How The Hummingbird Centre reclaimed clinician time and joy with Heidi AI

Background

Alikki Russell is the Director of The Hummingbird Centre, a multidisciplinary psychology practice based in Newcastle, NSW. With four clinics across the region and a team of around 40 - including clinicians and administrative staff - The Hummingbird Centre provides therapy, assessments, and treatment across the lifespan. While committed to delivering high-quality mental health support, Alikki and her team are equally focused on improving the systems that support both clinicians and clients, making the work more sustainable, and the care more effective.

Challenge

Even with a busy, thriving practice, the team at The Hummingbird Centre were losing valuable time each day to repetitive, manual documentation. Over time, this constant pressure to stay on top of notes started to impact both productivity and clinician wellbeing.

Finding time for documentation between sessions

“When clients are booked back-to-back, we’d finish a 50-minute session and have maybe 10 minutes to grab something to eat, go to the bathroom, prep for the next client - and somehow get our notes done. If anything ran over, the whole day would unravel.”

Double-handling of notes

“I used to write directly on my iPad, but many of our team preferred jotting things down on paper and typing them up later. It meant double-handling everything—wasting time we didn’t have.”

Growing skepticism vs. curiosity about AI

“Before we started using Heidi, we’d tried everything - typing notes late at night, scribbling on iPads to upload between sessions, or handwriting and typing things twice. We knew the system wasn’t working, but we weren’t sure what would.

Bringing AI into a sensitive field like ours doesn’t always land well. Understandably, some of the team were hesitant.

But once a few clinicians gave it a go, things shifted quickly. It didn’t take long before we started wondering how we ever managed without it.”

Solution

Alikki first heard about Heidi through word-of-mouth and social media discussions among clinicians. The practice signed up for Heidi, rolling it out to a handful of clinicians before expanding access more broadly. They now use Heidi daily on their devices, capturing sessions safely and securely.

“We use Heidi for treatment and assessments - and it’s been an absolute game changer for both.”

Top 3 Favourite Features

• Real-time transcription and note generation: Enables clinicians to stay fully present with clients, without needing to take notes during the session.
• Customisable template library: Allows the team to streamline their documentation with tailored templates for session notes, GP letters, and intake forms.
• Secure consent workflow: Built-in privacy safeguards and best-practice tools help clinicians feel confident using Heidi in a sensitive clinical setting.

Impact

“I’ve had so many team members tell me it’s saving them at least an hour a day. That’s not just time back - that’s headspace back.”

Key outcomes:

• Up to 1 hour saved per clinician per day on note-taking.
• Significant reduction in admin stress and burnout.
• Increased job satisfaction: staff feel more focused on client care.
• Enhanced session quality: clients receive more attention with less time spent on paperwork.

And beyond the clinic...

With notes done before the end of the day, clinicians are no longer taking their work home - literally or mentally. That extra space has made a big difference to home life, giving people more time (and energy) for their families, rest, and life outside of work.

Rediscovering joy in your practice

With Heidi taking care of the documentation load, clinicians no longer feel rushed between sessions or pulled away from client care by paperwork. The team is able to stay present, focus on therapeutic connection, and reconnect with why they chose this work in the first place.

“It’s helped us get back to doing what we went to uni for, what we worked so hard to do. Now we can just focus on client care.”

Never miss a (relevant) detail

The Hummingbird team no longer rely on memory or rushed notes post-session. Heidi accurately captures important session details, categorising information into organised notes and reports instantly.

“It picks up what was said - and the other nuances in the therapy room. Often it articulates things better than I would’ve, but it’s accurate. It helps us hold onto the important stuff without scrambling to remember it later.”

Converting the sceptics

Once the Hummingbird Centre team experienced Heidi, there was no turning back.

“Not everyone was sold on using AI at first - and that made sense, given the sensitivity of the work. But once a few of us started using Heidi, the hesitation faded quickly. Now, no one wants to go back to scribbling notes by hand or typing late at night.”

Unexpected benefit

Heidi doesn’t just save time - it sharpens how ideas are communicated.

“It sometimes makes me sound like a better psychologist. The way it phrases things - it's still what happened in the room, just clearer and more concise… I’m not mad about it.”

While we’re confident Alikki doesn’t need the help, Heidi’s ability to translate complex clinical moments into well-articulated notes has been a welcome bonus.

What’s next

With Heidi handling note-taking and streamlining documentation, the team is free to focus on what matters - delivering high-quality care, expanding into new clinic locations, and continuing to offer professional development to clinicians across Australia.

Next on the agenda: exploring how Heidi can support longer assessment reports and integrating more AI-driven tools to improve workflow without compromising the work.