When we talk about AI in healthcare, it can sound like something out of sci-fi.

Like: AI robots performing surgery while the surgeon sips coffee in another room.

Cool for the movies, but far removed from what you actually need: help with the daily paperwork that's eating into your evenings.

Imagine instead artificial intelligence that helps you finish your charts before dinner — giving you more time for what really matters.

In this article, I’ll discuss how AI solutions ease clinicians' clerical pressure and address the most common concerns around AI in healthcare.

Admin in the healthcare industry

One of the most overbearing daily tasks isn’t reviewing complex lab reports or making critical diagnoses. It’s the hours spent clicking through the electronic health record (EHR) and completing documentation.

Recent studies conclude that clinicians spend an average of 1.77 hours daily completing documentation beyond their usual work hours. That’s roughly 35 hours a month — an entire work week spent doing paperwork.

Administrative tasks can take time away from what you love. What if those hours went back to patient care — or just back to you?

A study suggests that the demanding hours of documentation drive healthcare professionals to burnout. It also associates the poor usability of EHR with burnout. 

As a result, 63% of physicians in the US claim to be emotionally exhausted due to burnout. 

Why traditional solutions fall short

In the past, healthcare organizations have tried solving this challenge — believe it or not, the EHR was one of these fixes.

Throwing more staff and scribes at the problem isn’t a cure— it’s just more gauze on an open wound.

Why? Because they don’t solve the deep-rooted inefficiency of how healthcare today handles medical documentation. 

"The leading E.H.R.s were never built with any understanding of the rituals of care or the user experience of physicians or nurses. A clinician will make roughly 4,000 keyboard clicks during a busy 10-hour emergency-room shift." — Dr. Abraham Verghese, The New York Times

Only 22% of clinicians surveyed find it easy to document patient conversations in the EHR.

The workflow process isn't helping the care team like it should.

Is the use of AI the answer? Or just another bandaid?

Let’s understand how artificial actually addresses this challenge in the healthcare system.

How AI in healthcare can automate administrative tasks

Your first patient of the day walks in with reports from the last five years. 

You're doing all of this at once:

• Reviewing their documented history
• Listening to their concerns
• Accurately documenting their chief complaint and your exam

... all while keeping an eye on the clock for your next appointment.

The best application of AI is when we let it do the admin things that take away from care.

Let’s break down how artificial intelligence can help you minimize (and eliminate) the burden of paperwork. 

1. Real-time medical documentation

No clinician is a stranger to pajama time.

In fact, 84% of them have to finish work after hours.

As patients keep coming, paperwork piles up and forces clinicians to stay in office, or work-from-couch.

Artificial intelligence can free up time in your day with real-time documentation.

An AI scribe (or digital scribe) listens to your patient interactions in real-time and converts the entire conversation into well-formatted notes as soon as the session ends. 

These virtual scribes use advanced natural language processing to:

• Convert speech to text (speech recognition and translation) with accurate medical terminology
• Structure information into standard formats (like SOAP notes)
• Integrate with existing EHR systems and consolidate all the data

The result? You can maintain a natural flow of conversation with your patient without jotting down every detail or spending time beyond work hours.

No note bloat, no backlog, and no burnout.

2. Automated coding and billing support

For a large majority of US-based clinicians, billing tasks just add to the admin overload.

It's no surprise: for every visit, you have to choose from 69,000 ICD-10 diagnosis codes and match them to the right CPT codes for procedures. All this has to be done in compliance with payer requirements and documentation guidelines.

Here's another great example of AI. With real-time clinical documentation and guidelines, you can properly train artificial intelligence to identify relevant billing codes and make sure every note meets billing requirements.

These tools can also:

• Flag missing elements in reimbursement requests
• Track coding patterns
• Suggest more applicable codes.

Think of all the time you’d save without the need to constantly search for the right codes.

Plus, AI-powered billing support can improve compliance and reduce claim denials. 

3. Clinical decision support

While AI technology can streamline documentation, its biggest impact lies in supporting clinical judgment. 

Behind every clinical decision goes an overwhelming amount of medical data processing. 

You have to review lab values, drug interactions, treatment protocols, and many other variables. Even with years of experience, keeping track of all these moving pieces — while staying current with new research — can feel like solving a puzzle that keeps adding new pieces.

None of this should live in one person's head. In fact, this sentiment is why we started documenting the medical record in the first place.

“The human mind simply cannot carry all of the information about all of the patients in the practice” - Dr. Larry Weed, Founder of the Medical Record

And now, the healthcare industry is taking the next logical step: Letting artificial intelligence fill the gaps.

Clinicians can integrate advanced, safe AI systems into their workflow process to analyze patient data and complex information from different sources. These tools can process this information while referencing clinical guidelines. 

Following a thorough analysis, artificial intelligence can identify potential risks and produce useful insights at the point of care, so you can make informed decisions.

