Background: Artificial intelligence is increasingly being used in healthcare to reduce administrative work. One promising application is ambient scribing, an AI-based tool that listens to a consultation between a GP and patient and automatically generates a draft of the clinical documentation. The GP can then review and correct the draft rather than writing the entire consultation note themselves. Several Dutch regional GP organizations have already introduced ambient scribing in everyday practice. This provides a unique opportunity to study not only whether the technology works, but what happens when it is introduced on a larger scale in real-world general practice. This master's project will investigate the implementation of ambient scribing in GP practices in the Netherlands, with particular attention to differences between practices and to factors that help or hinder successful and sustainable use.

Research question: What factors influence the successful implementation and sustainable use of ambient scribing in Dutch general practice?

Methods: The study will use real-world implementation projects in three regions, for example, Amsterdam (where a large-scale implementation program has been running since 2025), Rotterdam (where implementation started in 2024), MVS and DWO regions (where implementation started in 2025). Together, these programs involve more than 500 general practices, providing data from a large and diverse primary-care setting.

The project is part of a larger research program studying the implementation and scaling of ambient scribing in Dutch general practice. Within the larger context qualitative and quantitative data of implementation and usage are collected and analyzed. Those quantitative analyses will be conducted by another researchers. This master's project will focus primarily on the qualitative component and investigate the contextual factors that help explain these implementation outcomes.

Qualitative data will come from interviews with people involved in implementation, including super-users (healthcare professionals or practices that use ambient scribing extensively and sustainably), quitters (users who started using the technology but later stopped), and other stakeholders (policy makers, organizational leaders involved in the implementation).

The student will conduct new interviews, analyze existing interview data, or combine both. The project description currently envisages approximately 10–15 interviews per stakeholder group, with interviews continuing until sufficient information has been obtained.

The interviews will be analyzed using thematic analysis. The student will look for recurring patterns in participants' experiences, such as organizational factors, professional attitudes and experiences, technical issues, training and implementation support, reasons for discontinuation, and conditions that could support future use or re-adoption.

General timeline: This project will start by January 2027 and will last at least for 16 weeks.

More information: This project provides hands-on experience with qualitative health research, semi-structured interviewing, thematic analysis, implementation of digital health and AI in healthcare, working with healthcare professionals and other stakeholders, interpreting real-world experiences, translating research findings into practical recommendations.

For more information, contact: Dr. Habib Pirnejad ([email protected])