Microsoft extends AI advancements in Dragon Copilot to nurses and partners to enhance patient care

Rhea-AI Summary

Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) on October 16, 2025 expanded Dragon Copilot with the first commercially available ambient AI experience for nursing and new partner extensibility that lets third‑party AI apps and agents run inside the clinical assistant.

Key elements include general availability of a healthcare agent service in Copilot Studio, partner content integrations (Elsevier, OpenEvidence, Wolters Kluwer UpToDate), revenue‑cycle and prior‑authorization partners, and previews such as Canary Speech with early adopters. Microsoft says built‑in knowledge sources and clinical safeguards support reliable generative outputs. The release cites workflow pressures (15‑minute average visits, 2.7 concerns and eight actions per visit; 65% of nurses report high stress; >25% of nurse shift on documentation) and positions Dragon Copilot to reduce documentation burden and streamline revenue cycle tasks. A medical device disclaimer notes Dragon Copilot is not a medical device.

Insights

Healthcare AI Strategist

Microsoft expands Dragon Copilot with ambient nursing workflows and partner extensibility, aiming to cut clinician admin work and surface trusted clinical content.

Microsoft extends Dragon Copilot with the first commercially available ambient experience for nursing and partner extensibility announced on Oct 16, 2025; the platform now integrates curated clinical content (Elsevier, Wolters Kluwer UpToDate, OpenEvidence), task automation for documentation, and partner apps for revenue cycle and prior authorization workflows.

At a basic level this converts voice and contextual data into flowsheet documentation and embeds third‑party AI apps into clinicians' native workflows, which should reduce time spent on clerical tasks given surveys cited that 65% of nurses report high stress and that over 25% of a nurse's shift goes to documentation; clinicians still review and approve records before EHR transfer, preserving human oversight.

Key dependencies and risks include adoption and safe use by frontline staff, partner integration quality, and the effectiveness of built‑in safeguards; the release notes a medical device disclaimer and emphasizes clinical safeguards but gives no quantitative accuracy or validation metrics in this text, so operational risk and compliance checks remain material.

Concrete items to watch over the next 3–12 months: partner preview rollouts (Canary Speech preview and Baptist Health evaluation), general availability of the healthcare agent service in Copilot Studio, and any published accuracy, validation, or compliance evidence that quantifies documentation error rates or workflow time saved.

REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsoft Corp. on Thursday unveiled AI innovations, leveraging ambient and generative technologies, to improve the patient journey, reduce the workflow burden across care teams and enhance the financial integrity of healthcare provider organizations. Microsoft is expanding the capabilities of its leading AI clinical assistant, Dragon Copilot, by introducing the first commercially available ambient experience created for nursing workflows and new extensibility capabilities that allow partners to unlock additional value for Dragon Copilot users. These advancements will enable secure integration of partner AI apps and agents directly into Dragon Copilot, allowing clinicians to gain efficiencies without leaving their workflow, and empower nurses with tailored AI capabilities. Together, these updates reinforce Dragon Copilot's role as a powerful, adaptable ambient intelligence solution that can rapidly deliver additional value for revenue cycle management, clinical intelligence, workflow automation, and streamlined care delivery through its extensible architecture.

"Microsoft continues to advance Dragon Copilot as a leading enterprisewide AI clinical assistant for healthcare provider organizations — now adding support for specialized nursing workflows and an ecosystem of third-party AI extensions," said Mary Varghese Presti, CVP and Chief Operating Officer, Microsoft Health and Life Sciences. "By enabling our customers to extend ambient capabilities across clinical staff and connect their preferred third-party AI apps and agents, we are accelerating the value of their investments across care settings and use cases."

Dragon Copilot advances clinical intelligence at the point of care with partner AI innovations 

Clinicians and the healthcare provider organizations they work for will have access to specialized capabilities without leaving their native workflow by enabling partners to develop AI apps and agents that customers can enable directly in the AI clinical assistant.

Research shows that over half of family medicine visits involve multiple issues, with physicians managing an average of 2.7 concerns and performing eight actions — such as ordering tests, prescribing medication and making referrals — per encounter. Clinicians also handle prior authorizations and coding, while healthcare organizations update CRMs, track referrals, and manage patient engagement through education and surveys. With visits averaging just 15 minutes, this administrative load can compromise care quality and revenue integrity.

To address these challenges, Microsoft is working closely with partners to make new AI innovations available to Dragon Copilot customers. Examples include:

• Trusted clinical insights: Clinicians need reliable, evidence-based information to make informed decisions quickly. Through partnerships with Elsevier,OpenEvidence and Wolters Kluwer UpToDate, Dragon Copilot will provide access to curated clinical content directly within the workflow. Beyond credible reference content, other partners will extend these capabilities to drive smarter, faster decisions through solutions like clinical decision support with Atropos Health, vocal biomarker analysis with Canary Speech, clinical insights to manage at-risk patient populations with Lightbeam Health Solutions and addressing care gaps with Pangaea Data.
• Streamlining revenue cycle management: Access to applications that help streamline and automate critical revenue cycle processes such as revenue cycle intelligence with Ensemble and Regard, and prior authorization with Cohere Health,Humata Health and Rhyme, in addition to precision care economics at the point-of-care with RhythmX AI, can help reduce administrative complexity and improve patient experiences.
• Enhancing patient experience: Patient engagement doesn't end at the point of care. Press Ganey will leverage Dragon Copilot's ambient listening to turn patient-clinician conversations into actionable insights — combining real-time dialogue with patient experience data to help healthcare organizations anticipate patient needs, reduce clinician burden, and create more connected, human-centered care experiences.
• Integrating smart hospitals and virtual care: Partners such as Artisight and hellocare.ai are exploring how voice and other contextual data from clinical interactions captured by AI-driven smart hospital and virtual care platforms can be converted into documentation aligned with standard Dragon Copilot workflows.

