How this AI note-taker gives your doctor more time for actual doctoring

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As a cardiologist, Shiv Rao had gotten used to “pajama work”—documentation done after clinical hours, often late at night. Most clinicians report spending almost two hours a day after their offices close on typing up the notes and records necessary for treatment plans and insurance payment.

That’s why Rao launched Abridge, an AI platform that can turn conversations between doctors and patients into clinical notes in real time. “These conversations drive so many workflows,” he says, “and all of us want the ability to be more present during them.”

While documenting the visit, Abridge’s platform can generate insurance billing codes based on diagnoses and treatments being discussed.

Last year, the company boosted its language-recognition capabilities via an Nvidia partnership (it now understands nearly 100 languages) and allowed doctors to access the platform directly within the widely used medical record software Epic. Abridge says its tool has helped reduce burnout by as much as 55%.

Abridge raised $400 million in 2024, adding an average of a new client each week, including Kaiser Permanente and Johns Hopkins Medicine, where Abridge reaches 6,700 clinicians. “We want to be part of every single medical encounter,” Rao says.

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