Winning back time: Performe’s journey to streamlined patient care with Heidi

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Background

Great healthcare rarely happens alone, it thrives on teamwork. That's precisely how Performe came to life, through the collective vision and hard work of Collingwood Football Club’s dedicated executives and clinicians, including APA Sports & Exercise Physiotherapist Lachlan Fooks and renowned Sports Psychologist Jacqui Louder. At its heart, Performe's mission is to break down barriers, offering cutting-edge, personalised care that makes everyone - athletes or otherwise - feel truly valued and supported on their health journey.

Challenges

Over the past year, the clinic has significantly expanded its services, welcoming a diverse patient base ranging from elite athletes and weekend warriors to everyday individuals seeking specialised care. With this growth in reputation, the demands on each clinician’s time have escalated, making efficient operations and meaningful patient engagement increasingly crucial.

Excessive administrative burden

“It's not just an hour and a half of note taking,” Lachlan explains. “It's all the additional administrative responsibilities like writing letters, managing referrals, and coordinating care, which significantly eat into our time with patients.”

Maintaining quality patient interaction

"One of my biggest frustrations was how clinic rooms were structured," Lachlan noted. 

"Ideally, I'd prefer patients facing me rather than having to turn my back to them to type notes. Heidi has provided me that flexibility, transforming my consults and significantly enhancing patient rapport."

Building broader brand awareness

Broadening Performe’s brand awareness has also posed its challenges, especially given the trust-based nature of the healthcare industry. 

"We are relatively new in the community and have strong affiliations, like our connection to Collingwood FC, but raising awareness about our broader healthcare services has required focused effort." 

"We needed to ensure our community sees us as a valuable addition and a trusted provider of comprehensive care."

Before partnering with Heidi, the team tried several piecemeal solutions - dedicated admin time, spaced-out schedules, and even hiring additional staff - yet these strategies only offered temporary relief. They needed something more efficient and sustainable, which is exactly what they discovered when they found Heidi.

Solution

“Working in elite sport, there's a big thirst for change and innovation. However, what we choose to implement as physios must always be based on predictable, measurable outcomes. We can't change for change's sake. You need to be able to demonstrate that it's going to either improve your outcomes, reduce costs, or save time. There's has to be a reason to do it.”

Lachlan learned about Heidi through word-of-mouth in the sports medicine community and decided to give it a try. They rolled it out initially among the lead practitioners to test its capabilities - namely live transcription, dynamic templates, and secure, AI-assisted documentation. The results were immediately promising. 

Top 3 Favourite Features

• Live transcription & efficient note taking
  
  • In addition to significant time savings, Lachlan has been impressed by Heidi’s ability to accurately capture essential parts of consultations, including the correct noting and spelling of medication names, resulting in clear, thorough, and accurate notes.
• Custom templates
  
  • The team now effortlessly automates referral letters and post-consultation documentation, streamlining previously tedious administrative tasks.
• Seamless patient communication
  
  • Heidi offers instant ways to share notes, letters, and next steps, giving patients a tangible takeaway before they even leave the clinic.

Impact

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Key outcomes*:

• 1.5+ hours saved daily on administrative work
• Improved patient engagement 
• More time reinvested into business growth

*as reported by Lachlan Fooks, APA Sports & Exercise Physiotherapist

Administrative burden - gone

Heidi is converting even the most skeptical clinicians. Lachlan shared an example of encouraging a colleague…

“You’ve got to do it, just get on board.’ He resisted at first, saying, ‘I like the way I do things.’ But I insisted, ‘You’ve got to let that go. Heidi captures all the same information. It might initially phrase things differently, but you can teach it your preferences. Invest the time.’ And now he absolutely loves it!”

Engaged patients 

“I can now truly be an active listener,” Lachlan exclaims. Heidi allows Lachlan and his team to build genuine rapport, significantly increasing patient confidence in the care provided.”

“The thing that seals it is when I show them the notes at the end of the consult. They’re like - what! It’s just done that now?!” 

More time to grow 

Prompt, tech-driven documentation has helped position the clinic as cutting-edge and patient-centric - a draw for both high-performance athletes and community members alike. Plus, the time saved on documentation can be re-invested into growing the business.

Unexpected benefits

Clinicians are “forced” (in a good way!) to verbalise assessments more thoroughly, strengthening patient education and trust.

“After twenty years, you naturally get stuck in your ways. Heidi has challenged me to critically evaluate and improve not just the clinical aspects of my work, but also my interpersonal skills.”

What’s next

The clinic’s mission continues to expand—to offer an “elite service for everybody,” exploring new satellite locations, community programs, and research collaborations. 

Beyond professional growth, Lachlan enjoys a renewed sense of balance in his personal life - getting back into hockey, mountain biking and spending more time with his family.

Returning to the old ways, filled with manual notes and rushed consultations, is no longer an option. Performe team eagerly looks forward to continuing its growth alongside technology that mirrors their commitment to delivering top-tier healthcare.