How Ambient Technology Works

The ambient documentation system operates through Epic's Rover mobile application, allowing nurses and CNAs to use voice-activated technology during patient assessments. When conducting head-to-toe assessments, clinicians verbally narrate their findings while the Large Language Model listens, interprets, and automatically populates the appropriate flowsheet documentation fields directly into Epic in real-time. This eliminates the traditional post-assessment documentation burden that requires nurses to recall details and manually input data after completing patient care. To learn more about how ambient technology works, read The Clinical Leader’s Guide to Nursing Ambient Documentation Solutions.  

Prior to initiating the recording, nurses obtain verbal patient consent once a day in compliance with the State of Florida’s recording requirements.  

Measuring Pilot Success 

Baptist leaders acknowledges that their current outcome measurement capabilities remain limited; however, they are actively collaborating with Epic and Microsoft to establish more robust dashboards and comprehensive reporting tools that will enable systematic tracking of ambient documentation outcomes including quality, time saved, and overall hours spent documenting.  

Baptist Health is currently tracking the following metrics: 

• Documentation latency: Time elapsed between patient assessment and EHR record entry 

• Number of clicks: Total clicks required to complete documentation tasks 

• Total documentation time: Minutes spent per shift on charting activities 

• Pain reassessment compliance: Percentage of patients with pain reassessments documented within the required 120-minute window after intervention. 

• Ambient utilization rate: Percentage of documentation completed using conversational ambient recordings versus traditional manual entry. 

Baptist plans to deploy enhanced metrics tracking capabilities that will provide clearer insights into the technology's impact on nursing workflows, documentation quality, and operational efficiency. 

Pilot Expansion: Two-Phased Approach 

Baptist Health implemented a two-phase change management approach for their ambient nursing documentation pilot. 

Phase One: Grassroots Volunteer Approach (August 2024)

Baptist began with a voluntary, grassroots recruitment strategy targeting nurses who were enthusiastic about new technology and already high Rover utilizers. They tapped volunteers across 6 med-surg units and prepared participants to serve as early adopters by clearly communicating that they would be helping to develop and refine an evolving solution. Baptist also assembled an Ambient Innovation Team that met regularly with Epic and Microsoft to provide feedback on the technology. The team included frontline nurses, nurse managers, informatics, and the education team. 

Phase Two: Unit-Based Approach (Mid-July 2025) 

Once Baptist reached an implementation plateau, they shifted to a unit-based implementation model in which using the ambient documentation tool was mandated. They selected one high-performing med-surg unit with strong leadership and made ambient documentation the required workflow. Baptist provided significant additional resources during the 60-day implementation period, including reduced patient assignments, 24/7 informatics support, on-site Microsoft assistance, and dedicated educators.  

They also created practice labs to help nurses become more comfortable with bedside verbal assessments. These "pop-up labs" could be set up in break rooms or empty patient rooms, allowing nurses to practice speaking their assessments through role-playing scenarios before entering patient rooms. Baptist shared their key lesson learned from the initial pilot was that organizations must provide adequate time and resources for staff to learn new technologies. 

Change Management Strategies 

Baptist Health leveraged several peer-driven adoption strategies to support adoption including: 

• Nurse Champions as Leaders: Baptist leveraged nurse champions who were high users from Phase One to drive adoption by asking them to share their experiences in monthly meetings. Baptist recognized that peer influence was more effective than leadership-driven messaging, noting that nurse-to-nurse communication carried more weight than formal presentations from administrators or informatics teams. 

• Storytelling and Experience Sharing: Champions shared specific examples of how they integrated ambient documentation into their workflows and the time savings they experienced. Baptist incorporated these narratives into both formal team meetings and informal unit rounds. 

• Direct Peer Support: For Phase Two implementation, Baptist deployed successful Phase One participants to work shifts alongside nurses on the pilot unit, providing real-time support during the learning process. 

• Collaborative Problem-Solving: The monthly innovation team meetings included frontline nurses in direct discussions with Epic and Microsoft representatives. This approach allowed nurses to voice concerns and see responsive changes to the technology, demonstrating that their feedback was valued and actionable. 

For more research on how to effectively communicate about AI technology in clinical practice, click here.  

Vendor in Brief: Microsoft/ Epic  

Microsoft, a leader in AI-powered physician documentation, has now extended its focus to nursing workflows. In partnership with Epic, the two organizations are advancing clinical documentation capabilities to reduce administrative burden and improve accuracy. As part of this collaboration the Epic Rover mobile application supports Microsoft’s ambient documentation software to enable bedside voice charting. 

Acknowledgement and Implementation Rolodex 

Nursing Catalyst would like to thank the following health system leaders for their time, insight, and generosity in sharing the outcomes of their impactful work.   

For more information on these pilots, please reach out to them at:  

Tammy Daniels, Executive Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, Baptist Health (Jacksonville, Fl), tammy.daniel@bmcjax.com 

Bonnie Williams, Director of Clinical Transformation, Baptist Health (Jacksonville, Fl), bonnie.williams@bmcjax.com