How dietitian Justin Aniello uses Heidi to scale a solo practice sustainably | Heidi AI
How dietitian Justin Aniello uses Heidi to scale a solo practice sustainably
Heidi Team
December 18, 2025•7 min read
Section Name: BlockContentHighlights
Justin Aniello x Heidi at a glance
"There’s been days where there’s been only 15 minutes of admin after 10 clients, which has been wild." - Justin Aniello, Metabolic and Aged Care Dietitian, APD
Key Outcomes:
Reduced daily admin time from up to 2 hours to just 15 minutes, even with a full client load.
More than doubled his caseload from 4-5 to 10-12 clients per day.
Streamlined creation of clinical notes, GP letters, and patient summaries.
Supported accurate recall of diet histories, protocols, and counselling conversations.
Freed up time for group education and strength classes as part of holistic care.
Read on if you’re a dietitian experiencing:
Spending evenings catching up on ADIME notes or GP letters.
Forgetting specific nutrition advice or lifestyle discussions after a long day.
Wanting to improve the quality of documentation without losing time.
Finding it hard to scale your practice while maintaining high standards.
Justin Aniello is an accredited practising dietitian working across endocrinology, chronic disease management, aged care, and community clinics. His clients include a mix of private patients and referrals from the Army, Navy and Air Force - with conditions ranging from Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes to gestational diabetes and other metabolic disorders.
Working both in multidisciplinary clinics and as a sole trader, Justin brings a holistic lens to dietetic care. He complements clinical consultations with group strength training sessions and ongoing patient education, blending physical health, nutrition, and behaviour change.
As many dietitians will recognise, this depth of care brings with it significant documentation responsibilities: progress notes, GP letters, education summaries, and nutrition protocols. The cognitive and time burden of maintaining this standard - especially across multiple settings - became a growing challenge.
Challenges
Before Heidi, Justin found that admin time far outweighed his actual client-facing work, even with a modest caseload. Capturing the nuance of dietetic care, particularly around lifestyle counselling, patient education, and tailored interventions, was time-consuming and mentally draining.
Nutrition counselling notes took too long
“Admin probably took up around two hours of the day. Ninety minutes to two hours is pretty standard.”
Each session involved documenting detailed counselling discussions, diet histories, and nutritional strategies. Writing this all up after hours wasn’t sustainable, especially while maintaining a high standard of clinical reasoning and professionalism.
Important nuance was easy to forget
“Notes were kind of half-finished, poorly written. I had to use my memory to be like, ‘what did we talk about?’”
Unlike check-box style assessments, dietitian sessions often involve nuanced behaviour change conversations. When notes were delayed, critical details were lost - undermining follow-up care and the client journey.
Documentation workflows limited practice growth
“The workload of four to five [patients] per day - I was at absolute max capacity.”
The admin required after each appointment capped Justin’s ability to grow. He knew he could help more people, but the time cost of documentation was holding him back.
Solution
Justin first discovered Heidi through a physiotherapist who was using it successfully in their practice. Curious, and slightly sceptical, he decided to test it out and quickly saw the value. Heidi now runs ambiently during every consult, capturing the session and generating accurate clinical notes, GP letters, and client summaries.
“I use the note it generates. That’s the main thing. It just saves my day.”
He’s also customised dietitian-specific templates for different client types, tailoring them to specific conditions.
“If I have a client with gestational diabetes… I’ll have things very specific in that template [such as] fasting blood sugars or blood sugars throughout the day.”
In addition to capturing clinical notes, Justin uses Heidi to generate layperson summaries, education handouts, and recipe instructions - enhancing patient understanding while saving hours per week.
Top 3 Favourite Features:
Custom Templates: built around real dietetic workflows, from general reviews to condition-specific templates.
Ask Heidi: for generating digestible nutrition summaries, meal instructions, and patient-friendly plans.
Note + Letter Generation: complete notes and GP letters within minutes, even between back-to-back sessions making follow-up seamless.
Impact
“The 10 hours I’m saving a week has enabled me to do the things I love. It literally pays off what Heidi’s done.”
With Heidi, Justin has gone from being overwhelmed by documentation to running a streamlined, scalable dietetic practice. He sees more clients, writes better notes, and finishes earlier - all while improving care quality and communication.
Key Outcomes:
Reduced admin time to just 15-20 minutes per day, even with full books.
Increased capacity to 10-12 clients/day, well above average for dietitians.
Enhanced documentation for GP communication and NDIS standards.
Improved patient education with clear, consistent written summaries.
More time for personal and professional wellbeing.
Efficient admin, even with full days
“I very clearly remember finishing work at 5 and staying back to 7:30… [now] I would leave no later than 5:30 if I finish appointments at 5.”
Even on his busiest clinic days, Justin no longer needs to stay back for hours catching up on notes and letters. The workload is manageable and efficient.
Better support for holistic nutrition care
“I can get my admin done and just do a [fitness] class for an hour… which I love doing.”
With less time spent on documentation, Justin can invest in broader health interventions like running a group fitness class that aligns with his holistic care approach.
Improved documentation for continuity of care
“It summarises it with exactly the language I need… with the level of professionalism but also the detail that a dietitian would.”
Heidi helps Justin deliver high-quality, structured documentation that captures nutrition goals, strategies, and outcomes in a way that's consistent and readable.
Real scalability without burnout
“The role wouldn’t be doable otherwise. I’d have to find another role.”
Without Heidi, seeing 10+ clients per day as a dietitian simply wouldn’t be sustainable. Now, it’s possible, and even enjoyable.
What’s next
“If [Heidi] didn’t exist… it wouldn’t be possible. I’d have to be comfortable seeing less people.”
For Justin, Heidi is now a non-negotiable part of his dietetic workflow. It’s allowed him to increase his impact, streamline admin, and maintain a sustainable career all while ensuring clients get clear, high-quality documentation.
Looking ahead, Justin plans to keep refining his practice, supporting more people, and encouraging peers to consider tools like Heidi that are built for modern dietetic care.
