Hawse Health: 2 hours saved & 2 more patients seen per day with Heidi

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Background

Hawse Health is a federally qualified healthcare center (FQHC) with a mission to “provide high quality, affordable, comprehensive health care to all people”. Serving a diverse rural community in West Virginia for family + internal medicine & psychiatry. We spoke to Tiffany Garner, Hawse Health’s Assistant Medical Director & Nurse Practitioner, about their experience with Heidi. With nearly three decades of nursing experience and nine years as a family nurse practitioner, Tiffany is dedicated to comprehensive patient care, seeing around 18-23 patients daily.

Challenges

At Hawse Health, Tiffany and her team serve a rural community in West Virginia, where patient care often involves managing a high volume of diverse and complex cases. With an increasing demand for services and limited resources, the challenges of documentation and time management were becoming overwhelming.

Despite their best efforts, the team found themselves spending significant time after hours catching up on patient notes, leading to burnout and reduced quality of care during patient interactions. The challenges were not only logistical but also emotional, as the weight of uncompleted charts took away from their ability to engage meaningfully with patients.

Excessive charting burden

"Providers were really struggling to get their charts closed, leaving a pretty good collection going."

The charting process at Hawse Health was time-consuming, with providers struggling to keep up with the growing number of charts. The inability to close charts in a timely manner caused unnecessary stress and kept clinicians working long hours just to stay afloat.

Interrupted patient interaction

"Before, I was nursing the computer, making less eye contact, and had less time to teach."

Tiffany's patient interactions were suffering due to the constant need to split her attention between the patient and the computer. This dynamic reduced the quality of care and made it harder to build rapport, a critical element in effective patient care. Tiffany recognized the negative impact this had not just on her workflow, but on the patient experience.

Inconsistent workflow efficiency

"We had downtime due to rural internet instability, significantly increasing after-hours documentation."

Rural internet connectivity issues exacerbated the inefficiencies in their practice. When the internet went down, it caused interruptions in documentation and delayed note entry, leading to more time spent after clinic hours trying to catch up. These ongoing technical difficulties were adding unnecessary strain to an already overburdened team.

Solution

Providers at Hawse Health initially came across Heidi's free version through colleagues and quickly recognized its potential. After an easy rollout, clinicians seamlessly integrated Heidi into patient interactions, enjoying improved documentation and patient engagement.

"By lunchtime you're like, 'My gosh, this is pretty easy,' and by day's end, you don't want to go back."

Top features loved by Tiffany:

• Real-time dictation: Captures comprehensive notes seamlessly during consultations.
• Offline functionality: Ensures uninterrupted documentation even during internet outages.
• Contextual editing with 'Ask Heidi': Instantly adjusts notes, improving accuracy and completeness.

Impact

"Two hours have been saved each day, I'm not staying after clinic to wrap things up."

Key outcomes:

• Clinicians see at least 2 additional patients per day.
• Chart closures significantly improved.
• Enhanced patient-provider interaction and education.

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No more excessive charting burden… personalized perfectly for each provider.

"I'm going home without the weight of open charts—it's wrapped up neatly."

Not only is the team’s charting covered, it’s also done in the way that matches their unique style.

"Each provider has their own way to see SOAP notes… Heidi gets them to sound the way they sound."

Rekindling healthy patient interaction

"I'm making more eye contact and explaining things better. I’m just a better provider."

Immense improvements to workflow efficiency in rural care

"Even if the internet goes down, Heidi captures everything seamlessly. No after-hours catch-up needed."

Unexpected benefit: Streamlined internal communication

"I don't have to explain notes to the nurses anymore; Heidi summarizes it perfectly."

What's next

With Heidi, Tiffany and the Hawse Health team can now focus more deeply on patient care, innovation in templates, and exploring Heidi’s expanding features.

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