A new era in paediatric care: Dr. Catherine Skellern’s experience with Heidi

Background

Dr. Catherine Skellern is a developmental paediatrician with over 20 years of experience at a specialist private paediatric practice in Brisbane. She has dedicated her career to working with children and families, helping them navigate the complexities of developmental and behavioral challenges. Dr. Skellern’s passion for paediatrics is reflected in her role as a trusted clinician, offering guidance and support to families as children with developmental challenges grow from early childhood into young adulthood.

Challenges

Despite her extensive experience, Dr. Skellern faced several challenges within her private practice as the demands on her time and resources grew.

Documentation overload

"The documentation demands have increased a lot over the years, and in a private practice, it gets really stressful when appointment times are extended because you are just trying to get everything done, but you end up falling further and further behind your schedule."

Dr. Skellern vividly recalls a day when she had to rush through writing detailed referral letters for three different children in one afternoon. Despite the urgency, she knew that the quality of these documents was important for ensuring proper care coordination.

"I felt like I was typing as fast as I could, but I knew the quality wasn’t where I wanted it to be. I just didn’t have time to engage with the families the way I wanted while trying to get the paperwork done."

Limited time for patient focus

"My days are long, and the volume of patients means there is always pressure to keep up with documentation during face-to-face consults."

Dr. Skellern recalls a consultation with a child who was struggling with severe anxiety.

"I was trying to engage with the child while typing notes at the same time. The child could tell I wasn’t fully present. It made me realise how important it is to be fully engaged in the moment, especially with kids who have communication challenges."

Struggles with keeping up with a growing workload

"It's always been an incredibly complex process to create documentation that is fit for purpose for each healthcare encounter."

The increasing complexity of documentation, especially when incorporating information from multiple sources, like parents, teachers, allied health professionals and other specialists, added a significant burden to Dr. Skellern’s workflow.

On one particularly hectic day, Dr. Skellern had to document the progress of several children with diverse needs.

"There was a child with autism who needed a personalised letter for their teacher, while another needed a comprehensive diagnostic report for the NDIS and for the parents as an assessment summary. The mental juggling act of switching between different types of documentation was exhausting, and I often found myself getting stuck in the details, which took away from the time I could spend with my patients."

For years, Dr. Skellern searched for ways to streamline her documentation process, that’s until she came across Heidi.

Solution

In 2023, Dr. Skellern heard about the use of AI in private practice and found Heidi to be a perfect fit for her needs. Despite being somewhat "technologically challenged," as she put it, she was quick to learn how to use it and immediately began utilising this new tool.

"It was just transformational... I could immediately embed it in my workflow."

Top 3 features Dr. Skellern loves:

• Template optimisation: "I developed my own templates to quickly generate assessment summaries, including diagnosis and treatment plans."
• Snippets: "The snippets feature is fantastic for adding macros into any document with simplicity."
• Personalised letters: "Heidi’s ability to generate personalised letters, like for teachers, is amazing."

Impact

The introduction of Heidi Health into Dr. Skellern’s practice has had a profound impact, both in terms of time saved and the quality of care she can provide.

• Time saved: "I now have time for lunch breaks, and I get home at a reasonable time. I don’t have to stay back finishing paperwork."
• Increased patient capacity: "I can see more patients than I ever would have been able to do without Heidi."
• Restored joy and efficiency: "With Heidi, I’m able to manage my practice more efficiently, and it’s keeping me passionate about the work I do."

Time spent where it counts

"With Heidi, I don’t have to worry about the documentation burden anymore. It’s done for me while I stay fully present with my patients. I always check and finalise all the documents that are produced, but the quality of the outputs is exceptional, making this a very quick process."

Dr. Skellern shared how Heidi’s ability to automate letters has transformed her approach to care.

"I had a child with ADHD, and instead of scrambling to write a referral letter for a psychologist, I just hit ‘create letter,’ and Heidi automatically generated a letter based on what we had discussed in the consultation that was perfectly suited to the child’s needs. I was able to hand it to the parent on the spot. The parent was amazed and so grateful that this was done so quickly."

Improved quality of consultations

"Now I’m not rushing to finish notes or dictate letters after the consults. I can focus on truly listening to my patients, which has improved the depth of my consultations."

Dr. Skellern recalled a breakthrough moment when she was able to engage deeply with a parent during a consultation.

"I was speaking with a parent who had some concerns about their child’s behavior at school. I could listen carefully to the details and then, instead of writing everything down during the conversation, I let Heidi capture it for me. By the time the parent finished talking, I had a comprehensive summarisation of what we had talked about in front of me that I could tweak. It was a huge relief, and it allowed me to be fully present with the family."

Working smarter, not harder

"The AI scribe has made it possible for me to manage my workload effectively. I’m able to achieve much more without having to work harder and feel exhausted in the process."

Dr. Skellern shared how Heidi has improved her ability to handle urgent appointments.

"I increasingly have had a backlog of children who need to be seen, but with Heidi, I’m able to fit in more appointments into my day. It’s been a huge game-changer."

Unexpected benefit

"Heidi has brought a sense of relief to my practice. I no longer feel the anticipatory stress at the start of the day of drowning in paperwork. It’s made me happier and more engaged with my patients."

What’s next

With Heidi, Dr. Skellern has regained control of her schedule, allowing her to focus more on her patients and enjoy a better work-life balance.

"I couldn’t go back to the workflow I had before. It’s just night and day."

Dr. Skellern is now looking forward to continuing her impactful work in paediatrics and advocating for the potential of AI tools to improve healthcare efficiency and patient engagement.