Reducing Mental Load in Pulmonary Practice — Dr. Shoki’s Experience with Empathia AI
Pulmonology Clinic
Ottawa, ON, Canada
Doctor
Dr. Alborz Shoki
Specialty
Respirology
Empathia makes it feel like documentation runs in the background — I can stay focused on the patient.
The challenge
Before Empathia
- Time-consuming documentation: manually writing consult and follow-up notes.
- Cognitive fatigue: mental load from repetitive tasks during high-volume clinic days.
- Limited flexibility in templates: traditional SOAP notes didn’t fit pulmonary workflows.
Through the BC Scribe trial program, respiratory specialist Dr. Alborz Shoki began exploring Empathia AI to improve documentation efficiency in a busy pulmonary practice.
During onboarding, Empathia team guided Dr. Shoki through a hands-on session covering note-taking, dictation, and template customization.
Dr. Shoki was particularly interested in reducing mental load during busy clinic days and testing dictation for specific tasks like interpreting studies and creating addenda.
How Empathia AI Fits Into Daily Workflow
The Discovery
Dr. Shoki joined Empathia through the BC Scribe Trial Program, gaining access to AI-powered dictation, smart templates, and customization options for respiratory medicine.
Implementation & Workflow Adaptation
Dr. Shoki appreciated that the system could:
Dictate and organize notes naturally, without rigid commands.
Auto-fill forms and generate multilingual patient handouts.
Integrate macros for quick insertion of repetitive phrases.
Support both in-clinic and telemedicine visits through the phone app.
Smart Summary for pre-charting and importing data from previous notes or PDFs.
Privacy controls, including data encryption in Montreal and automatic deletion after 1–40 days.
“It’s flexible — you can adjust everything, from note style to how long data stays”.
The Transformation
After Empathia
Key Improvements
Even in early onboarding, Dr. Shoki noticed a lighter cognitive load and faster documentation flow.
“It’s easy to use and doesn’t take extra effort, Simple, adaptable, and built around how clinicians actually work.”
Key Features Used
Real-Time Note Taking — Used for live documentation and interpreting studies, reducing typing time and cognitive effort.
Template Customization — Adjusted to a section-based format (instead of SOAP) to better match respiratory workflows.
Smart Summary — Pulled relevant information from previous notes or PDFs into new encounters for quick pre-charting.
Macros — Created reusable text snippets for common phrases and sections to speed up documentation.
Consult & Referral Letter Generator — Automatically produced structured letters from visit notes.
Multilingual Patient Handouts — Generated patient education materials in multiple languages directly from the note.
Privacy & Data Retention Controls — Data encrypted in Montreal, with customizable auto-deletion between 1–40 days.
Mobile App for Telemedicine — Enabled secure recording and dictation on the phone for virtual visits.
Results & Takeaways
Simplified workflow: fewer manual steps in creating follow-up and consult notes.
Reduced mental load: voice-dictation and auto-structured notes lessen cognitive strain.
Flexible customization: supports non-SOAP formats and specialty-specific structure.
Improved patient communication: quick generation of multilingual handouts and consult letters.
Enhanced privacy control: encryption and automatic data-retention settings tailored to clinic needs.
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.
Smart Summary
Summarize and combine multiple reports (e.g., genetics reports, lab results, referral letters) into one unified summary
Multilingual Support
Accurate transcription in 30+ languages enables inclusive, error-reduced documentation and patient handouts in their preferred language.
