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Joel Wretblad

August 7, 2026 · Joel Wretblad

Where does the time go in an assessment?

It's not the notethat takes time.It's the report.

We asked 75 psychologists where the time and energy actually goes in assessment work. One answer kept coming back.

75 responses87% licensed psychologists, 13% in supervised practice (PTP)60% public healthcarePrivate & municipal
Behind the numbers

Behind every assessment in the queue is a person waiting.

A child not getting the right support at school. An adult who has spent years without understanding why everyday life feels heavier than it should. A family holding its breath before news that could change everything.

Queues for neuropsychiatric assessments are long, often months. And as they grow, psychologists and other care staff carry a particular kind of weight: knowing there are more people who need help than there is time to give.

It has a name: moral distress. Knowing what would be right, but being prevented from doing it by time, resources and a system that doesn't stretch far enough. It isn't having a lot to do - it's going home every evening carrying the people you didn't get to.

When a psychologist spends several hours on a single report, those are hours that don't go to the next person in the queue. So we wanted to understand exactly where the time goes. We asked 75 psychologists.

The finding
64%

point to the report as the most time-consuming part of the documentation.

Which part of the documentation takes the most time?

n = 75
Report / assessment document64%
Compiling the case history19%
Clinical notes13%
Referrals3%
Test summaries1%

The clinical note, the piece most AI tools solve, is one of the smallest pieces. The weight sits on the report: pulling the entire assessment together.

The hours

An assessment isn't a note that takes a few minutes. It's hours of compilation per case.

~8 h

documentation per assessment on average. Nearly 6 in 10 spend at least 7 hours.

60%

feel stress or mental strain from the documentation often or very often.

3 of 10

are satisfied with their current documentation process. The rest see it as a problem to solve.

The need

And psychologists already know where they want help.

What should an AI tool help with?

multiple answers possible
Draft report (own templates)69%
Summarize test results64%
Clinical notes61%
Transcribe conversations55%
Quality control of reports44%

The top request is help with the report, but built on the psychologist's own templates and ways of working, not a generic text template.

Trust

But trust is the condition. Without it, there is no tool.

The three biggest objections are all about accountability: confidentiality and data protection (75%), the risk of incorrect content (69%), and patient safety (68%). And when we asked what would make them feel safe, one answer stood out clearly above the rest:

50%

choose being able to review and edit everything themselves as the most important factor for trust. No other factor was chosen even half as often.

Psychologists don't want to be replaced by AI. They want a draft they can own, review, and stand behind clinically.

Ready

The market isn't waiting. It has already started.

60%

have already used AI tools in their clinical work. A quarter do so regularly.

76%

are open to testing an AI tool built specifically for assessments.

73%

believe AI will become fairly or very important in assessment work within five years.

The tools already in use, like ChatGPT, Copilot, Tandem and Curastream, are broad clinical aids. They solve the note. But what psychologists actually struggle with, the report, remains unanswered.

Our conclusion

That's why we build Edith for the part that actually takes time.

The survey confirms what we started from: the real pain isn't in the clinical note that takes a few minutes, it's in the report that takes several hours. That shapes everything we build. For every hour we free up, someone is seen sooner.

01

Built for the report, not the note

Edith is an assessment platform. It transcribes the conversations, weighs together prior record information and test results, and drafts a report on your own template. Not a note-taker, but help with the entire compilation.

Tied to the finding that 64% point to the report as most time-consuming
02

You review and own every word

Edith delivers a draft, never a finished decision. Everything is traceable to its source and editable by you, so clinical responsibility always stays with the psychologist.

Tied to the fact that 50% want to review and edit it themselves
03

Confidentiality and patient safety from the ground up

Data security isn't a setting added at the end but a foundation from the start, so the tool can be used in live clinical practice, not just on anonymized test cases.

Tied to the fact that 75% cite confidentiality and data protection as their biggest objection
From our pilot measurements
380

assessments created in Edith so far

~50%

faster assessments for current customers

~20 h

saved per neuropsychiatric assessment

Based on pilot measurements and customer accounts from current customers.

Next step

Want to see how Edith drafts a report?

About the survey

The survey was conducted in April 2026 among 75 practicing psychologists and psychologists in supervised practice in Sweden. 60% work in public healthcare (region/county council), 28% in private clinics and 12% in municipal/social services; 49% work with children and young people. Questions with multiple possible answers add up to more than 100%. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number. The survey is a needs assessment, not a clinical study.