NextGen Office Ambient Assist Helps Doctor Better Connect with Patients

THE CHALLENGE

Dr. Randy Naidoo, MD, knew from his first day of medical school that he wanted to become a pediatrician. In 2012, he founded Shine Pediatrics as a small, one-room office in a birthing center; his practice has now grown into a team of almost 50 employees with two Texas locations in Richardson and Fort Worth.

Dr. Naidoo enjoys the challenge of being both a small business owner and a practicing physician. However, he found that the one variable that complicates his team’s success is time-consuming clinical documentation.

Especially in integrated pediatrics, Dr. Naidoo and his team see young patients facing multi-complex issues, so their care plans must be especially clear. Dr. Naidoo described, “If a parent were to call later in the day, the week, or the month and say, ‘Hey, I didn’t understand what Dr. Naidoo was saying about this,’ my staff has to refer back to my notes. If my notes are not detailed, then my staff can’t really help with those kinds of questions or concerns.”

Additionally, being tied to their computer during the visit has hindered Shine providers from connecting with their young patients. “We as physicians get burnt out by being so locked into the medical record and making sure we’re dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s, that we fail to recognize that we have a patient who’s in front of us, and we lose that connection,” said Dr. Naidoo.

To help refocus on their patients and alleviate the burnout his staff was facing, Dr. Naidoo turned to NextGen Office Ambient Assist.

THE SOLUTION

 Since implementing the NextGen Office AI Solution, Ambient Assist, Dr. Naidoo has seen a change in his mindset during visits with patients. He noted, “What I’ve found with Ambient Assist is that I can let my guard down a little bit in terms of the documentation side and really connect on a face to-face basis with the patient, even my most complex ones.”

Being able to focus more on patients and less on charting has also contributed to improving his level of burnout. Since using Ambient Assist, Dr. Naidoo said he does not feel as worn out at the conclusion of his workday.

Positive changes are also evident with his practice staff, specifically in their more streamlined documentation and improved charting detail.

Before Ambient Assist, Dr. Naidoo explained that he would get complaints from his providers that they did not have ample time to document, causing them to take their charts home with them. Now, he said his response is simple, “are you using Ambient?”

Ambient Assist has helped his team complete charting in a timely manner while still capturing the important details. He noted, “I’m a physician too, so I do understand how much charting takes. But now I know that you can have a really detailed medical record with ambient AI.”

In reflecting on some of his providers who previously struggled to develop intricate care plans and clear documentation, Dr. Naidoo sees improvements. “I have some providers in my office that are not the greatest at documentation or giving parents a really clear care plan. But for those who are now using the ambient AI, if I go back and look at their medical records, I can get a feel for what they talked about during that encounter. So that’s been really helpful,” he shared. With the help of Ambient Assist, both Dr. Naidoo’s staff and his patients experience the benefits of improved documentation.

Improving telehealth visits

Shine Pediatrics treats many patients who face various health challenges. Thus, Dr. Naidoo and his team frequently utilize telehealth visits to accommodate the busy lifestyles of their young patients without disrupting the continuity of care.
However, Dr. Naidoo noted that telehealth visits especially amplify the burden that documentation places on the patient connection. “When you have those telemed visits, it is a very challenging platform. Now you’ve lost the ability to even be in person. So you’re trying to have this interface through the computer, and when you’re trying to write down your notes, you’re going to lose focus on the screen,” Dr. Naidoo explained.

Luckily, the team at Shine has been able to run Ambient Assist simultaneously with their telehealth visits. It has seamlessly improved these visits, accurately recording in the background and improving the visit quality for the provider and the patient. “It makes it a much more pleasurable encounter because everything is getting documented,” Dr. Naidoo emphasized.

Whether in the office or via a virtual visit, Dr. Naidoo and his team have been able to disconnect from the demand of documentation and better connect with their young patients.

THE TAKEAWAY

The connection of care

Ambient Assist has allowed Dr. Naidoo and his team to refocus on personalized care and the intricacies of medicine. He highlighted, “It’s the empathetic component that I really feel like comes from eye contact, facial expression, and reading body language. Those are some of the art components of medicine.”

Most of all, Dr. Naidoo looks forward to embracing his passion for care without interruption. “I love patient care. I’ll never want to stop doing that. But the medical record documentation stuff really hinders you from enjoying that. And I’m glad that Ambient Assist is here now and it’s so feasible. This is just very seamless and that’s why I love it.”