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Practice Management/Leadership

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Reduce Administrative Burden in PM&R Chief Residency

Saturday, October 25, 2025
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM MT
Location: Kiosk 7

    Primary Author(s)

  • Louis Nikolis, MD

    Fellow
    UC Davis Pain Medicine
    Sacramento, California

    • Co-Author(s)

  • AN

    Andrea Nikolis, MD

    Fellow Physician
    University of California Davis Division of Pain Medicine
    Sacramento, California

  • CN

    Christian Nicolosi, MD

    Resident
    University of Colorado PM&R Program
    HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colorado

  • AM

    Adele Meron, MD

    Associate Professor
    University of Colorado School of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
    Denver, Colorado

Disclosure(s):
Louis Nikolis, MD: No financial relationships to disclose
Andrea Nikolis, MD: No financial relationships to disclose
Christian Nicolosi, MD: No financial relationships to disclose
Background and/or Objectives: Chief residents in PM&R face a high volume of administrative tasks that can limit time for patient care, teaching, mentorship, and personal development. This project aimed to evaluate whether artificial intelligence (AI), specifically ChatGPT, could reduce administrative burden and improve workflow efficiency for the chief resident in a PM&R program.

Design: A quality improvement initiative using a before-and-after self-assessment design. The chief residents integrated ChatGPT into daily administrative workflows and compared time spent on tasks pre- and post-implementation.

Setting : PM&R Residency Program Leadership

Participants : Chief residents at a single PM&R residency program

Interventions: ChatGPT was used to assist with administrative duties including drafting of proposals, creation of educational materials, email drafting, schedule communication, policy summarization, and document creation.

Main Outcome Measures: Primary outcome: hours per week spent on administrative tasks. Secondary outcomes: perceived workload, time reallocated to clinical duties, and satisfaction with AI integration.

Results: AI integration reduced administrative time by 4–6 hours per week and reduced perceived administrative burden. The chief residents reported feeling more organized, less overwhelmed, and more effective in communication and task management. The AI tool also facilitated faster turnaround on routine responsibilities, freeing up mental bandwidth for clinical and educational leadership. The chief residents perceived that they were able to accomplish more during their chief year due to the incorporation of this tool. Importantly, it also enhanced the ability to be present for their co-residents and patients.

Conclusions: ChatGPT effectively reduced administrative burden for PM&R chief residents, enabling more time for patient care and in-person academic activities. These findings suggest that AI can be a valuable tool for improving efficiency and wellbeing in residency leadership roles.