How a Colorectal Surgeon Streamlined Surgical Documentation and Telemedicine Workflows with Empathia AI
St. Paul’s Hospital
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Doctor
Dr. Zarrukh Baig
Specialty
Colon and Rectal Surgery
Empathia didn’t force me into one platform — it adapted to the systems I already use.
The challenge
Before Empathia
As a colorectal surgeon at one of BC’s busiest hospital networks, Dr. Zarrukh Baig regularly alternates between Cerner and Meditech Expanse for inpatient care, while also managing outpatient virtual follow-ups and procedure documentation.
Each platform required separate logins, unique note formats, and manual duplication of content.
“I found myself rewriting or reformatting the same information for different systems — it slowed down post-operative reporting and made telemedicine notes feel disconnected from our main EMR.”Dr. Baig needed a way to standardize his templates, reduce redundant typing, and maintain accurate documentation across multiple EHRs — all while ensuring compliance within a hospital environment.
Dr. Baig wanted to refine his virtual visit and operative note templates to better match his surgical documentation style.
Melissa guided him through converting his HPI (History of Present Illness) section from bullet points to narrative format, adding date stamping, and including sections for allergies, physical exam, and investigations.
She demonstrated how Empathia’s template editor allows full customization of note structure — enabling Dr. Baig to maintain a consistent format whether documenting a consult, post-op visit, or follow-up call.
The Transformation
After Empathia
Key Improvements
✅ Seamless Documentation Across Systems
Dr. Baig now uses one unified workflow for both hospital and telemedicine settings, reducing the need to retype notes in different EMRs.
✅ Personalized Surgical Templates
Narrative formatting and customizable sections make post-op and follow-up notes faster to complete and easier to review.
✅ Time Savings and Accuracy
With Empathia’s Smart Edit and Chrome integration, Dr. Baig can complete documentation in minutes — without sacrificing detail or compliance.
“Empathia adapts to the complexity of surgical practice. It’s fast, but it doesn’t compromise on precision.”
Telemedicine and Caller ID Setup
Melissa also supported Dr. Baig in configuring telemedicine caller ID and integrating his setup with Zoom and Microsoft Teams, ensuring seamless patient communication.
Dr. Baig chose to use the Empathia Chrome Extension on his laptop for recording and note generation, while conducting calls from his phone — ensuring clear audio capture and workflow efficiency.
“It’s easy to toggle between my telemed calls and the Empathia interface — I can record, review, and send notes without missing a step.”
Post-Operative and OR Note Integration
Dr. Baig and Melissa explored how Empathia could improve operative and post-operative note documentation.
Melissa demonstrated the Post-Operative Note Template, designed to capture detailed surgical information while allowing for additional customization specific to general surgery and colorectal procedures.
This template can be used during or immediately after surgery, providing flexibility depending on workflow and setting.
AI Learning and Smart Edit
Dr. Baig was particularly interested in Empathia’s ability to learn from edits.
Smart Edit feature tracks user preferences — such as formatting, phrasing, or spelling — and applies them automatically over time.
This ensures that each note becomes progressively more personalized and consistent with the surgeon’s preferred style.
“The Smart Edit tool feels like it’s learning how I write — not just transcribing what I say.”
Implementation: From Setup to Integration
Following the meeting, Melissa took the following steps to streamline Dr. Baig’s account and workflow:
Sent setup instructions for Accuro integration (3-week setup, no additional cost)
Discussed adding more OR note templates tailored for surgical workflows
Meanwhile, Dr. Baig began testing the updated narrative-style template, confirming it worked as expected for both telemedicine and in-hospital use.
Why It Matters
Surgeons like Dr. Baig balance complex inpatient procedures with growing telehealth demands.
Empathia bridges these worlds, enabling structured, flexible, and secure documentation that works across multiple systems — from OR notes to virtual visits.
Conclusion
Empathia AI helps surgeons like Dr. Zarrukh Baig bring consistency and efficiency to surgical documentation — unifying operative notes, telemedicine visits, and EMR integration in one adaptable platform.
By simplifying multi-system workflows and learning from user preferences, Empathia allows clinicians to focus on what matters most: delivering exceptional patient care.
Get started with Empathia
Start delivering care with less burden！
Key Features Used
Telemed
All-in-one built-in Telemed on mobile and web—call patients directly or start a secure video visit with automatic, seamless documentation.
Templates
Customizable templates for common visit types
