A Randomized Controlled Trial of Ambient Artificial Intelligence Scribe Technologies

NCT06792890 | Completed Results

• 1 other identifier: NPR 40703
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 238
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This is a three-arm pragmatic RCT of 238 outpatient physicians at a large academic health system, randomized 1:1:1 to one of two AI scribe tools or a usual-care control group. The two-month study will observe and compare the effects of each tool prior to system-wide roll out of selected tool (anticipated Spring 2025). We will use covariate-constrained randomization to balance the arms in terms of physician baseline time in notes, survey-measured level of burnout, and clinic days per week. The primary purpose of the initiative is to improve quality, efficiency, and business operations at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Health, and this initiative is not being done for research purposes. The results of this operational initiative will inform the widespread roll out of AI scribe tools across all providers within the UCLA Health System. Nevertheless, the UCLA study team plans to rigorously examine and publish the impact of this intervention across the health system, which is why the study team pre-registered the initiative.

Conditions

Physician Workflow; Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Keywords

Artificial Intelligence Scribe; Randomized Controlled Trial; Documentation Efficiency; Physician Burnout

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change in the Time in Notes Per Note

  The primary outcome measure is the change in provider mean time in notes per note in the second month of the trial from the providers baseline mean time in notes per note for the six months prior to enrollment. This change will be computed on the natural log scale. No patient level information will be collected for this outcome measure.

  Study month 2

Secondary Outcomes (8)

• Provider Burnout Score

  Study month 2

• Provider Task Load Score

  Study month 2

• Provider Professional Fulfillment

  Study month 2

• Number of Physicians Who Are Considered Detractors, Passive, or Promoters

  Study month 2

• Change in Provider RVU

  Study month 2

Study Arms (3)

Nabla, Vendor of virtual AI scribe technology

OTHER

Participants in this arm will utilize AI scribe tools from Nabla and will continue their usual clinical documentation processes, supported by the scribe software, which integrates with the EHR and automatically adds the generated text to the note. The Nabla AI scribe tool is transcriptional and does not provide clinical decision support.

Other: Use Nabla AI Scribe tool provided

Vendor B of virtual AI scribe technology

OTHER

Participants in this arm will utilize AI scribe tools from Vendor B and will continue their usual clinical documentation processes, supported by the scribe software, which integrates with the EHR and automatically adds the generated text to the note. The AI scribe tool is transcriptional and does not provide clinical decision support.

Other: Use AI Scribe tool provided by Vendor B

No Scribe

NO INTERVENTION

Participants in this arm will not have access to AI scribe tools and will continue their usual clinical documentation processes

Interventions

Use Nabla AI Scribe tool provided OTHER

AI Scribe technologies capture physician-patient conversations to create a transcript, then summarize the transcript in the form of a clinical notes. These tools are integrated into the EHR and automatically adds the generated text to the provider note. All physicians must inform patients about the recording and obtain their verbal consent, and instances of patients declining to consent are tracked. Nabla leverages its proprietary speech-to-text to transform the conversation into a written context, combined with HIPAA compliant Large Language Models (LLM) like Azure OpenAI's GPT-4. Nabla does not store any audio.

Nabla, Vendor of virtual AI scribe technology

Use AI Scribe tool provided by Vendor B OTHER

AI Scribe technologies capture physician-patient conversations to create a transcript, then summarize the transcript in the form of a clinical notes. These tools are integrated into the EHR and automatically adds the generated text to the provider note. All physicians must inform patients about the recording and obtain their verbal consent, and instances of patients declining to consent are tracked.

Vendor B of virtual AI scribe technology

Eligibility Criteria

• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Ambulatory care physicians within the UCLA Health system who held at least one half-day of clinic per week

You may not qualify if:

• Trainee providers (e.g., residents, medical students) and allied healthcare professionals (e.g., RNs, PAs)
• Attendings who work exclusively with trainees

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of California, Los Angeles: lead

Study Sites (1)

UCLA Health System

Los Angeles, California, 90024, United States

Location

Related Publications (25)

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  PMID: 41497288 DERIVED

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Results Point of Contact

• Title: Dr. John N. Mafi, MD, MPH
• Organization: University of California, Los Angeles

jmafi@mednet.ucla.edu

310-794-2278

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: Yes

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Masking Details: The outpatient physicians are not told which tool that they are assigned to.
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor of Medicine

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 9, 2024
• First Posted: January 27, 2025
• Study Start: November 4, 2024
• Primary Completion: January 3, 2025
• Study Completion: January 15, 2025
• Last Updated: April 24, 2026
• Results First Posted: April 24, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)