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Blog|Videos|October 29, 2026
What's the real ROI on AI scribes? The answer might surprise you
Author(s)Sarah Matt, M.D., MBA
Fact checked by: Todd Shryock
Artificial intelligence (AI) scribes have been a great tool for physicians, but are they really worth the money?
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In this episode of Vital Signs with Dr. Sarah Matt, she outlines strategies physicians can use to determine whether AI scribes are delivering results, and if the expense is worth the investment.
Matt is an editorial advisory board member for Medical Economics and the author of
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Related to this article
Early wins with ambient AI scribes, shared control over clinical decision support tools and incremental pilots can build the trust needed for a decades-long transformation.
Almost 70% of consumers will abandon AI customer service after two failures, a recent survey found.
As AI vendors tighten token and credit caps, staff who turn to free chatbots can expose patient data to vendors with no business associate agreement. Eight steps can keep practices protected.
An AI system that simulates a panel of physicians reached the correct diagnosis in about 80% of test cases, compared with 36% to 47% for generalist physicians, though researchers caution the results come from a controlled, text-only benchmark rather than real-world practice.
Physicians have embraced ambient documentation faster than almost any technology before it. But every note it writes carries your signature, and lawyers, auditors and patients are starting to read those notes closely.
An eHealth open enrollment survey also found 58% of insured adults delayed care over costs, and two-thirds of those who used AI for medical advice say it was sometimes wrong.
What do physicians need to counter burnout and misinformation? Time with patients
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