That means you don’t have to spend time buried under medical literature. AI tools can provide evidence-based recommendations and support your clinical reasoning.

Less doubt, more confidence.

4. Patient instruction automation

Documenting a 15-minute consultation can eat up half an hour or more. 

That’s because no two patient interactions are the same. Whether you’re detailing post-operative care steps, explaining a new medication regimen, or outlining lifestyle modifications for chronic condition management — you have to be clear and thorough.

More importantly, you have to personalize these instructions for every patient’s specific needs and concerns. 

AI-augmented healthcare systems can create customized notes with detailed after-visit summaries. Adjust these instructions based on patient understanding levels. And save yourself the hassle of writing repetitive instructions and solving doubts over endless follow-up calls.

5. Administrative workflow optimization

Between seeing your patients and charting notes, your clinic’s operations can take a backseat.

This is another area where the use of AI can streamline and automate your routine workflows to keep everything under control. 

For example, AI-powered appointment scheduling tools can collect and schedule every appointment based on your availability. All you need to do is mark your work hours in your calendar, and this scheduling tool will take care of the rest.

In addition to appointments, machine learning systems can also optimize resource allocation for your organization. Assign tasks to your staff based on their bandwidth to prevent burnout or wasted time. 

6 common concerns about the adoption of AI in healthcare

It's easy to be an AI skeptic — there's so much to care about: patient privacy, HIPAA compliance, and clinical precision. 

After all, the stakes are high. A misunderstood medication name, an incorrect diagnosis code, or a privacy breach can have serious implications. 

So, let’s answer some of these questions and address the critical concerns around AI in healthcare.

1. Data security and HIPAA compliance

The concern: "How can I be sure my patients' data is protected when using AI tools?" 

Most AI tools prioritize security and data protection features. These AI-powered solutions work on a HIPAA-compliant infrastructure with enterprise-grade encryption to protect all patient data. 

For example, Freed operates on Microsoft Azure's secure cloud infrastructure and follows strict data management protocols. It doesn’t store any patient recordings and automatically deletes notes after 30 days.

2. Cost and ROI

The concern: "Is this another expensive technology that won't deliver on its promises?"

AI tools can deliver instant returns through time savings and higher efficiency. When you consider the hours saved on documentation alone, you’d see an ROI on your monthly subscription cost for an AI tool. You can even use free trials to discover what a tool brings to the table.

Research suggests that AI scribes have the upper hand when compared to the cost of hiring in-person medical scribes. 

“In our study, monthly and initial software costs are $1850/month and $1000 to onboard a clinician. Locally, a scribe costs ∼$3050/month, inclusive of recruiting and training costs. Utilizing DAX over an in-person scribe could equate to ∼$13,400 to ∼$14,400 in cost savings, although additional work that in-person scribes perform (including entering orders or patient instructions) is not possible with DAX. These costs may not be generalizable given our pilot study was performed at a large academic institution.” 

3. Quality control and accuracy

The concern: "Can I trust AI tools to maintain the same level of accuracy I add to my notes?" 

Modern AI tools work on sophisticated large language models (LLMs). These models are designed to achieve remarkable accuracy. They can also learn your specific guidelines and adapt to your preferences over time. As a result, AI tools can reach the highest levels of accuracy. 

Besides, think of AI technology as a powerful assistant designed to handle all the administrative busywork on your behalf. While AI tools do the heavy lifting, you can always review and edit the output for stricter quality control.

This combination of AI efficiency and human oversight promises both speed and accuracy.

4. Impact on patient relationships

The concern: "Will AI tools interfere with my patient care?"

The EHR has already made clinician work = clerical work. But unlike the EHR, AI can do these manual tasks for you.

This can actually improve patient outcomes by taking the screen and keyboard out of your patient visits.

81% of clinicians believe that documentation tasks impede patient care.

That's the importance of AI: a chance to be present in the moment on and off the clock.

5. Learning curve and adoption

The concern: "Will this take too long to learn? Will it slow me down initially?"

No one has time for a steep learning curve. Luckily, most AI-augmented healthcare systems are designed for the flow of clinical work.

This means:

• Little-to-no training required
• A user friendly-interface
• Responsive customer support

6. Integration with existing systems

The concern: "Will this be yet another system I need to learn and manage? Will it work with my current EHR?"

AI technology should fit into your workflow, not the other way around. That's why most (if not all) AI applications will integrate with EHR platforms, or offer their own work arounds.

Looking ahead: The future of AI in healthcare 

Think of all the medical knowledge stored in your brain.

Now, imagine how much brain space is used memorizing EHR workflows and admin tasks.

You need AI tools to free up some mental RAM and find time for your well-being. Tools like Freed can handle the demands of documentation while you sign off on time and have a good night’s sleep. 

You take care of patients. Let Freed take care of the paperwork. Try it now —no credit card needed.