Burnout is more than a buzzword in rehabilitation and physical therapy. Faced with diminishing reimbursements, an aging patient population driving demand, and a persistent labor shortage, therapists are being asked to do more with less. Documentation, already time-consuming, is a top contributor to provider fatigue.
In a recent webinar I led with my colleague, Ben Sachs, PT, DPT, he shared that for every hour clinicians spend doing documentation at home, it increases odds of burnout. This sobering trend signals the need for smarter workflows.
So how are we building a better path forward? Many practices are taking advantage of the benefits of ambient AI.
What Is Ambient AI?
In the healthcare setting, ambient AI leverages real-time transcription to passively document clinical conversations between providers and patients. Unlike traditional dictation tools or after-the-fact note-taking, ambient AI operates in the background to capture and process relevant details in real time during the encounter, reducing manual effort.
These tools are increasingly common across healthcare, but the benefits of ambient AI are especially powerful in high-volume, hands-on disciplines like rehab therapy.
Benefits of Ambient AI Tools
In one 2025 quality improvement study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), participating clinicians reported reduced documentation burden, improved accuracy, and more meaningful patient engagement.
Today, AI tools like ScribeIQâ„¢ leverage ambient ai to benefit therapy organizations by:
1. Improving Efficiency (and Reducing Provider Burden)
Ambient AI scribes can automate much of the documentation process. For physical, occupational, and speech therapists, this means no more juggling between patient care and typing notes into an EMR. Documentation begins and ends with the session (without extending into evenings or weekends).
2. Supporting Accuracy and Consistency
AI scribes trained on healthcare-specific models can deliver precise transcription and structured notes, minimizing variability from one therapist to another. When built directly into the EMR, these tools can do even more, like supporting clean claims and compliant billing with accurate CPT and ICD-10 code suggestions.
3. Putting High-quality Patient Care at the Forefront
Ambient AI allows providers to stay focused on the person in front of them. During a patient visit, PTs and rehab therapy providers can listen and ask questions that strengthen patient engagement, and use real-time transcriptions to review cases and create tailored treatment plans.Â
4. Boosting Provider Satisfaction and Retention
When documentation becomes less of a chore, work-life balance improves. Therapists using ambient AI report higher job satisfaction, lower burnout, and more time to spend on professional growth or strengthening patient relationships.
Why Native-Built Ambient AI MattersÂ
Not all AI scribes are created equal. Raintree’s AI scribe product, ScribeIQâ„¢, is the only EMR-native solution built from the ground up to serve the unique workflows of rehab therapy. Here’s how it works:
Real-time Intelligent Transcription
Using ScribeIQâ„¢, a therapist and patient can focus on their visit while the system intelligently filters and captures relevant clinical information on their computer, tablet, or mobile device.
AI Generates and Populates Complex Notes
From this data, AI quickly generates a session transcript and can then produce almost the entire SOAP note, including information such as subjective data, objective data, suggested goals, assessment, and other relevant clinical data. With the click of a button, this data will quickly and reliably complete the Raintree note, powered by a deeply embedded integration with the Raintree platform.Â
Predictive Coding and Compliance Support
ScribeIQâ„¢ also offers note quality guidance, identifying areas and opportunities for clinicians to provide more robust and comprehensive documentation.
Additionally, ScribeIQâ„¢’s predictive coding suggestions identify CPT codes and ICD-10 codes based on the visit and clinical coding rules and best practices to ensure physical therapists are being paid for the work they do.Â
The proprietary AI also aggregates data for other leaders and organizations at a compliance level that can track its overall efficiency. ScribeIQ™ generates a total efficiency score, and it can show how each clinician is performing across all fields.
Native-Built for a Better Experience
A powerful tool is only as effective as it is usable. And that’s where native design and embedded technology makes all the difference. As an extension of the Raintree platform, ScribeIQ™ offers a seamless workflow that minimizes documentation time while maximizing quality. I dove into all the differences between native AI and third-party AI integration in a recent article.
Future-focused Technology Puts Care First
Every patient journey is personal. That’s why ScribeIQâ„¢ offers a solution that places genuine care and efficiency at the forefront.Â
At Raintree, we believe technology should enhance—not replace—the human connection that defines rehabilitation. By taking advantage of the benefits of ambient AI working behind the scenes, therapists can deliver better care, reclaim their time, and feel more fulfilled in their work.
About the Author
Ben Catania is the Director of AI Product at Raintree, bringing extensive expertise in AI and software engineering to healthcare applications. He co-founded Yoomi Health, an AI rehabilitation therapy technology company acquired by Raintree, and previously led advertising performance initiatives at Meta. With a background in information science and economics from Cornell University, Ben has dedicated his career to bridging the gap between cutting-edge artificial intelligence capabilities and practical clinical applications that enhance patient care and streamline provider workflows.
