AI to enhance—not replace—the human element of care.
Above is an unedited treatment plan generated from a recent patient case. After every new assessment, I send the patient one of these which would take me about 10 minutes to do. Now it takes a 1-2 minutes with the help of an AI Scribe. Again, my AI Prompts are embedded in this
short course. Let’s be real here: AI-powered scribes are not a futuristic concept anymore. They are here, they make life easier and actually work. This doesn't mean you just turn the AI scribe on and it does all the charting for you (at least at this point in time), you still need to go in, make edits, and ensure your documentation is accurate and comprehensive. And yes, AI scribes do hallucinate from time to time, but it is getting less and less and its on us to go in, and ensure everything good to sign off on. Much like how we transitioned from paper charts to EMRs, this shift to AI scribes will soon be the new standard.
And let’s face it: not using AI in practice today is like refusing to use the internet in 2024. You could do it, but why would you want to?
Clinics that embrace AI-assisted workflows now will gain a significant edge—not just in efficiency, but in clinician well-being and patient satisfaction. And for those still on the fence, I’d ask:
🚀 Can you afford to keep spending hours on admin tasks?
💡 Would your patients appreciate more face-to-face time?
⏳ What could you do with an extra 1-2 hours per day?
At
Tall Tree Health, the answer was clear. AI isn’t here to replace us—it’s here to help us do our jobs better, faster, and with fewer late nights in front of a screen. And that’s something worth embracing.
We’re just scratching the surface of what AI can do in healthcare, but one thing is certain: this is just the beginning. As tools like AI Scribes continue to evolve, clinicians will be able to spend more time thinking, treating, and actually enjoying the practice of healthcare.
Beyond patient care, this newfound time can be reinvested into learning, researching, taking courses, or simply having more balance in life. The flexibility AI provides isn't just about efficiency—it’s about redefining how we work and live.
If you haven’t tried an AI scribe yet, I highly recommend giving it a shot. You might just find yourself with something we haven’t had in a long time—a little extra time back in your day.
We all know that human behaviour change is hard, even when the benefits are clear, but investing time and energy into this shift now will pay dividends in the future.
And honestly, who wouldn’t want that?
Sean Overin, MPT, tDPT Registered Physiotherapist, Budding Tech Nerd
