Chesterfield, Mo.-based Mercy reported a 22% reduction in flowsheet documentation time per shift after rolling out Microsoft’s Dragon Copilot AI assistant to nurses, according to a Microsoft customer story published Aug. 14.
Mercy piloted the ambient AI tool in a single innovation unit starting in August 2025 before expanding to additional units, including all medical-surgical units systemwide. The health system operates more than 50 hospitals and nearly 1,000 care sites across Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma, employing about 15,000 nurses.
Within the first 12 weeks of deployment at Mercy’s Fort Smith, Ark., location, incremental nurse overtime fell 29% to 56% and documentation latency dropped 11.7%, per the case study. Nurses surveyed reported a 65% reduction in cognitive load. Patient experience scores for nurse communication rose 20% year over year at the Fort Smith and Springfield, Mo., locations in the same period, based on HCAHPS survey data cited by Microsoft.
“Documentation has been one of the biggest sources of friction for our nurses,” said Stephanie Clements, Mercy’s senior vice president and chief nurse executive.
Mercy began working with Microsoft on Dragon Copilot for nurses in 2023 and was among the health systems that helped shape the ambient AI tool before its commercial nursing release. The system plans to keep expanding the technology to more units as it collects ongoing nurse feedback.
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