“I want to become a clinician so I can do more charting,” said no healthcare professional ever.

If we asked you what the most frustrating part of your day is, what would you say?

Hard to pick just one, we know. But chances are, it’s something administrative.

Still, 85% of clinicians lose over an hour a day to admin work — even with all the tools that exist today. The problem isn’t a lack of solutions. It’s that most tools weren’t built for you.

We’re not talking about complex backend systems only IT teams understand. Today’s clinical workflow software is built for the people actually doing the work. They’re designed to slot right into your day, taking over repetitive admin tasks and often redundant workflows.

Let’s get into what clinical workflow automation really means, why it matters more than ever, and how you can start putting it to work in your practice.

What is clinical workflow automation?

Clinical workflow automation is the use of technology to take over routine tasks, like charting, scheduling, follow-ups, and handoffs.

… And why does it matter to your practice?

To begin with, it:

• Saves you time
• Reduces staff burnout
• Improves patient care
• Boosts operational efficiency
• Minimizes the risk of error
• And most importantly, gives you more room to actually enjoy your life

How exactly?

Let’s start with the biggest pain point: EHRs.

Most clinician burnout today ties back to the state of electronic health records. Nearly three out of four clinicians who report burnout say the EHR is part of the problem. The systems are often clunky, hard to navigate, and require a ton of manual input.

But that’s not the only issue.

According to a new national study published May 14, 2025, in JAMA Internal Medicine, nearly half of U.S. physicians report working without fully staffed teams more than 25% of the time.

So in addition to charting, they're also handling scheduling, follow-ups, and other admin work that never should’ve landed there in the first place.

You don’t even need a study to know it’s a problem — it’s enough to look into your own workflows or listen to clinicians. The frustrations over short-staffed teams and admin overload comes up again and again.

Clinical workflow automation helps reduce that load.

Instead of clicking through ten screens to document a visit, you can use AI tools that listen, draft your notes, and file them into the right EHR section with one click. Instead of chasing down patients for follow-ups or overdue balances, automated reminders go out on their own. And instead of manually entering the same data for every payer or referral, systems can sync and share it behind the scenes. 

But let’s move from words to real-world applications.

Practical examples of clinical workflow automation

Workflow automation can help take a lot of repetitive tasks off your plate. Here are some of the most common areas where practices are already adopting it:

• Patient intake and registration
• Appointment scheduling and reminders
• Patient interactions
• Charting and medical scribing
• EHR data entry and filing
• Prior authorizations and claims management
• Clinical handoffs
• Prescription refills and e-prescribing
• Lab and imaging order management
• Revenue cycle tasks
• Referrals and care coordination
• Staff scheduling and task assignments

Below are three low-effort, high-impact examples of automation in action:

Automating follow-ups

Manually following up with patients is time-consuming and easy to let slip. It also means lost revenue when appointments don’t get scheduled.

Tools like Dental Intelligence Follow Ups automatically remind patients about hygiene recare, unscheduled treatments, and past-due balances.

Pearl Street Dental Partners saw big results after switching to automated follow-ups — within a few months, they scheduled over $1.1 million in appointments across 43 locations. All by letting the software handle patient outreach.

Logging medical records into EHR

Charting is a pain. AI scribes can help with the note-taking, but that’s only half the job. You still need to get those notes into the right place in the EHR. 

In a survey study of 282 clinicians, 86.9% of respondents said excessive data entry was their biggest frustration with EHRs.

Freed tackles both. It listens, drafts the note, and with one click, drops it into the correct EHR section — right from your browser tab.

Over 17,000 clinicians use it to take charting off their plates.

Automating data exchange between healthcare providers and payers

Dealing with payers is stuck in the past. About 70% of authorizations and claims still rely on phone calls and faxes.

Systems like Oracle Health Clinical Data Exchange are starting to close that gap. Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center has already implemented the new system, expecting it to help them “more easily and securely respond to payer data requests, and ultimately ease the current burden on [their] staff.”

