“Patient engagement is taken to a different level” says interventional cardiologist, Dr. Rajesh Nambiar
March 17, 2026•5 min read
Amarillo Heart Institute is a single-specialty, nine-physician cardiology group in Texas. The physicians cover a full spectrum of cardiovascular care, including interventional, peripheral arterial, and venous disease. The group’s roots in the region span nearly 35 years, with the current institute founded three years ago. Dr. Rajesh Nambiar, an interventional cardiologist, began using Heidi about six months ago and has been able to balance his presence with patients and precision in notes.
Clinical Workflow without Heidi
Before Heidi, documentation dominated a visit at the Amarillo Heart Institute. Physicians dictated through Dragon within Athena, moving through a maze of templates and clicks. “There's no eye contact. We hardly spoke a word. Even if we spoke, we’d look into the monitor. There was definitely a disconnect,” said Dr. Nambiar.
The work was precise but impersonal. Complex cardiology conversations about echocardiograms, medication changes, and risk management were often fragmented as physicians tried to keep pace with documentation. “We lose patient contact from the get-go. We are looking for data, clicking, unclicking, changing pages, trying to track diagnostic tests.”
For a nine-provider practice, with some outreach clinics a couple of hours from Amarillo, inefficiency had real cost.explained Dr. Nambiar.
“It leads to click fatigue… Heidi really helps us to get over it,”
The patient workflow is better. Patient satisfaction is better. Physician and patient engagement is taken to a different level. I really don't have to take anything back home or sit after office hours to complete my notes.
Dr. Rajesh Nambiar
Cardiologist at Amarillo Heart Institute
The shift
Medical assistants enter the room first, turn on Heidi, and proceed to voice the patient's vitals, medications, and interval changes. “They can document all this in high detail… So when I walk in, I just have to turn the microphone back on and take it from there.”
Dr. Nambiar reviews diagnostics, performs the exam, and uses voice triggers for standard templates. “Once that is done we finalize the assessment plan, switch the microphone off and let Heidi formulate the entire note. Then, we push the entire document into the Athena patient encounter.”
The shift restored presence. Conversations became natural again, eye contact returned, and focus stayed on the patient. “Once the microphone is on, I don't have to look at the computer at all.”
What changed for patients and clinicians
Relevance restored. Heidi captures what matters and filters out unnecessary detail. “I can ask [the patient] about the Dallas Cowboys game yesterday. They give you a 30 second talk on that but nothing comes into Heidi. It's only relevant conversations recorded.”
Understanding deepened. In a specialty defined by data, clarity is vital. Using an echo cardiogram as an example, Dr. Nambiar shared, “I distill the complete echo cardiogram report, which includes a lot of data, and Heidi is able to summarize that.” Patients are able to hear their results in person and are sent home with a patient explainer generated by Heidi. “They can read through it and would be able to understand the report better.”
Reach extended offline. The team’s outreach work covers smaller towns with limited technical infrastructure. “We do have a very active large outreach clinic. We don't have the entire technological support over there. So I tend to use the Heidi remote access to record everything.” The same workflow now travels with them.
Emotional conversations handled with care. “[Patients] are shocked when they hear heart failure. I have to go through the whole process and patients do get emotional… Heidi has been able to adapt very well during those conversations, in a very concise way.” The AI reflects the tone and structure of sensitive moments, while preserving accuracy.
Plans that move forward. After each visit, “The whole discussion Heidi actually generates a plan and for the next provider seeing the patient, that is more than enough.” Heidi has brought ease to handoffs and follow-up between providers.
Patient trust and transparency. The practice made consent an initial part of their process. “Our office policy is that we get a consent signed right at the get-go at the front desk.” Only one patient declined in six months, and after explanation of what Heidi was doing, later agreed. “I've shown patients hey look at this the notes being generated. They're all impressed.”
Clinician belief in progress. Dr. Nambiar sees Heidi as part of a larger technological evolution. “It's an anticipated transformational change. There are some folks who are early adopters, some who are late adopters, and they're going to question everything. So, you know what, they're going to lose out.”
Building the next version
Amarillo Heart Institute continues to refine how Heidi fits within cardiology workflows. They are exploring how Heidi can summarize years of diagnostic data for long-term patients across multiple EMRs. Looking ahead, Dr. Nambiar imagines bringing Heidi into the cath lab.
“We can carry Heidi in and describe things as we go along. It generates a complete note of the entire procedure and that goes straight to billing.”
The team at Amarillo Heart has proven that when technology serves presence, progress follows. In a field as data-dense and complex as cardiology, they’ve shown that clarity and compassion can share the same space.
