Sutter put an AI scribe in its hospitals. Physicians used it for 3% of their notes.

Previously

In 2025, Cleveland Clinic and UW Health scaled ambient scribes in clinics, and a Mass General Brigham-led study linked them to lower burnout among the clinicians who answered its surveys. UW Health said it planned to take its scribe into inpatient units (Part 1, Part 2).

September 2026 — A peer-reviewed evaluation of Sutter Health's hospital rollout shows the scribe barely used. Here's what changed since Part 2 (August 2025), what it cost, and what went wrong.

Cost and outcome (as of September 2026)

Share of inpatient notes drafted by the scribe: 3% (1,198 of 46,161). (Journal of Hospital Medicine)
By note type: 12% of history and physical notes, 6% of consult notes, 2% of progress notes. (Journal of Hospital Medicine)
Daily time in notes: 41.9 to 41.6 minutes, not statistically significant. (Journal of Hospital Medicine)
Physicians in the study: 59; 20 completed both surveys. (Journal of Hospital Medicine)
Cost of the rollout: not disclosed.

The rollout

Sutter Health, a large system in northern and central California, launched ambient AI in its acute care facilities in March 2025. Today's Hospitalist's Edward Doyle reported the rollout covered 20 hospitals and used Abridge, adding: "Sutter Health was the first health system in the United States to fully integrate Abridge within Epic."

The study, led by Cheryl D. Stults of the Sutter Health Research Institute, was a quality improvement evaluation. It used usage data, surveys before and after, and electronic health record data from 2 months before and after launch, and measured cognitive load and burnout as well as time in notes.

What the numbers showed

Of 59 physicians included, 28 (48%) were adult hospitalists. Monthly use stayed roughly flat, at 4.2% to 3.5% of notes. The scribe drafted 12% of history and physical notes, 6% of consult notes and 2% of progress notes, for 3% overall. Mean time in notes per day was unchanged, from 41.9 to 41.6 minutes.

"We had a large number of inpatient physicians who did not use ambient AI to create even a single note," the researchers said, per Today's Hospitalist. Just over half (53%) said they had a "high degree of success" with it.

There were small gains, per Today's Hospitalist. The number of survey respondents who felt they could give patients their undivided attention rose from 14 to 16, and those who said patients could more easily understand their notes rose from 13 to 15. Some said time savings were offset by editing out "extra information."

The share who thought ambient AI could help them see one more patient per shift fell from 55% to 45%.

Why use stayed low

At launch, inpatient physicians couldn't use the scribe for consultations in the emergency department. Bigger still, it had no copy-forward function for progress notes, so physicians had to build a new note at each visit, which the researchers said likely drove down use.

Physicians asked for the ability to "pull forward" or add onto earlier notes. Some called the notes "too generic," and some found problems in them that hadn't been discussed. Others said the scribe helped with histories and with "back-to-back admissions."

The authors concluded: "Ambient AI was used most consistently for inpatient consult notes, although overall utilization was low." They wrote that "future development tailored to inpatient workflows is needed to increase adoption."

What's changed

In 2025, the evidence came from clinic visits, where Cleveland Clinic reported adoption of around 70%. In the hospital, where notes are built day after day on the same patient, the same kind of tool drafted 3% of notes at Sutter.

What went wrong

The tool didn't fit the workflow. No copy-forward for progress notes, no ED consults at launch.
No time saved. Daily time in notes was flat.
Small sample. Only 20 physicians completed both surveys.
What we don't know yet: whether later updates added copy-forward, current usage, and what the rollout cost.

Our follow-up question for Sutter Health

Has the scribe added copy-forward for progress notes, and how has inpatient use changed since the study period?

Sources

Stults CD, et al., “Ambient artificial intelligence scribe implementation in inpatient setting,” Journal of Hospital Medicine, Sept. 14, 2026. doi:10.1002/jhm.70451. doi.org
Edward Doyle, Today's Hospitalist, “AI scribes in the hospital: What works for physicians,” Sept. 23, 2026. todayshospitalist.com
Earlier in this series: Part 1. /case/ambient-ai-scribes-pilots
Earlier in this series: Part 2. /case/ambient-ai-scribes-burnout-study

Disclosure: [not in copy] Editor placeholder