Dr Alexander Ho is a family medicine specialist based in Singapore, running his own private clinic. In a fast-paced environment where clinicians switch seamlessly between English, Mandarin, Malay, and local dialects, he cares for a diverse patient base who expect both linguistic and clinical fluency. Over the years, he has adopted a range of digital tools to improve his practice—but found himself spending too much time on documentation until Heidi entered the picture.
Challenges
As a solo practitioner managing a high volume of outpatient consultations, Dr Ho faces many of the same pressures as other GPs in Singapore—balancing time with patients, ensuring accurate records, and navigating multiple languages in a single consultation.
Managing multilingual consultations
“One of the features that I like from Heidi is actually the multi-language function. This is very important to practice in Singapore because we do have a variety of languages that we speak as well as sometimes some dialects.”
Dr Ho often switches between English and Mandarin when consulting patients. Before Heidi, this required him to translate and rewrite notes after the consult, taking precious time away from patient care.
Keeping documentation efficient and consistent
“Now, Heidi is my main go-to for all my note taking and my scribing for clinic use. I barely do any typing on my own nowadays.”
With each consult generating detailed notes, maintaining consistency was a challenge. Manual typing not only slowed him down but also increased the risk of variation between patient encounters.
For years, he experimented with different tools and formats to streamline his process. That all changed when he discovered Heidi through a colleague’s recommendation.
Solution
Dr Ho was introduced to Heidi by a friend who was already using it in Singapore. From his first trial, he recognised that Heidi’s multilingual transcription and translation capabilities could make a real difference in his everyday work.
“I use it for all my consults. It’s accurate for my use, and it saves me a lot of time.”
He now uses Heidi as his main scribe for all patient encounters—switching naturally between languages while the system keeps up. Beyond transcription, he has also started using Heidi to translate and summarise medical reports from other regions, such as Taiwan and China, improving how he communicates with both patients and other clinicians.
His favourite features include:
Multilingual recognition – seamless transcription across English, Mandarin, and dialects during live consults.
Smart document translation – converting Chinese medical reports into English (and vice versa) within seconds.
Meeting summaries – generating formal summaries or minutes for family conferences and discussions directly from transcripts.
Impact
Since adopting Heidi, Dr Ho’s clinical workflow has transformed. He describes a noticeable reduction in typing, faster note generation, and more time spent engaging directly with patients.
“Now, Heidi is my main go-to. I barely do any typing on my own nowadays.”
Key outcomes:
Significant time savings on every consultation by automating note-taking.
Improved multilingual accuracy, helping him communicate better with patients who prefer non-English languages.
Consistent and professional documentation, especially for formal meeting notes and medical summaries.
Enhanced collaboration, as Heidi’s translation tools make it easier to exchange documents with overseas clinics.
Reducing administrative workload
“I can now focus more on patients. I just speak naturally, and Heidi captures it all.”
With admin time significantly reduced, Dr Ho is now able to be truly present with his patients - providing them with greater quality of care and a positive experience during their consultation.
Supporting multilingual care
“It’s very important to have multilingual function because in Singapore, we speak many languages and dialects.”
Dr Ho can now facilitate consultations within multiple language settings, ensuring an inclusive environment where detailed and accurate notes can be produced for patients of all backgrounds.
Empowering digital confidence
“I love the new design, the new interface. It’s clean and feels like something built for clinicians.”
An unexpected benefit has been how easily Dr Ho could adapt to a fully digital workflow. He no longer worries about typing or formatting during consults, freeing up headspace to focus on his patients instead.
What’s next
With Heidi, Dr Ho feels ready for the next phase of digital health in Singapore. He’s looking forward to more local support and upcoming community features that will connect clinicians in the region.
“I hope to have a physical event where we can exchange knowledge in terms of Heidi usage. I’d love to see how other people are using it.”
He believes that as Heidi continues to localise for Singapore—with regional data hosting and workshops on best practices—it will empower more clinicians to deliver multilingual, patient-centred care without the administrative burden.
“I’m happy to hear that you guys are looking to come into Asia. There’s definitely a good entry.”
