How psychiatrist, Dr Tony Fernando, reduced his work day by 2 hours using Heidi

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Background

Dr Fernando is a highly-regarded psychiatrist and sleep specialist in private practice in Auckland, New Zealand. Before private practice, he spent more than two decades working as a clinician in the public health system and in academia. 

A self-described “technophobe” (he only just purchased his first set of wireless headphones), Dr Fernando had been using Heidi for 2 months prior to our interview, but has already noticed a significant impact, which he shares with us today.  

Challenges

High-quality documentation is essential, but it takes time

Like most clinicians, Dr Fernando doesn’t particularly enjoy writing notes, but he is passionate about their importance.

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“We have an extensive list of things to check,” he adds. “We look at medical history, drug and alcohol use, relationships, work, study, childhood, trauma. We want to have an idea of a person’s history and what makes them tick.”

Even though he claims he’s “not the most detailed note taker,” Dr Fernando often ends up with 2-3 pages of handwritten notes after each session, all of which then need to be typed out and transferred to the medical record - accumulating to 2-3 admin hours. 

Documentation overload impacting Dr Fernando’s wellbeing

“The biggest source of my stress is not patients, it’s documentation.”

The overtime hours started taking a toll on Dr Fernando. 

To address this, Dr Fernando said he had tried several dictation programs previously, “But I just never felt satisfied and reverted to my default of writing notes then typing.”

Solution

Luckily, in his search Dr Fernando eventually discovered Heidi, helping him dramatically reduce the double handling of information between the interview and adding a note to the medical record.

“The difference with Heidi is it’s instantaneous,” states Dr Fernando. “It’s real-time. And then after the consultation, I just click stop recording and then generate.” 

Top 3 favourite features:

• Compliance and security, with deidentification of data and no recordings stored - ensuring the sessions remain confidential and secure
• Ambient listening - not having to worry about taking notes, and being more present in the moment
• Versatility of the templates - allowing Dr Fernando generate notes, patient summaries, plans and more with a click of a button

Impact

The end result of this new process is that Dr Fernando has now reduced his daily documentation time from 2 to 3 hours per day, to a mere 30 to 60 minutes.

Key outcomes: 

• Dr Fendando cut his documentation time by more than 50%, without compromising patient care
• Improved connection with patients during the sessions
• Reduced risk of burnout and extending the longevity of his career

Benefits for patient care

“I find technology like Heidi crucial not just in terms of note taking, but the fact that it allows me to focus on the interaction. Knowing that I don’t have to worry much about documentation, it actually affects me because I know I have less work and can concentrate my efforts on the present moment.”

Reducing the risk of burnout

“Burnout is a fact of life for at least 50% of senior doctors,” Dr Fernando stated. “And there are multiple variables as to why doctors burn out. But a known variable is documentation.”

Burnout is a huge topic that we can’t do justice in an article of this size. However, it’s interesting to note that a study on burnout among healthcare clinicians in New Zealand backed up Dr Fernando’s claim about administration rather than patient work being a significant contributing factor. With Heidi relieving clinicians of a lot of the administration burden, they can enjoy longer and more fulfilling careers. 

Beyond the clinical notes

“Heidi is very good when it comes to follow-up appointments. When I see a patient for follow-up, Heidi does her thing. I click ‘generate’ and the notes and plan are done. I just add my bit in terms of Mental Status Exam and diagnosis.”

Dr Fernando has been enjoying the ability to generate a variety of documents - customised to his and his patients’ needs. 

Unexpected benefits

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Dr Fernando feels that, especially for newer practitioners, Heidi is a tremendous asset when it comes to navigating the juggle between note-taking and retaining eye contact. He has become a passionate advocate and enjoys seeing the new generations of psychiatrists thrive with Heidi by their side.

What’s next

Dr Fernando is confident that as he learns to use the expanded functionality of Heidi, his time savings and daily workflow will only improve.

As a clinician and educator with over two decades of experience, Dr Fernando’s offers the following parting advice regarding Heidi:

“My suggestion is to try it for 1 or 2 patients and see what you think. You’ve got nothing to lose. Well, the only thing you lose is extra documentation. Heidi is very user-friendly. And the way I view it is like having an assistant colleague, like a medical student or junior doctor with you, quietly scribing in the background.”