Doctors Are Finding Joy Again Thanks to the Right AI Tools

AI scribes are having a significant positive impact on clinicians. With ambient listening and automated note generation, some clinicians are rediscovering joy in their work, thanks to well-integrated AI tools. Clinicians at MedPeds are experiencing more joy thanks to Sunoh.ai

AI Tools Helping Clinicians

For years, ambient documentation and AI scribes were pie-in-the-sky concepts. They always seemed “just around the corner”, but thanks to rapid improvements in AI technology and a willingness to adopt it by clinicians, it is quickly becoming a must-have tool for clinicians.

MedPeds, has served adult and pediatric patients since 1999. They have been using electronic medical records since 2004 (pre- Meaningful Use) and have been on the eClinicalWorks EHR platform. They have always been on the cutting edge of healthcare IT and it was no surprise that they were one of the first to implement Sunoh.ai as an AI scribe.

Healthcare IT Today sat down with Seth Eaton, MD, Medical Director at MedPeds to learn more about the impact of Sunoh.ai and to find out about the benefits of the PRISMA interoperability solution they recently implemented.

Key Takeaways

1. AI must integrate directly into the clinical workflow. MedPeds saw restored joy in practice and better documentation by letting ambient AI handle note taking in real time—no extra steps, no after-hours charting.
2. Passive data capture improves patient safety. AI-generated summaries captured key patient details that can be missed while clinicians are multitasking (ie: listening to patient while looking up something in their chart or for the latest clinical best practice). Background listening can fill clinical gaps without workflow disruption.
3. Interoperability benefits finally being felt by clinicians. The PRISMA solution surfaced critical information to the family physician (like a lung nodule missed by a specialist) even when no note was formally sent by the specialist, enabling more informed, proactive decisions during routine visits.

AI Scribes are Changing the Mood of Medicine

Clinicians dislike and are frustrated by the hours of documentation they are forced to do into their EHR systems – particularly if they must do it after hours. By automating note taking, AI scribes like Sunoh.ai are freeing clinicians from the keyboard.

“We are enjoying the visits more,” shared Dr. Eaton. “It’s just more fun to talk to the patients and not have to focus entirely on the computer.”

It is a pleasant surprise that a relatively new technology is living up to its promised hype. However, improved clinician mood is not the only benefit MedPeds has realized.

Background Listening Is a Safety Net

Multitasking during visits is a reality, and even the most experienced clinicians miss things. That’s where AI summaries offer unexpected value.

“There’s been more than one occasion that I looked back at the AI summary and there was something of importance the patient said that I did not hear clearly at the time,” admitted Dr. Eaton.

It is unrealistic to expect physicians to have perfect recall of a patient encounter, especially in a busy clinic. The ambient listening provided by the AI scribe adds a second layer of safety. It does not replace clinician judgment, instead AI scribes improve it by providing additional information that may have otherwise been overlooked or forgotten.

Interoperability That Finally Benefits Clinicians

Just like AI in healthcare, interoperability has been long sought, yet has remained mostly wishful thinking for decades. However, recently, smaller-scale interoperability efforts have been gaining momentum. Healthcare IT systems are starting to talk and share data with local providers.

MedPeds has begun to use PRISMA, an interoperability solution, to query for and pull in additional health information about its patients. This information come from a variety of sources including health information exchanges (HIEs), labs, imaging centers, and many others.

Dr. Eaton shared an example where the use of PRISMA made a difference in the quality of care delivered to one of his patients. Through PRISMA he was able to see that a specialist was able to identify a lung nodule on a shoulder MRI, but the report had not yet been sent over. That insight changed the patient’s care plan because the data from the specialist was easily accessible to him.

“I didn’t get a note at all from the specialist, but it was viewable in notes that had come through [PRSIMA],” said Dr. Eaton. “Every day I’m able to see something through this interoperability platform that has a modest change in care for a patient.”

For MedPeds, PRISMA is making health data searchable and usable without creating new friction.

Time to lean into AI Scribes and Practical Interoperability

Ambient documentation and real interoperability aren’t theoretical anymore—they’re helping clinicians focus, improving care, and cutting out unnecessary duplication. The takeaway is clear: these tools work, but only when they’re designed to fit how clinicians already practice.

If your clinicians are still documenting after hours or struggling to access external records, it’s time to pilot a tool like Sunoh.ai or PRISMA and measure the difference.

Learn more about MedPeds at https://www.medpeds.net/

Learn more about Sunoh.ai at https://sunoh.ai/

Learn more about PRISMA at https://plus.healow.com/clinical-insight/

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