The Expanding Role of HI Professionals in the Age of Artificial Intelligence and Ambient Technology

Artificial intelligence (AI) and ambient technologies are reshaping healthcare in ways that few could have predicted even a few years ago. For health information (HI) professionals, this transformation is not a threat, it’s an invitation to lead.

For decades, HI has served as the foundation of healthcare integrity, ensuring documentation accuracy, privacy, and compliance. As automation increases and documentation becomes more intelligent, these same principles are now guiding how we design, deploy, and govern AI systems across the care continuum. Far from replacing HI professionals, these tools are amplifying our impact, creating new roles that blend technical acumen with human oversight, compliance, and education.

Nearly 90 percent of health systems are expected to adopt ambient AI scribes. These tools capture and structure clinical conversations in real time, reducing documentation burden for providers while improving note completeness and accuracy. But not all ambient systems are created equal. The latest generation of coding-aware ambient scribes integrates compliance logic and clinical reasoning to identify gaps and suggest clarifications during or immediately after the encounter.

This “point-of-care coding” functionality has enormous potential, but only when governed appropriately. If a prompt influences coded data, it must follow compliant query standards with clear clinical indicators, non-leading language, and an auditable trail.

That governance foundation, one long upheld by the HI profession, will be what ensures ambient tools advance integrity without overreach.

Traditional documentation integrity practices have always been retrospective: coders and clinical documentation integrity (CDI) professionals reviewed notes after the encounter, issuing queries to clarify missing details or resolve discrepancies. Ambient AI upends that workflow. With the ability to flag documentation issues in real time, the HI function shifts from after-the-fact correction to proactive prevention.

Shaping Frameworks for Intelligent Documentation and AI Oversight

As with each technological evolution, it is our moment to lead in shaping governance frameworks for intelligent documentation and AI oversight.

By pairing AI capabilities with human expertise, HI professionals can ensure accuracy and compliance are built into documentation from the start, rather than repaired later through audits or denials.

This isn’t automation replacing humans. It’s automation empowering humans to focus on higher-value oversight and decision support.

We are starting to see a clearer picture of what this evolution looks like in practice. Across leading organizations, new hybrid roles are emerging:

• CDI Specialists are evolving into Real-Time Documentation Integrity Advisors, collaborating directly with clinicians during encounters to ensure compliant, high-quality documentation.
• Coders are becoming AI Auditors and Complex Case Specialists, validating model-generated codes, resolving exceptions, and ensuring defensible records.
• HI Generalists are transforming into Workflow Optimizers and Data Stewards, improving documentation processes, reducing duplication, and strengthening data integrity.
• Privacy and Compliance Leaders are taking on roles such as AI Governance Specialists, partnering with information technology (IT) and legal teams to audit model transparency, monitor for bias, and ensure ethical use of protected health information (PHI).

Newer roles, such as Clinical AI Trainers, AI Workflow Optimizers, and CDI plus Analytics Hybrids, are also emerging. These professionals teach models, validate AI outputs, and align reasoning models with coding and reimbursement standards. Each represents a natural extension of HI’s existing competencies in data quality, regulatory interpretation, and HI governance.

We know that AI is only as good as the data on which it’s trained. When built on biased or incomplete information, it can perpetuate errors or inequities in care. HI professionals are uniquely positioned to identify these issues early, bringing the clinical, regulatory, and ethical lens required to keep AI grounded in integrity.

This will require new governance infrastructures, AI audit services, and education programs to prepare HI professionals to serve as the human-in-the-loop validating, auditing, and governing intelligent documentation systems.

The path forward is clear: engage early in AI adoption, invest in continuous education, and shape the standards that will define trustworthy, compliant AI in healthcare.

Every technological leap in healthcare has sparked anxiety and opportunity, from electronic health record (EHR) adoption to computer-assisted coding. Each time, the HI profession has evolved and emerged stronger.

AI and ambient technologies are not the end of the HI profession; they’re the next chapter in its evolution. This won't be easy, and it won't happen overnight. But if we show up early, stay curious, and insist on being part of the conversation, we'll shape what comes next. And honestly? That's exactly where we need to be.

Jennifer Mueller, MBA, RHIA, SHIMSS, FACHE, FAHIMA, FACHDM, is AHIMA Senior Vice President, Health Information Career Advancement and Academic Affairs.