VA’s Ambient Scribe puts Veterans at the center of every visit

Veteran John Brennan left a recent VA clinic appointment feeling something she had not always expected: truly heard and confident. Credit goes in part to Ambient Scribe, an artificial intelligence (AI) enabled technology that captures natural patient-provider dialogue and generates progress notes in real time.

VHA is now using Ambient Scribe to support a more meaningful provider-patient interaction while also reducing administrative burden, improving documentation quality and enhancing productivity. For Veterans like Brennan, the use of Ambient Scribe means that providers are more present, patients feel heard and clinical documentation is done faster and more accurately.

“I recently had a primary care appointment with Dr. Lorena Cuebas-Rosado at the Lake Nona VA where Ambient Scribe was used during my visit. I have to say, the experience was noticeably different in the best way,” Brennan said. “Instead of my provider having to divide her attention between our conversation and entering information into a computer, she was able to stay fully engaged with me throughout the appointment. It felt like I had her complete attention, which made the conversation more comfortable, open and productive.”

That experience is now available to Veterans across the country.

As of June 2026, VHA has deployed Ambient Scribe to all VA Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) Primary Care Providers—including physicians, physician assistants and advanced practice nurses—after a phased rollout that began at 10 VA medical centers: Dallas, Texas; East Orange, N.J.; Erie, Pennsylvania; Kansas City, Missouri; Loma Linda, California; Marion, Illinois; Miami, Florida; Prescott, Arizona; San Francisco; and Wilmington, Delaware.

With a Veteran’s verbal consent, the use of Ambient Scribe gives VA healthcare providers the time to make their connection and conversation the focus of the visit. With Ambient Scribe, primary care visits are becoming more personal, efficient and fulfilling for everyone involved.   

How it works

With a Veteran’s verbal consent, Ambient Scribe processes the conversation to generate draft documentation. Notes generated by Ambient Scribe are accessed, reviewed and edited by providers to ensure accuracy and completeness before being signed into the Veteran’s Electronic Health Record (EHR). The provider retains full clinical judgment and decision-making authority throughout the process.

Veterans can opt out at any time, even mid-visit, and their information is protected under the same strict privacy and security standards as all other VA health records, including full compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Freeing providers to focus on Veterans

For providers, administrative burdens have long intruded on personal attention paid to patients. Ambient Scribe changes that equation. Providers using the technology report that it creates clearer and more comprehensive medical documentation, reduces after-hours charting, lowers cognitive load, and improves accuracy in coding and risk adjustment. With Ambient Scribe acting as a documentation assistant, it creates fuller and clearer clinical notes for providers to review and add in the Veteran’s health record, giving the whole care team a more complete picture of the Veteran’s needs. This broader record improves communication amongst providers, creating safer, higher quality care for Veterans.

Brennan also acknowledges the impact of Ambient Scribe on providers, saying, “It’s an excellent example of technology being used the right way, to support providers while improving the experience for Veterans.”

What’s next

VA plans to expand Ambient AI Scribe to select outpatient specialty care providers in summer 2026, with an enterprise contract extension anticipated in late 2026.

Veterans should ask their primary care provider about Ambient AI Scribe. To learn more, check out the video below. Visit Explore AI at VA to learn more about VA’s innovative efforts in AI solutions.