From 30 years of note-taking fatigue to clinical freedom: Dr. Olga Lavalle's story

Background

Dr. Olga Lavalle leads a well-established private group practice with over 30 years of experience in clinical psychology. Dedicated to delivering high-quality care and supervision, her practice supports diverse patients, including university students and training psychologists.

Challenge

"It wears you down": The documentation burden

After three decades in clinical psychology, Dr. Olga Lavalle had reached a breaking point with clinical documentation. Despite her extensive experience and successful practice, the constant pressure of note-taking was taking its toll.

"When it comes down to it, I'm tired of notes as you would be," Dr. Lavalle reflects. "It wears you down. You get sick of it."

As a practice leader supervising multiple clinicians and hosting university students, she needed a solution that would not only address her documentation challenges but also set a new standard for modern psychological practice.

Solution

When evaluating AI solutions, Dr. Lavalle discovered Heidi during its early development stages. Her technical assessment was thorough and practical:

"When I looked at other AI systems, they just didn't gel with me," she explains. "Heidi was evolving to be something not just for doctors but for clinical psychologists. When I was giving feedback, they were listening - that's why I've stuck with Heidi."

Key factors in choosing Heidi:

• Superior voice recognition without specialized equipment
• Psychological practice-specific capabilities
• Responsive development team incorporating feedback
• Seamless integration with Australian privacy principles
• Multi-voice recognition for team meetings

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"I actually teach students from the university who are clinical master students about how to use AI note-taking with Heidi," she shares. “The university fully supports this innovation, recognizing it as part of real-world clinical experience.”

Pro tip from Dr. Lavalle: "For team meetings, I have everyone go round and say their name. That's how Heidi picks up who said what really clearly."

Impact

In the time since adoption, Dr. Lavalle's practice has transformed in multiple ways:

Time and energy recovery

• Saves approximately 2 hours per day on documentation
• Eliminates end-of-day documentation pressure
• Enables flexible note completion without compromising accuracy

Enhanced clinical quality

"It actually allows you to look at the session more objectively," Dr. Lavalle notes. "You can get a good feel and work out a treatment plan by looking at it from a distance, rather than being too connected to your notes."

Improvements include:

• More objective clinical perspective
• Enhanced treatment planning
• Better capture of session nuances
• Ability to review transcripts for missed details

The relationship revolution

"The clients have all agreed to allow me to use it," Dr. Lavalle reports. "They're giving feedback about how good it is that I don't have to take notes in session. It's changed the therapeutic relationship."

Team efficiency boost

• Streamlined team meeting documentation
• Enhanced collaboration with administrative staff
• Improved supervision capabilities
• Better training environment for students

What’s next

Dr. Lavalle continues to explore new applications for Heidi in her practice. She's particularly interested in expanding its use for:

• Specialized documentation requirements (like workers' compensation forms)
• Enhanced supervision frameworks
• Advanced clinical interview templates
• Integrated case formulation approaches

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As both a pioneering user and template creator, Dr. Lavalle sees AI as the future of clinical documentation in behavioral health. Her templates are now among the most used in the Heidi community, helping shape the future of psychological practice documentation.

Want to transform your practice like Dr. Lavalle? Discover how Heidi Health can revolutionize your clinical documentation while strengthening therapeutic relationships.

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