UW Health is working to quadruple the number of care providers using an artificial intelligence (AI) tool in the first half of 2025 so that providers have higher-quality patient interactions.
This AI technology is an ambient listening tool that can record, transcribe, and analyze the discussion a health care provider and patient have during an appointment, creating a draft note that the provider reviews and uses as part of the patient’s visit documentation.
In June 2024, UW Health began the ambient listening pilot program with 20 providers. These providers were based in Wisconsin, self-selected to be part of the pilot, and only worked in non-inpatient settings. By the end of 2024, UW Health had approximately 100 ambient listening users, and the technology is currently used in more than 20 different specialties and subspecialties like family medicine, pediatrics, and dermatology.
Patients are always informed when a provider plans to use ambient listening and can opt out of the tool being used in an appointment. Providers are still responsible for reviewing all ambient listening appointment notes and adjusting them for accuracy before they are considered final notes for a patient’s chart.
In the first six months of 2025, UW Health aims to roll out the technology to 300 additional clinic users, totaling 400 users in Wisconsin and northern Illinois.
