Ambient Scribe Reversing EHR Burnout in Orthopedics
How Ambient AI is Reversing the Damage of EHR Burnout Among Orthopedic Providers
Katherine Christen
June 29, 2026•4 min read••
EHRs were designed to reduce clinical burden, yet 17 years since the term “meaningful use” entered the healthcare lexicon, EHR time still eclipses patient time. Especially among orthopedic providers.
Orthopedic surgeons spend nearly 58% of their day in the EHR, compared to just 33% with patients, a rate correlated with clinical burnout. Add in other strains, from staffing shortages to increasingly complex payer policies, and it’s not entirely surprising so many orthopedic providers are calling it quits. Nearly one in ten surgeons exited active practice over 8 years, with disproportionate losses among mid-career and select subspecialty surgeons.
If we’ve learned anything from EHRs, the answer to burnout won’t be solved by a single piece of technology. However, by taking a closer look at the root cause of burnout, smarter solutions can augment EHRs, offer an immediate and impactful solution to burnout driving attrition among orthopedic professionals.
While burnout is a multifaceted problem, it’s inextricably linked with the onset of EHRs and healthcare communications technology designed to ease workloads.
As multiple studies like this one have noted, EHRs are not developed with an understanding of the cognitive or perceptual needs of the clinician; and integration of EHRs into clinical routines has frequently led to safety hazards, inefficiencies and overall dissatisfaction during use, noted one study.
While organizations have attempted to gain efficiencies through the use of scribes, it hasn’t always worked as well as hoped.
Take St. Cloud Orthopedics, a high-volume specialty practice with clinics in Sartell and South St. Cloud, Minnesota. For years, the practice relied on transcription at 10 cents per line, costing thousands each month.
The notes came back somewhat polished, but the delays were significant. Switching to dictation tools cut turnaround time but not errors. Providers often sent out letters that “made us look like we had a third-grade reading level,” as one leader noted.
EHR-Induced Burnout Recovery with Ambient AI
St. Cloud implemented Heidi’s ambient AI scribe last year in a staged rollout designed to prove value, train staff, and build templates gradually.
After a few weeks of trials to iron out hiccups, adapt to new workflows, and refine templates, the organization’s nurses, PAs, therapists, and surgeons began to see significant time savings and other clinical benefits.
Heidi “listens” to patient encounters, creates a high-fidelity transcript, and improves note quality, depth and accuracy. The upshot: reduced turnaround time for notes, from 7-10 days to same-day (often within 4-5 hours), and increased clinical efficiency.
“It removes the hard minutes: the remembering, the hunting for labs, the retyping of doses,” says Chad Ritter, St. Cloud’s director of operations and a physical therapist. "That's what burns people out.”
Calling Heidi, “the best notetaker you’ve ever had,” Ritter says notes that usually took 24-48 hours to complete are now done “usually in just a few hours,” which was unheard of before.
Experiences like St. Cloud’s are good news for orthopedics and other specialties.
Reversing the damage of burnout-inducing systems won’t happen overnight. But for a growing number of orthopedic providers, including surgeons at ASCs, ambient AI is “rehabbing” traditional workflow processes in once-unexpected and impactful ways.
