The impact of an ambient documentation tool on the care experience of clinical pharmacists embedded in ambulatory clinics: A mixed-methods evaluation.

PURPOSE: Ambient documentation tools (ADTs) are an emerging technology designed to help clinicians complete documentation more effectively with less time and effort. This study aimed to understand the impact of ADT on the pharmacist care experience. METHODS: Data from Epic Signal, surveys, and interviews were collected between February 2024 and October 2025 for 41 medication therapy disease management (MTDM) pharmacists given ADT licenses across 33 primary care and subspecialty clinics at a large integrated health system. Study variables included the pharmacist ADT utilization rate and changes from before to after ADT implementation in the time spent in notes per encounter, as well as pharmacists' perceptions of documentation burden, patient access, undivided attention for patients, afterhours documentation, and burnout. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, regression models, and comparative tests of pre- vs postimplementation statistical significance and effect size. Qualitative data were mined for exemplary excerpts to deepen understanding. RESULTS: Thirty pharmacists from 28 clinics utilized ADT and provided usable responses. ADT was utilized for 65% of eligible encounters, and the average time in notes per encounter fell by 86 seconds after ADT implementation (P < 0.001). Pharmacist perceptions of documentation burden (P < 0.0001), undivided attention ability (P < 0.0001), and afterhours documentation (P = 0.003) improved after ADT implementation. Interview responses were largely positive for most variables and revealed multiple explanatory mechanisms. CONCLUSION: ADT meaningfully improved several care experience aspects for MTDM pharmacists over a short period of time (in 2 to 7 months). Future research with larger samples and longer time horizons across multiple health systems is needed to investigate the full and sustained impact of ADT on the care experience.