Where AI fits in the clinical workflow puzzle

Large, forward-thinking health systems like Kaiser Permanente in California are using AI to spot high-risk patients and flag those at risk for adverse events. It’s a powerful application with serious tech behind it. But AI doesn’t have to be complicated or reserved for data scientists in a back room anymore.

It's steadily finding its way into everyday tasks, powering automations that help lift more of the administrative burden off clinicians’ shoulders.

The most impactful uses of AI right now are the ones that plug directly into clinicians’ day-to-day work. One of the best examples is the ambient AI scribe.

These tools “listen” during patient visits, either in person or over telehealth, and automatically generate a clinical note in real time. 

How are AI scribes different from plain old automation?

Unlike traditional workflow automation solutions that follow simple rules or templates, AI scribes like Freed actually understand what’s happening in the room. They go beyond just recording a conversation or transcribing what’s said. Here’s how:

• They understand natural language — AI scribes can tell who’s speaking (clinician vs. patient) and pick up on context, tone, and intent.
• They’re trained in medical terminology — so they can accurately capture clinical language, drug names, diagnoses, and more without missing a beat.
• They can handle real-life conditions — like background noise, interruptions, or fast-paced conversations, which would throw off basic dictation tools.
• They structure the output for you — instead of dumping raw transcripts, AI scribes organize the information into usable formats like SOAP notes.

How to implement workflow automation in real practice settings

You don’t need a tech team or a six-figure budget to get started with automation. Start small, target high-friction workflows, and build from there.

Identify your biggest admin time sinks

Where are you spending the most time outside of actual care?

Most likely, you’ll think about at least one of these:

• Charting dragging past office hours
• Missed follow-ups or appointment gaps
• Manual data entry for referrals, claims, or handoffs
• Constant back-and-forth to reach patients or payers

Pull in a few clinicians and staff members and ask: “What’s the one task you’d love to never do again?” That answer will be your top workflow automation priority.

Choose one workflow to automate first

There may be too many pain points in your workflows, and that’s expected. Where should you start?

Pick a task that’s both relatively simple to automate and delivers a strong impact.

A good first move: try an AI scribe like Freed to shrink documentation time — without adding extra setup or disruption. Freed, for example, helps clinicians go from a 20-minute charting session to a one-click note review without disrupting their workflow.

Choose tools that play well with your EHR

Look for automation tools that integrate with your existing EHR or practice management system. With good integration, patient details, appointments, billing info, and notes should all sync automatically.

Also, check what level of data exchange it offers and whether it meets compliance standards such as HIPAA. Prioritizing compatibility upfront will save headaches later and improve further adoption.

Reinforce new process adoption

If you have a team, it’s only natural to face resistance when you bring in new tech. People don’t love changing how they work, even if it’ll make their lives easier.

Automation only works if it’s used consistently. Once you roll out a new tool or workflow, give your team (and yourself) time to adjust, and take a few extra steps to make the change stick:

• Let a few clinicians or staff members test the tool first. Gather their feedback and use their wins to build momentum across the rest of the team.
• Show how the change reduces clicks, saves time, or eliminates annoying tasks. A 5-minute demo or quick walkthrough can go a long way.
• Keep a short cheat sheet or how-to doc handy, so no one has to dig for instructions when things get busy.
• After rollout, ask how it’s going. Are there snags in the new workflow? Is it saving time like expected? 

Start small, feel the difference fast

The easiest way to get an effective workflow? Start with what takes the most time — like clinical documentation.

Freed makes that one of the simplest things to automate. No training, no EHR integration, no learning curve. Just hit “Capture Conversation” when your visit starts, tap “End Visit” when it ends, and your SOAP note is ready to review and submit — all from the same tab.

You don’t need to overhaul your workflow. Just try one tool that actually lightens it.

Try Freed for free →