How Dr. Jenna McCarthy brought presence back to fertility care with Heidi

Background

IVFMD is a reproductive endocrinology practice across South Florida and Miami, caring for women who are trying to conceive. The group completes several thousand IVF cycles each year and operates within a larger network across the United States and Canada. Dr. Jenna McCarthy is a board-certified reproductive endocrinologist at IVFMD. Her work sits at the intersection of complex protocols and human vulnerability.

“We spend a lot of time with our patients, and there’s a lot of emotion that is tied to each session; So we practice a lot of ‘gyneciatry.’”

Fertility care is high-touch by necessity. Consults often include failed cycles, difficult decisions, and deeply personal fears. Dr. McCarthy needed notes that reflected both clinical reasoning and care, without exposing private details that did not belong in the record. She also wanted to stay face to face with patients, especially when conversations were heavy.

“My day typically started at about 5:30 or 6 o’clock, and I would do what every physician does: clinic prep.”

Prep alone could take up to two hours. Then clinic began, split between procedures and consults. Notes were started during visits, flagged for later, and revisited at the end of the day when energy was already depleted. The boundary between patient care and personal time disappeared quickly.

Fertility care also carries repetition. The treatment options are limited. The counseling overlaps. To keep pace, many clinicians rely on dot phrases, pre-written blocks of text dropped into notes with shortcuts. The efficiency is real, but can carry risk.

“The problem with dot phrases is you still have to go back in. And if you didn’t talk about something with a patient, you have to pick it out. My opinion is it’s really important to make sure that if it’s in your documentation, you actually said it.”

For Dr. McCarthy, this was not about style. It was about integrity. She wanted documentation that matched the actual conversation, not what she probably said. For years, visits were managed by typing, leaving reminders for herself, and finishing notes at home. She had never used a medical AI scribe.

Then she heard another reproductive endocrinologist mention Heidi in a physician forum. What stood out was not automation, but preparation. “I can upload a PDF and it will summarize the records for me and put it in the format I want.” Not long after, her network sent out a call for clinicians willing to pilot Heidi. The timing aligned with the problem she was already trying to solve.

The reality of one fertility visit

Dr. McCarthy’s patients are often working women. Many are high-achieving, with little time. She recognizes that reality because she lives it herself. If she can complete more in one visit, she does.

“I have a tendency to try to bundle things for patients. For me personally, the hardest thing is to get the time off to go to the doctor. If I can combine their saline infusion sonogram and then spend 15 minutes with them, quickly go over labs, do a consult, that’s really helpful.”

Those bundled visits are clinically efficient. They are also where documentation breaks down. Important details surface during procedures, during side conversations, during moments when the laptop should not be the focus.

“Sometimes we’ll be chatting and important pieces of information will come out. Not having to worry about, my gosh, I have to write that down, has been really helpful [when using Heidi].”

Solution

Dr. McCarthy began using Heidi as part of her network’s pilot. She asks permission at the start of each visit, explains the usage, and lets Heidi run quietly in the background during procedures and consults.

“I always explain that the benefit of using [Heidi] is that it allows me to be more present for our conversation. I’m not worrying about capturing everything we’re saying because I know that’s happening automatically.”

For her, that presence changes the encounter itself.

“There’s not something between you and the patient. You’re actually able to connect without that computer screen between you.”

She describes it as a return to how medicine felt during training, when notes were dictated after the visit and the room belonged to the patient.

“Especially when you’re talking about something where patients feel very vulnerable, it really makes a difference in how much they’re willing to open up to you.”

What Heidi supports in her workflow

Bundled visits without broken flow

Heidi captures conversations during procedures and consults without pulling attention away from the patient.

“That was one of the major things that Heidi really helped with, being able to capture that conversation as we’re finishing the procedure.”

Adjustable note depth for precision and privacy

Fertility care requires empathy in the room, not exhaustive psychological detail in the chart.

“A 10 or 15 minute discussion about how she is feeling after an unsuccessful IVF cycle doesn’t need to be fully documented. What needs to be captured is the caring behind it. And I felt like that was something Heidi did really well.”

Tasks protects follow-through

Promises made to patients do not disappear between rooms. The tasks function reminds clinicians about action items after the consultation.

“I love the little checklist that says, ‘Hey, you said you were going to do this.’”

Continuity across visits

Patient folders carry context forward.

“I’m seeing patients back now on their third Heidi session, and everything’s already in there. That is phenomenal.”

Impact

Time back where it matters

“[I save] probably five to ten minutes per consult. By the time it’s all said and done, literally hours.”

Those minutes restore breathing room between patients and reduce the cognitive load at the end of the day.

Presence restored in sensitive care

“It allows me to be more present for our conversation.”

Without the screen as a barrier, conversations flow more naturally and patients share more freely.

Documentation that matches reality

“Everything that I say is automatically being captured and written. I feel like it’s hitting everything that I said that I would have wanted to be in my notes.”

The day ends when clinic ends

“Each patient is now done when the patient walks out of the office. Done done.”

She reviews notes while the visit is still fresh.

“I’m showing them out the door. I’ve got five or ten minutes to look at my note. My God, go to the bathroom.”