These advancements represent the next wave of capabilities designed to enhance care delivery, improve efficiency and elevate the patient experience.

Select early adopters are already exploring these capabilities. Canary Speech, for example, is currently available in preview, with organizations like Baptist Health evaluating how these partner solutions can be seamlessly integrated into clinical workflow.

"The ecosystem Microsoft is creating with Dragon Copilot is essential for scalable innovation in healthcare," said Brett Oliver, MD, chief medical information officer for Baptist Health. "Rather than relying on isolated point solutions, we're able to adopt multiple tools — like Canary Speech — within a unified, ambient workflow. This approach allows us to advance diagnostics and care delivery without disrupting the clinician's experience." 

Building on this momentum, Microsoft is extending its commitment to partner-driven innovation with the general availability of our healthcare agent service in Copilot Studio. Built-in knowledge sources and clinical safeguards help ensure that generative AI outputs are reliable and trustworthy — supporting safe, informed decision-making at the point of care. This robust, compliant foundation enables partners to build solutions that can be connected into Dragon Copilot, accelerating the delivery of specialized capabilities within the clinician's native workflow.

Reducing nurse burnout and improving patient experience through the industry's first generally available commercial ambient AI solution for nursing

Amid growing demands and mounting pressures in healthcare settings, nurses are facing unprecedented challenges that impact both their well-being and their ability to deliver care. A recent survey found that 65% of nurses report high levels of stress and burnout, and another survey found that more than 25% of a nurse's shift is consumed by documentation and administrative tasks.¹

Dragon Copilot now equips nurses with an advanced suite of tailored, ambient-enabled AI capabilities that streamline documentation, surface clinical insights and automate routine tasks directly within their workflow:

• Streamline documentation: Nurse-patient interactions are ambiently captured at the point of care or on the go, then intelligently transformed into flowsheet documentation that, once reviewed and approved by the nurse, can be seamlessly transferred into the Electronic Health Record (EHR) — reducing administrative burden and freeing up time for direct patient care. Nurses can pause while recording to preview what's been captured and edit for accuracy, and access organization-provided guidance within the workflow to stay aligned with internal policies before filing documentation into the EHR.
• Surface information: Nurses can seamlessly access trusted medical content resources within the workflow, reducing tab-hopping and elevating care quality.
• Automate tasks: AI takes on routine tasks, enabling nurses to more efficiently draft notes and summarize patient interactions — reducing clicks, accelerating documentation and closing the loop faster.

These innovations are a direct result of Microsoft's multiyear collaboration with nurse leaders and frontline nursing staff across several healthcare organizations in the U.S. to deeply understand and support the complexities of the largest workforce in healthcare.

"Partnering with Microsoft to shape the nursing solution has been transformative for Mercy nurses," said Tracy Breece, Mercy executive director of nursing informatics. "We not only adopted a technology — we co-created one that reflects the realities of nursing. We've heard from nurses with decades of experience, many of whom were first reluctant to use the new technology, how appreciative they are for it in reducing anxiety and staying on time for admissions and discharges. These breakthroughs happen when technology is built with — and for — those who use it daily. This technology helps nurses feel more confident, connected and supported in delivering care."

Read more about the new Dragon Copilot capabilities here. To learn more about Microsoft for Healthcare, please visit the Microsoft health press site here, or visit us at booth #3860 at HLTH.

MEDICAL DEVICE DISCLAIMER: Microsoft's Dragon Copilot is not designed, intended or made available as a medical device, and is not designed or intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, treatment or judgment and should not be used to replace or as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, treatment or judgment.

Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft) creates platforms and tools powered by AI to deliver innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of our customers. The technology company is committed to making AI available broadly and doing so responsibly, with a mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

¹ Nurses' job burnout and its association with work environment, empowerment and psychological stress during COVID‐19 pandemic - PMC
A 36-Hospital Time and Motion Study: How Do Medical-Surgical Nurses Spend Their Time? - PMC

 

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SOURCE Microsoft Corp.

FAQ

What did Microsoft announce for Dragon Copilot on October 16, 2025 (MSFT)?

Microsoft announced the first commercially available ambient AI experience for nursing and new partner extensibility for Dragon Copilot, plus GA of a healthcare agent service in Copilot Studio.

How will the October 2025 Dragon Copilot updates affect nurses using MSFT technology?

Updates provide ambient documentation, tailored nursing workflows, in‑workflow access to trusted content, and automation to reduce documentation time and routine tasks.

Which partners are integrated with Dragon Copilot after the October 16, 2025 update (MSFT)?

Announced partners include Elsevier, OpenEvidence, Wolters Kluwer UpToDate, Cohere Health, Canary Speech, Ensemble, Regard, RhythmX AI, Press Ganey, and others for clinical and revenue‑cycle use cases.

Is Dragon Copilot considered a medical device after the October 2025 release by Microsoft (MSFT)?

No. Microsoft states Dragon Copilot is not designed or intended as a medical device and is not a substitute for professional medical advice or diagnosis.

When did Microsoft make the healthcare agent service for Copilot Studio generally available for Dragon Copilot (MSFT)?

Microsoft said the healthcare agent service in Copilot Studio is generally available as part of the October 16, 2025 announcement.

What workflow pressures does Microsoft cite to justify Dragon Copilot enhancements for healthcare (MSFT)?

Microsoft cites 15‑minute average visits with 2.7 concerns and eight actions per visit, 65% of nurses reporting high stress, and over 25% of a nurse's shift spent on documentation.