More Patients, Less Paperwork: Heidi's AI Scribe Returns an Estimated $2.51M in Clinical Time

New Canadian Impact Report measures how Heidi's AI Scribe is reducing documentation burden and returning capacity to care teams

TORONTO, July 22, 2026 /CNW/ -- Canadian physicians lose nearly 20 million hours a year to paperwork. This well-known bottleneck drives burnout and drains capacity from an already strained health system. A new report from AI Care Partner Heidi shows what happens when that burden is lifted.

Heidi's Canadian Impact Report, Giving time back to care, draws on five pilots across Ontario to document the real-world impact of AI-assisted clinical documentation. Across those pilots, Heidi's AI Scribe returned more than 25,098+* clinical hours - an estimated $2.51* million in clinical time - to care teams, without the need for additional tech infrastructure or staff.

Canada is losing physicians to administrative burden

Half of family doctors report high levels of job stress, and 38% are experiencing burnout, while more than one in five plan to stop practising regularly within three years^[1]. Clinicians are clearly open to a fix: Heidi's recent survey of 1,823 clinicians globally shows 86%now use AI daily or regularly, and 73% say it is helping them sustain a longer, more manageable career.^[2]

"Clinicians here found us because they needed us, and it makes sense that Canada is now our second-largest market. When you have a wait time crisis and doctors are spending hours a day on documentation instead of patients, that's a problem we can actually solve, " said Dr. Thomas Kelly, CEO and Co-Founder of Heidi. "We built Heidi because the best doctors we knew were burning out on admin. This report shows exactly why they've chosen to stay with us."

Heidi's pilots show what meaningful adoption looks like in practice

Across five three-month pilots involving 333 active clinicians and 111,770 documented patient visits, Heidi saved an average of 13 minutes per visit, returning more than 25,098+* clinical hours to the workforce: the equivalent of 3,137 additional eight-hour work days, and an estimated $2.51 million in clinical time at a conservative $100/hour rate.^[3]

Clinicians who try Heidi continue using it

Every clinician surveyed across the Canadian pilots would recommend Heidi to a colleague. At Guelph Wellington OHT, 80% kept using it after the pilot ended with no obligation to do so. Heidi's flagship Mississauga Health PCN pilot recorded the highest per-clinician utilization globally, at 712 average sessions per user. Kawartha Lakes OHT clinicians scored Heidi 8.8 out of 10 at mid-implementation, with 75% of notes needing minimal to no edits,^[4] and the Ottawa Institute of CBT saw a 66% reduction in documentation time on hour-long, high-complexity mental health visits.

"Heidi AI has helped me work more efficiently in my practice by streamlining my documentation and saving valuable time. One of my favorite features is Evidence, which makes it easy to reference and support my clinical notes with confidence," said Dr. James Lane, Family physician in Stayner, Ontario and member of the South Georgian Bay Provider Care Network.

Built for Canada, ready to scale

Heidi integrates into clinicians' existing workflows with no new infrastructure required, delivering relief from day one across a wide range of care settings, from primary care and emergency medicine to oncology, cardiology, mental health, and remote northern clinics. Heidi's integration with Accuro, Canada's largest single-platform EMR supporting over 25,000+ clinicians nationwide, supports a significant portion of Canada's clinical workforce.

The platform operates on a strict human-in-the-loop model: the AI drafts the note, but the clinician maintains absolute authority and final sign-off. Heidi is fully PIPEDA and PHIPA compliant, with 100% of data processed and hosted on Canadian soil.

About the Canadian Impact Report: Giving time back to care

All data is drawn from pilots in Ontario, 2024–2025. Findings reflect Heidi Scribe only; they do not include Heidi Evidence or agentic capabilities, which will be the subject of future reporting. Time savings are self-reported. Cost savings assume a flat $100/hour clinical rate and are intentionally conservative. Full methodology is available on request.

About Heidi

Heidi is building an AI Care Partner, with a mission to double the world's healthcare capacity by supporting every stage of care delivery. In addition to its popular AI scribe, Heidi has introduced Evidence – giving clinicians access to trusted medical research to support clinical decisions at the point of care. Together, these capabilities support various aspects of the clinical workflow, enabling clinicians to focus on providing quality patient care.

Heidi supports more than 2.7 million visits each week in 110 languages from 190 countries. Founded in Melbourne, Australia, Heidi has raised $96.6M USD from global investors including Point72 Private Investments, Blackbird, Headline, Phoenix Court's growth fund - Latitude, Possible Ventures, and Archangel. Heidi adheres to international standards including the NHS, HIPAA, GDPR, and Australian Privacy Principles, and has obtained enterprise-grade security certifications such as SOC2 and ISO27001.

Contact Information

Heidi media
[email protected] 

^[1] https://www.cihi.ca/en/news/canadas-family-doctors-are-under-pressure

^[2] Pressure points: How the clinical workforce is finding relief through AI

^[3] Giving time back to care

^[4] Giving Time Back to Care

*Includes four completed post-pilot evaluations and one mid-pilot evaluation (Kawartha Lakes OHT)

SOURCE Heidi Health