Key points
- Ambient AI drafts the note and letters from the consultation itself, for the clinician to review and sign.4
- Review keeps the record right. In 217 dictated US notes, speech recognition drafts held 7.4 errors per 100 words, and signed notes after review held 0.3.1
- Across 46 clinicians at one US academic system, same-day note closure rose from 66.2% to 72.4% after an ambient scribe was introduced, with 30% less after-hours work.3
- Measure a week of your own dictation time first, then run ambient AI for two weeks on the same measures.
Summary
Moving to ambient AI means the consultation produces the first draft. The clinician talks to the patient, and the note and letter are drafted from that conversation for review and signature. The clinician's work becomes checking and signing, and review remains the step that keeps the record right.
The clinician talks to the patient once and leaves clinic with every note and letter signed. Ambient AI drafts from the consultation itself, so the dictation slot after each patient becomes a few minutes of review.
See it in your clinicThirty minutes on your own patients and doctors.
Request a demoSee a consultation of your own become a note and a referral letter, in fifteen minutes with a clinician who uses wai daily.
| Step | With dictation | With ambient AI | What to check in week one |
|---|---|---|---|
| During the visit | Clinician takes notes or memorises findings | Conversation is captured with consent | Consent confirmed and recorded every time |
| After the visit | Clinician speaks the note into a microphone | Draft note is waiting in the clinician's template | Time from patient leaving to note signed |
| First draft | Speech turned into text, word for word | Structured note drafted from the conversation | Plan, medications and doses read first |
| Review | Proofreading for misheard words | Checking for omissions and attribution | Edits per note, and any clinically significant fix |
| Letters | Dictated separately, often at the end of the session | Drafted from the same consultation | Edits per letter before signing |
| Coding | Added by hand or by a coder | Suggested from the note for review | Coder agreement with suggested codes |
| End of day | Open notes carried into the evening | Notes signed between patients | Notes still open at close of clinic |
The consultation becomes the first draft
With the patient's consent, the AI listens to the conversation and drafts a structured note in the clinician's template, followed by the letters and suggested codes. The clinician reviews and signs. Dictation and an AI scribe, side by side sets out the steps in more detail.
What changes in the day
Consent is confirmed at the start of the visit, the conversation runs as normal, and the draft is waiting when the patient leaves. Across 46 clinicians in 17 specialties at one academic system in Philadelphia, same-day note closure rose from 66.2% to 72.4%, and after-hours work fell 30%, from 50.6 to 35.4 minutes per workday.3
In a 24-week stepped-wedge randomised trial of 66 practitioners in two US states, time on notes fell by 0.36 hours a day with ambient AI, and diagnostic billing codes improved with note quality maintained.2 Those figures come from other settings, so measure your own baseline before you switch.
Review checks what was said
In 217 notes dictated by 144 US physicians in 2016, speech recognition drafts held 7.4 errors per 100 words, 0.4 after transcriptionist editing and 0.3 in signed notes.1 42.4% of signed notes still held at least one error, and 5.7% to 8.9% of errors at each stage were clinically significant.1
With an ambient draft, check for anything left out and anything inferred that the patient did not say. Read the plan and medications first, then the history. Our guide to AI scribe accuracy sets out a review routine.
Letters arrive drafted
The referral or clinic letter is drafted from the same consultation, addressed to the right colleague, in the clinician's template and voice. The clinician decides what it says and signs it, and with the history and the question already in place the edit takes moments. Our letter templates are a place to start.
Habits worth keeping
Saying the plan aloud to the patient, with doses and follow-up, helps the patient remember it and gives the draft a clear plan to record. Naming examination findings as you make them does the same.
Bring your templates across, since a note in the structure you already use is faster to check. A human medical scribe or an AI scribe covers the other question clinicians often weigh at this point.
What the clinician has with wai
wai drafts the note during the consultation, in the room or on video, then referral letters, result explanations and suggested coding, all held for the clinician to review and sign.4 Templates are shaped to the specialty and refined as the clinician edits, and notes and records can be exported.5
The signed note also starts the follow-up and booking at the front desk. A seven day trial for one clinician, with limited use, is enough to run the switch on real consultations, and prices are on the pricing page.
Where to start
For one week, record how long you spend dictating and correcting notes and letters each day, and how many notes are open at the end of it.
Then run ambient AI for two weeks on your normal list, with consent confirmed at the start of each visit. Keep the same measures, check every draft before signing, and compare. When the numbers move, retire the dictation slot from your template.
Bring a consultation you would normally dictate. We show you the draft note and letter it becomes, live.
Frequently asked questions
How accurate is ambient AI compared with dictation?
Both depend on review. Dictated speech recognition drafts held 7.4 errors per 100 words before review in one US study.1 Ambient drafts are checked for omissions and attribution, and the clinician signs every note.
Do I still need to speak in a special way?
Talk to the patient as normal. Saying the plan, doses and follow-up aloud helps the patient and gives the draft a clear plan to record.
What happens to my dictation templates?
Bring them across. wai shapes note and letter templates to your specialty and refines them as you edit, so drafts follow the structure you already use.5
Does the patient need to agree?
Yes. Confirm consent at the start of each visit and record it. Our guide to patient consent covers the wording.
How much time will I save?
Who signs the note and letters?
The clinician. wai drafts notes, letters and suggested coding, and the clinician reviews and signs everything clinical before it leaves.4
Sources
- 1JAMA Network Open, Zhou and colleagues, 2018Analysis of Errors in Dictated Clinical Documents Assisted by Speech Recognition Software and Professional TranscriptionistsRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 2NEJM AI, Afshar and colleagues, 2025A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial of Ambient Artificial Intelligence to Improve Health Practitioner Well-BeingRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 3JAMA Network Open, 2025Clinician Experiences With Ambient Scribe Technology to Assist With Documentation Burden and EfficiencyRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 4wai, 2026AI medical scribe for cliniciansRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 5wai, 2026wai for independent cliniciansRead 14 October 2026Read source
Every note and letter signed before you leave clinic.
Fifteen minutes with a clinician who uses wai daily, on a consultation you would normally dictate. We reply within one working day.
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