Health Hawke’s Bay undertook a structured pilot to evaluate the use of an AI-powered clinical scribing tool within general practice, responding to increasing concerns about documentation burden, time pressure, and clinician burnout. The pilot involved general practitioners and nurse practitioners across a representative range of Hawke’s Bay clinics, to assess whether AI-assisted documentation could deliver practical benefits without compromising clinical quality or patient experience.

The evaluation utilised baseline and follow-up clinician surveys, to detect changes in a variety of key practice indicators as well as generating qualitative feedback. Analysis focused on changes over time in documentation effort, satisfaction with clinical notes, consultation focus, and clinician wellbeing, with findings presented alongside statistical significance and contextual interpretation to support transparent and meaningful reporting.