New data out of ambient AI documentation vendor Ambience states that the technology can help rake in an additional $13,049 per clinician annually for health systems.
The number is based on Q1 2025 financial data and months of piloting and implementing the technology across 41 specialties at St. Luke’s Health System, a non-profit hospital system located in Boise, Idaho.
The financial data out of Ambience comes as AI scribes are facing pressure to deliver tangible financial wins for health systems. It’s widely reported that ambient scribes decrease feelings of burnout for clinicians, but, in some cases, financial returns have been elusive.
The new report on the experience of St. Luke’s is part of the KLAS ROI Validation series for health information technology, in which it is providing proof points from the deployment of technologies that are of particular interest to the healthcare ecosystem. The data was provided exclusively to Fierce Healthcare.
The financial gains achieved by deploying the AI-powered documentation assistant were realized through its enhanced documentation capabilities and coding recommendations, the report finds.
After listening to a visit between a patient and provider, Ambience documents the encounter and suggests precise billing codes for clinicians to review. Will Morris, chief medical officer at Ambience, said Ambience’s AI models lead to more accurate reimbursement.
The increased HCC capture per patient led to an additional $9,685 per user annually, based on an analysis of the average number of HCCs captured per encounter, before and after 371 clinicians’ first Ambience-enabled visit.
Ambience also helped capture an additional $1,907 per clinician per year in increased evaluation and management (E/M) coding complexity. In some cases, clinicians were able to see more patients per day, which accrued an additional $1,456 per clinician annually.
Adding patients to a clinician’s schedule was not the goal of the Ambience deployment for St. Luke’s, though. The system’s stated goal was to improve clinician wellbeing, and the system did not prescribe how clinicians should use the time saved from using the technology, Reid Stephan, vice president and chief information officer at St. Luke's, said.
“By allowing clinicians to choose how to reinvest that time, whether personally or professionally, we honored their autonomy and supported a more meaningful and sustainable improvement in their work-life balance,” Stephan said in an email to Fierce Healthcare. “Providers are going home on time again. They're no longer stuck finishing charts after hours or logging back in post-dinner. Instead, they’re attending their kids’ games, school events, and simply being present with their families.”
To boot, Stephen said Ambience paid for itself in five months. Morris said the time to pay off depends on the size of the organization and how many clinicians are using the technology.
The report also finds quantitative reductions in clinician burnout, operational efficiency, and employee satisfaction.
In a survey of 47 providers who piloted the technology, clinicians reported a 36-point drop in feelings of near-daily burnout. Clinicians experienced a 41% drop in total documentation time, a 39% reduction in documentation time after hours and a 17% decrease in documentation time after the appointment date. The data were collected through Epic’s User Action Log (UAL).
The report also touts that Ambience improved financial viability for St. Luke’s. When asked to explain, Stephan wrote: “At St. Luke’s, improved financial viability means that the Ambience platform directly translates productivity gains into revenue integrity. What was once a traditional IT expense has become a self-funding quality initiative. Ambience has not only improved documentation workflows—it has fundamentally transformed how our clinicians deliver world-class care, reinforcing both clinical excellence and financial stewardship.”
For operational and IT benefits, KLAS found improved employee satisfaction and increased operational efficiencies. Data from Epic UAL showed a 41% decrease in time to chart closure and a 22% increase in face time with patients. Patients anecdotally reported increased satisfaction with their visits.
Stephan said the system wants to continue to collect data on patient engagement, care quality, and clinical outcomes. It also hopes to measure if Ambience reduces documentation-related costs and coding queries.