Based in Indiana, Priority Physicians is a premier provider of primary care and concierge medicine in the Midwest. Renowned for their leadership in personalized medicine, each physician at the two clinic locations has a cap of 250 patients - just 8% of the patient volume seen in typical primary care practices. In line with their commitment to delivering attentive and responsive care, the doctors at Priority Physicians conduct a high proportion of their consults via telehealth. They also offer a home visiting service and have a 24/7 on-call roster. We interviewed Dr. Fraser about Priority Physicians’ experience with Heidi.
Before Heidi, the team at Priority Physicians faced three key administration-related challenges.
Balancing admin tasks with clinical time
“There was a cohort of us who would just always be here an hour or so after work, trying to finish up notes,” explains Dr. Fraser.
“The other thing that would happen is people would cut short a patient encounter, so they would have enough time to write their note before the next patient,” she adds.
Neither of these scenarios was sustainable.
Regularly staying late at work puts clinicians at risk of fatigue and burnout. And, trying to squeeze in notes between sessions creates a rushed and pressured style of practice that isn’t ideal for the physician or patient.
Staying fully engaged with patients during appointments
Traditional note-taking methods require the clinician to either hand-write or type notes during appointments.
Seasoned practitioners develop a knack for doing this while maintaining eye contact. However, there’s no denying that the burden of documenting a session in real-time can negatively impact connection and presence between the physician and patient.
Delays in getting information to clinical support staff
Like most primary care practices, Priority Physicians utilize several allied health and clinical support staff.
“Before Heidi, our assistants often had to wait until the following day to get their task list, because most of us didn’t finish notes until 5:30pm,” states Dr. Fraser.
While urgent tasks would obviously be passed on right away, this delay in the workflow placed undue pressure on both physicians and assistants.
Solution
After discovering Heidi, Dr. Shelagh Fraser, Director of Medical Excellence and Innovation at Priority Physicians, became convinced that this tool could result in better work-life balance for her team, and improve the quality of care for their patients.
After a 14-week trial, it was clear Dr. Fraser was right on both counts.
Impact
In just 14 weeks of using Heidi, the team at Priority Physicians saved over 100 hours in documentation time.
Previously, I would spend 2-2.5 hours writing notes for a full day of seeing patients. Now with Heidi, I’ve got that down to around 40 minutes.
Dr. Shelagh Fraser
“It’s not even just the time,” reveals Dr. Fraser. “Heidi has removed the psychological burden of having to always write notes.”
Key outcomes:
Reduced charting time by 70%
Saved 6,440 minutes (100 hours) on documentation
Recouped $16,000 in clinical time
Achieved a 600% ROI on implementation costs
A new reality for being “on call”
“One thing Heidi has completely revolutionized is being on call,” Dr. Fraser states. “Especially on the weekends.”
During our interview, Dr. Fraser recounted how, “On Saturday mornings you get back-to-back phone calls. While you’re answering one call, another call comes through.”
“Heidi has made being on call not as burdensome,” she exclaims.
“You can just be done with one patient, Heidi will generate the note, and then you move on to the next.”
Increased presence during appointments
Laughing, Dr. Fraser states that the main reason she reminds patients she’s using Heidi is because “otherwise, they’ll wonder how I’m going to remember what we talk about without writing stuff down!”
“It allows me just to talk to them. I’m not trying to type the whole time. We are just listening and communicating and really being present—and patients and family members love it.”
Dr. Shelagh Fraser
Same-day response from clinical assistants
Because charting is now primarily done after each patient encounter, clinical assistants at Priority Physicians can immediately follow up on doctors’ requests.
This provides a more responsive and efficient overall experience for patients. It also alleviates stress on both physicians and assistants, reducing the back-and-forth or uncertainty around when follow-up tasks will be completed.
Unexpected benefits
Discussing patient perspectives about Heidi, Dr. Fraser states, “Patients think it’s really slick and it fits with our brand as a cutting-edge practice.”
She recounts that patients are always impressed when immediately after an appointment she hands them a printed treatment plan and instructions that have been generated by Heidi.
There is also an option for clinicians to email a treatment plan to patients. Plus, Heidi can translate instructions into dozens of different languages.
What’s next
Considering their results from the first 14 weeks, Dr. Fraser is excited about avenues for Heidi to further enhance clinical practice and work-life balance for the team at Priority Physicians.
Priority Physicians have a firm commitment to keeping their per-physician patient caps as low as possible. Therefore, Dr. Fraser indicated that she and her team plan to use the time liberated by Heidi to improve work-life balance. Just some of what Heidi has made possible are taking a break to eat lunch and go for a walk outside, catching up on phone calls between patient appointments, and most importantly—getting home on time.
