AI Summaries Are About To Spread Across Healthcare — Spencer Dorn, MD, MPH, MHA

Imagine a 1990s endocrinologist seeing a new patient in her clinic. First, she reviews the referral letter the PCP faxed over and glances at the patient's intake form. She then enters the exam room, interviews and examines the patient, and develops a plan. After leaving the room, she scribbles a few sentences on lined looseleaf paper and then checks a few boxes on the order and billing forms. Her office staff files her note in a paper chart, faxes the orders to the lab, and mails the claim to the insurer. Times have changed. In 2025, the same (now older) endocrinologist spends two hours the evening before her clinic identifying and documenting relevant information scattered across her next day’s patients' long medical records. PROMOTED The following morning, while waiting for her staff to upload her first patient's glucometer data, she glances at her overloaded EHR inbox, rushing to respond to a patient portal message, approve two new refill requests, and answer a coding query. When th

Imagine a 1990s endocrinologist seeing a new patient in her clinic. First, she reviews the referral letter the PCP faxed over and glances at the patient's intake form. She then enters the exam room, interviews and examines the patient, and develops a plan. After leaving the room, she scribbles a few sentences on lined looseleaf paper and then checks a few boxes on the order and billing forms. Her office staff files her note in a paper chart, faxes the orders to the lab, and mails the claim to the insurer. Times have changed. In 2025, the same (now older) endocrinologist spends two hours the ev