We interviewed Dr. Sanjeev Suratwala to understand how Playback Pro’s platform helps him save time automating notes which enables him to see more patients every day.

Dr. Sanjeev Suratwala is an orthopedic surgeon based in Long Island within the Northwell Health system. He graduated medical school in 2001 and has been at his current practice for almost 14 years. Altogether, he’s been in practice for 17 years.

Good-humored and with a sunny disposition that’s easy to imagine calming many a concerned patient, it’s clear that Dr. Suratwala is good at what he does. But just because someone is inherently good at providing care doesn’t mean they don’t need all the help they can get. 

For Dr. Suratwala, his clinical needs sound like a lot of clinicians’: more time to see patients, and less time doing paperwork. 

What to prioritize, the patient or their note?

When a patient finally makes it to the examination room, a couple of things happen simultaneously. The doctor will enter and, if the patient is lucky, they will get a couple seconds of greeting, a speed round of questions, and potentially even some eye contact. (No promises, though!)

Why the potential lack of warmth, time and attention from doctors? It’s not personal—it’s paperwork. If an average primary care appointment typically lasts 30 minutes, the consequent paperwork filing often takes longer than the appointment itself, averaging 36 minutes. With that kind of administrative imbalance weighing on doctors’ busy schedules, it’s easy to understand why completing paperwork while simultaneously examining a patient becomes a necessity for clinicians, not even a choice. 

Dr. Suratwala knows the problem all too well, and it’s been one of the pain points of his practice for some time. He acknowledges that because of all the computer time in general, healthcare has a conversation problem—between patients and providers alike. 

“There should be less computer time and more actual face time, like the original FaceTime, where people used to sit and talk to each other in person. I think we're missing a big chunk of that collegiality and networking where we get to chat and pick people's brains and do curbside consults and say, 'Hey, I have this patient. What do you think?’—instead of sending tasks and messages. It loses that humanity and personal relationship building that's been so critical over the years for healthcare.”

If patients and providers need to talk to each other more, how can they find the time to do so?

Playback Pro has some ideas.  

With Playback Pro, patients AND notes get quality care

If too much computer time is the problem, automating the tasks that get done on the computer is the solution.

How do you automate the writing of a clinical note? With an AI-powered digital scribe. 

Dr. Suratwala found Playback Pro’s digital scribe, Playback Notes. By enabling a live recording that intelligently files everything the doctor and patient say into an organized, cohesive, accurate clinical note—WHILE they are talking—Playback Pro enables clinicians like Dr. Suratwala to perform multiple aspects of their jobs simultaneously. They can administer attentive care and hold in-depth conversations while their AI sidekick records it all, filing it away for purposeful and effective use as soon as the appointment is over.

For Dr. Suratwala, the results have been transformative. 

“I use the ambient AI features when I’m having a conversation with the patient and it acts as a scribe and creates a note based on my interaction with the patient. That's been a tremendous boon for me because now I can dedicate more time to talking to the patient, examining them, and not worrying about the notes that I have to type into the computer because the AI-scribe is already doing it for me. I use it every day.”

Dr. Suratwala found the answer

Playback Pro works wonders for  Dr. Suratwala’s workflow, from time-savings, to seeing more patients a week, to enhancing patient experience with his more attentive care.

“I was given a statistic from my hospital that I'm the number two user of Playback Pro in the entire system for the Notes feature. It's helped me tremendously because now I can see more patients in a day. I'm not stressing about writing notes at the end of the day because I know it's all there and I just have to enter it into the system. I feel a better connection with patients when I'm having a conversation with them, not having to worry about the notes and typing that you often see people doing all the time in doctors’ offices. It's improved my workflow, and at the end of the day, I can leave at a reasonable time because I'm no longer sitting for two hours finishing my notes after work. It's all in the system already.”

AI scribe to the rescue

Note-automation saves clinicians time and energy that can then be redistributed in meaningful ways throughout the work day. Specifically, when clinicians don’t have to spend time on note-taking, they can see more patients in a day.  

The benefits of incorporating an AI-scribe into his daily routine have been plentiful for Dr. Suratwala, and the ability to see more patients is one big benefit.

“The time I’ve saved using Playback Pro has allowed me to see more patients in a day. Before Playback Pro, I would average approximately 60 patients a week. Now I can very easily see 70-80 patients or even more depending on patient volume.”

A nearly 20% increase in patient capacity all because of note-automation is the kind of benefit that Playback Pro promises, and delivers. 

“I think Playback Pro has made me a better doctor. These days most patients do not have access to a doctor and are usually being evaluated by a physician extender. They also have limited time with their providers in the office. Playback Pro has allowed me to see more patients directly myself as well as improve the quality of the time spent with the patient. As a doctor, it has also made my workflows more efficient in general, and reduced the mentally and physically draining demands of paperwork.”

New notes for all

When a solution presents itself to a persistent, frustrating problem like the daunting paperwork burden for so many clinicians, health systems ought to take note—pun intended. 

By freeing up clinicians’ precious time, the benefits for the healthcare ecosystem are many. But even deeper than that,  it helps clinicians reconnect to the purpose of their work in the first place. When they have more time to connect with the people in need of their help, the “why” of their profession becomes easy to grasp. 

Sure, Dr. Suratwala is glad he gets his notes done faster and can see more patients each day, but the ability of a clinical platform to reconnect him with the impact behind his work? That, some might say, is priceless. 

“Sometimes we lose sight of why we are here. We all start out wanting to be doctors or clinicians to help patients. And I think, in the context of technology and administration and insurance companies, we lose sight of that. So, I think trying to empathize with the patients and put yourself in their shoes is important—so you can share their experience and see what they're going through rather than just what you're going through. Changing that perspective helps improve patient care outcomes and improve job satisfaction as well. Because ultimately, you have to keep focusing on why you're doing this and how you can best help the patient.”

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