Ambient scribe in general practice: a multi-perspective before-after longitudinal mixed-methods study

High workload among general practitioners (GPs) threatens clinician well-being and quality of care. Ambient scribes offer a potential solution, but evidence on their effectiveness is limited and overlooks the patient perspective. We conducted a prospective multicentre, multi-perspective, before–after longitudinal mixed-methods study on an ambient scribe in the Netherlands with 12 GPs and GPs in training without prior experience with ambient scribes. Outcomes were assessed over a two-day baseline and two-day intervention period. The primary outcome was clinical documentation time and secondary outcomes included total consultation time, documentation quantity and quality, patient and GP experiences, acceptability, and usage. Between December 2024 and July 2025, 535 patient consultations were observed. Clinical documentation time was reduced by 42.7 s per consultation (95% CI − 56.29 to −30.78; p < 0.0001), while total consultation time did not change. Qualitative analyses showed reduced perceived workload among GPs and, for some patients, improved communication. Potential drawbacks were inaccurate summaries, barriers for discussing sensitive information, and interference with the clinician’s reasoning process. These findings show that ambient scribing may meaningfully reduce documentation burden and support communication, but further investigation is required to understand and mitigate unintended consequences for quality and accessibility of care.