Artificial Intelligence helps Munson health care provider focus more on patients, less on screens

August 17, 2026 - 20:35

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kansas - Mikaela Altis, a physician assistant in the primary care department at Munson Army Health Center, says a new AI tool has changed how she works with patients. Instead of typing notes while talking, she now keeps her eyes on the person across from her. The ambient listening technology captures the conversation, turns it into a draft clinical note, and lets her focus on what matters.

Altis said the change has been significant. She can ask more follow-up questions and actually listen to answers without splitting her attention between the patient and a computer screen. After clinic hours, she no longer spends an hour or two finishing notes. The draft is already there, and she just reviews and edits it.

The system works in the background during visits. It listens to the dialogue between clinician and patient, then uses artificial intelligence to organize the information into a structured note. Clinicians still review everything before it goes into the medical record, so accuracy and patient privacy stay in their hands.

For Altis, the biggest win is the human connection. Medicine, she said, is about people. The less time she spends staring at a monitor, the more she can actually be present with the person who came in for help. The technology does not replace her judgment. It just removes some of the clerical burden that has grown heavier in recent years.

Munson Army Health Center is part of a broader push within military medicine to adopt tools that reduce burnout and improve the patient experience. Early feedback from staff has been positive, and leaders are watching how the tool performs in daily use. For now, Altis is simply glad to have more time for the reason she went into medicine in the first place: caring for people.