Notes Done Before the Patient Leaves: A Solo Physiotherapist and a Solo Psychologist on AI Scribes
For clinicians in solo practice, documentation is unpaid work that often spills into evenings. A physiotherapist in Queensland, Australia, now completes most of her notes while she treats, and says she ended her after-hours paperwork within two weeks. A clinical psychologist in Singapore saves up to 45 minutes on each new intake note and finds she can stay more present with clients. Here is what each one hands to AI, and what stays with the clinician.
Founders in this article
Every session a clinician runs creates paperwork: notes that record what was found, what was done and what comes next. In a clinic with administrative staff, some of that load can be shared. In a solo practice, all of it falls to the clinician, usually after the last appointment of the day.
Two clinicians who run their own solo practices show how an AI scribe changes that. A physiotherapist uses one to finish most of her notes while she is still treating. A clinical psychologist uses one so that she can listen to clients instead of writing everything down.
This article is for clinicians, and for anyone in a caring profession who is thinking about practising on their own. We look at what each of them hands to AI, and then, in a separate section, at what their clinical judgment still has to do.
Gil Jelin: notes written during treatment
Gil Jelin is a physiotherapist and the principal of Wildwood Holistic Physio in Kenmore Hills, a suburb of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. Heidi, the AI medical scribe company she uses, describes her as working in a solo private practice, and her clinic's website lists no other clinicians.
The problem
According to Heidi's customer story, most working days left her with a big backlog of notes. Her appointments often overran, so she usually stayed on at the clinic in the evening to write them up and be prepared for the next day. She is also the mother of two young children.
How she uses AI
- Notes during hands-on treatment. She records and collates information with Heidi during appointments, so most of her documentation is done while she is still treating the patient.
- A standard template. Her favourite feature is Heidi's SOAP note template, a common clinical format that organises notes into what the patient reports, what the clinician observes, the assessment and the plan.
- Support with written English. English is not her first language, and the story says Heidi has eased her worries about spelling and grammar in her notes.
What it changed
According to Heidi, two weeks after she started using the tool she was no longer doing any documentation after hours, and writing notes now drains far less of her mental energy.
Siew Soon: more present in the therapy room
Dr Siew Soon, whose full name is Soon Siew Peng, is a clinical psychologist in Singapore. Heidi describes her clinic as a private solo practice, and the story says she sees around 20 clients a week. Her current practice is Illume Psychology, whose website lists her as its only psychologist. She also provides clinical supervision to other mental health professionals.
The problem
According to Heidi, she liked to take notes by hand on an iPad with a stylus, because it felt more personal than typing in front of a client. The cost was time: after sessions she spent hours deciphering her handwriting and piecing together what the client had said.
How she uses AI
According to Heidi's customer story:
- Intake sessions. First sessions are where the tool saves her the most time, because it organises a client's story even when it is told out of order.
- Session and supervision notes. She uses it for regular session notes and for notes from clinical supervision.
- Formulations. The story says AI support has helped with clinical formulations and more structured notes.
- Keeping data separate. Her setup keeps identifiable client information separate from transcripts, which the story says protects confidentiality and builds client trust. The story also credits Heidi's privacy standards, aligned with Singapore's personal data law, for giving her confidence in the tool.
What it changed
According to Heidi, she saves up to 45 minutes on each new intake note, about 10 minutes on each supervision note and about 5 minutes on each regular session note. She also says she can concentrate better and be more emotionally present with clients during sessions, and several of her colleagues now use the tool in their own practices.
What clinical training gave them that AI could not
This section is our analysis, not a claim made by either clinician.
- Knowing what matters in a session. A scribe captures what is said. Deciding which findings and which parts of a client's story are clinically important is still the clinician's job.
- Choosing the structure. Jelin relies on a standard clinical format and Soon on structured notes and formulations. Knowing what a good note must contain comes from training.
- Reviewing every note. Jelin checks every note before filing it. Whatever tool a clinician uses, the record is still theirs.
- Protecting clients. Soon's decision to keep identifiable information separate reflects a professional duty of confidentiality, not a feature of the software.
The two cases side by side:
| Gil Jelin | Siew Soon | |
|---|---|---|
| Profession | Physiotherapist | Clinical psychologist |
| Practice | Wildwood Holistic Physio, solo private practice | Private solo practice (currently Illume Psychology) |
| Location | Queensland, Australia | Singapore |
| Main AI tool | Heidi (AI medical scribe) | Heidi (AI medical scribe) |
| How AI is used | Notes during hands-on treatment with a SOAP template | Intake, session and supervision notes; structured formulations |
| What stays human | Treatment, clinical findings, final notes | Therapy, formulation judgment, confidentiality |
| Reported result | No after-hours documentation within two weeks | Up to 45 minutes saved per intake note; more presence in sessions |
What you can copy
These are our suggestions, drawn from the two stories.
- Document while you work. If your hands are busy, let a scribe capture the session so the note is mostly done when the patient leaves.
- Pick a standard format. A familiar template makes AI-drafted notes easier to check.
- Start where the notes are longest. Intake and assessment sessions often give the biggest time savings.
- Keep identifying details separate. Set up your tools so client data is protected by design.
- Read before you sign. An AI draft is a starting point; the record is still yours.
Notes on the sources
The facts about how both clinicians use AI come from customer stories published by Heidi, the AI medical scribe company they use, so they are written to promote the product: Jelin's story was published on September 16, 2025, and Soon's on November 13, 2025. The details of Jelin's clinic come from her clinic's website. The details of Soon's current practice and her supervision work come from her practice's website. Neither source gives revenue figures.
Sources
- This Physio from Queensland, Australia, Writes Notes While Providing Hands-On Treatment, Using Heidi's SOAP Template, Heidi, September 16, 2025
- How clinical psychologist Dr Siew Soon uses Heidi to transform therapy documentation in Singapore, Heidi, November 13, 2025
- Wildwood Holistic Physio
- Meet Our Psychologist, Illume Psychology
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