Protect your access to Heidi

Dear Canadian clinicians,

The Heidi team and I are saddened to share that Heidi has not been chosen as a recommended vendor in the recent Ontario MD review of AI scribes. 

This came as a shock to us and from meeting so many of you at our local Toronto and Mississauga events just a few days ago, it was a shock to you as well.

So many of you have shared your concern about what this could mean for your ability to use Heidi. I’m worried too. 

You helped Heidi become so embedded in Canadian healthcare. 

Now we need your help to ask Supply Ontario to reconsider Heidi as a vendor of record.

Six months ago, when this procurement process started, we were just at the start of our journey in Canada. 

Building on our foundation on being completely safe to use and legally compliant in every region of Canada, alongside local data centres to protect your data sovereignty…

We’ve been working closely with Telus and Accuro to design how Heidi can be embedded into their systems. 

In fact Accuro has selected Heidi as their default AI scribe.

We’ve established a Canadian subsidiary and are in the process of choosing the location of our first domestic office (thanks for all your suggestions).

We’ve interviewed and hired Canadians who start with Heidi in just a few weeks.

We’ve invested in conferences and events to meet you face-to-face, whether that’s our own Maple Leaf roadshow of seven Canadian cities in just three weeks or Pri-Med, eHealth or Canadian Women in Medicine.

All of that means that today, thousands of clinicians across the country use Heidi to support them in over 1.5 million patient consults every month. 

From family doctors, to emerg, nurses, psych and specialists - you chose Heidi because it works for you, it’s safe and you can use it for free. 

Even if you choose to pay for Heidi, it’s the most affordable option for you.

And it’s not only individual doctors choosing Heidi. 

Hospitals and government organisations have chosen Heidi too. 

The Yukon government’s integrated health unit.

OHTs, PCNs and Family Health Trusts.

Major Toronto hospitals, even emergency. 

After so much progress, investment and affirmation from Canadian clinicians, it’s been truly surprising to receive Supply Ontario’s decision to not include Heidi as a vendor of record.

Let me be clear, Heidi isn’t entitled to a recommendation, just like any other vendor. 

We have to earn it. 

But the Heidi team and 

every clinician, 

every hospital, 

every government 

who assessed all their AI scribe options and chose Heidi, deserve to have their preference, their clinical judgement, their financial circumstances, their choice, count. 

Decisions made in Ontario reverberate across Canada. 

That’s why I believe we need to respectfully, but forcefully, challenge this decision to not recommend Heidi.

Will you be forced to pay for a tool you’ve already rejected because Heidi’s free version is superior?

Will you be forced to return to the burnout-inducing way of working without Heidi because you don’t have the privilege of being able to pay for AI?

Will you be forced to have your preferences, your clinical judgements on which AI scribe is best for you count for nothing?

I appreciate that it’s incredibly hard for any procurement, non-clinical team to assess AI in a healthcare setting. 

That’s why your voice as clinicians has to be taken into consideration.

I appreciate that it could be tempting for procurement organisations to prioritise domestic solutions over international ones. 

That’s why we’ve invested so heavily in Canada.

Yes, we’re Australian born.

But 1.5million Canadian consults every month are supported by Heidi.

Telus and Accuro are integrating with Heidi.

Hospitals, OHTs, governments have chosen Heidi.

We’re here, we’re committed, and we’ve become your choice of AI scribe.

Let’s work together to make sure you’re not affected by a procurement process so divorced from the clinicians at the frontlines.

It’s been a pleasure working with the Ontario MD team and we’re grateful for their advocacy.

We’re here to help Supply Ontario and any other part of the Ontario administration navigate how to assess and procure AI like Heidi.

We’re not asking for a free pass. Just a fair assessment, with your clinical voices at the centre.

This hasn’t shaken our commitment to you and every other Canadian clinician. 

We’re not going anywhere.

But if 2025 so far has shown us anything, it’s that we have to go elbows up for the things that matter.

Make sure your voice is heard. Sign your name below (better yet, add a comment) to ask for Supply Ontario to reconsider Heidi as a vendor of record for Ontarian clinicians.

Dr Thomas Kelly