For Ezra Steinberg, VMD, DACVS, a typical day at Maine Veterinary Medical Center moves quickly. He sees consultations in the morning, accepts emergency transfers throughout the day, and spends the afternoon in surgery.
“We’re really busy going from case to case, and there’s not too much time to sit down and take notes between appointments, between surgeries,” Dr. Steinberg said.
The records still have to get done. Before AI scribing, that often meant sitting down after the clinical work was done and trying to document a full day of patient interactions and surgeries.
“My notes took a hit, and my life schedule took a hit. My records were not as amazing as I would hope they would be. And the time that I would leave the hospital was pretty pathetic.”
Today, he uses ScribbleVet, an AI-powered veterinary scribe, to document as he moves through the hospital. On a busy day with roughly 20 patient interactions and six surgeries, he estimates that he can finish all of his records in under an hour. The same work used to take about five hours.
Looking for a Better Veterinary AI Scribe
Dr. Steinberg was already sold on AI scribing before he tried ScribbleVet. Once he saw what it could do for his documentation workflow, he knew he didn’t want to return to writing every record from scratch.
“I vowed to never practice medicine if I could not use an AI scribe ever again. It was completely life-changing for me, but also for my records.”
Over time, though, the tool he had been using began doing what he described as “quirky things.” Around the same time, he spoke with someone who had used ScribbleVet and learned about its relationship with Instinct, whose Treatment Plan and Instinct EMR products MVMC was already using.
He decided to try it. There was no lengthy setup process.
“I literally downloaded the free trial, turned it on. Did not watch one informational video.”
From the first day, ScribbleVet generated veterinary SOAP notes with the level of detail and structure he wanted. He has made only small changes to his template since.
“The first day that I used it, I had my notes as good as I could ever ask.”
Five Hours of Records Became Less Than One
The time savings comes from being able to document while the clinical work is still happening, rather than waiting until the end of the day. That matters for Dr. Steinberg because his schedule moves from consultations to emergency transfers to surgery, with little uninterrupted time in between.
In surgery, he keeps an iPad nearby on a Mayo stand and dictates while he closes.
“I dictate the entire surgery report, the post-operative plan, and anything else that involves the case. I take my gloves off. I hit Scribble on the app. And the notes are already made.”
The workflow is not limited to the OR. Dr. Steinberg keeps ScribbleVet open on his phone as he moves through the hospital. He may dictate while walking upstairs to his desk or while heading to get a dog for a lameness examination.
“You can really just multitask at any time in the hospital.”
More Detail Without More Time at the Keyboard
ScribbleVet has also improved the quality of the records Dr. Steinberg can produce. When he had to build each note himself at the end of the day, his records were not always as detailed as he would have liked.
Now, the note captures more than he would typically write on his own, without becoming longer than he wants.
“It is the exact amount of information that I would want. It’s far more than I would write when I have to construct my own notes. But it is just right, not too much, not too little.”
Getting the level of detail right is especially important in a specialty hospital, where the same case may need to be communicated differently in the medical record, to the referring veterinarian, and to the pet owner.
“I have to write a letter to the referring veterinarians as well as the owners. And somehow, it just knows exactly the tone and the content that both of those people deserve.”
The added detail also supports continuity when another doctor needs to step into the case.
“If somebody else has to pick up your case, they’re going to know exactly how everything has gone down.”
Staying Present During Client Conversations
Long client conversations used to create two jobs at once for Dr. Steinberg.
He needed to listen, explain the case, and answer the owner’s questions. At the same time, part of his attention was already on the documentation he would have to produce afterward.
“We will sometimes sit down and have a half-hour conversation, and prior to a scribe, part of the conversation I would be thinking about, ‘How am I going to document all of this?’”
Now, he can stay focused on the conversation.
“Now as I’m talking, I know that every single thing that I say is going to make it to the medical record. And that is extremely comforting.”
The difference becomes especially clear when an owner asks for a written recap to share with someone who could not join the call. Instead of spending more time trying to recreate the conversation, Dr. Steinberg can send it almost immediately.
“I say, ‘Absolutely no problem. It’ll be in your inbox in about 45 seconds.’ I fire it right off, and I move on.”
Moving Notes Into Instinct EMR
Throughout the day, Dr. Steinberg records conversations and dictation using ScribbleVet on his iPhone or an iPad in the OR. When he is ready to complete his records, he works through the day’s schedule in Instinct EMR.
Using the ScribbleVet Browser Companion, he transfers the SOAP fields and surgery report into the corresponding patient record.
“That takes 10 seconds to do.”
He then reviews the record and checks for errors before finalizing it.
“I will read through everything once it’s gone into my chart, just looking for errors, in which case there are very seldom any. It’s only if I’m mumbling, which is not unheard of, if you ask my nurses.”
Once the note is ready, he can move it into Instinct EMR without disrupting the workflow.
“It’s completely fluid. It really adds nothing else.”
Giving the Rest of the Team a Reason to Switch
After seeing the difference in his own workflow, Dr. Steinberg encouraged other doctors at MVMC to try ScribbleVet.
About five took him up on it. Some were experienced users of the practice’s previous AI scribe and initially felt comfortable staying with what they knew.
“They said, ‘Well, I’m actually okay with the other one we’re using,’ and I said, ‘Just give it a chance.’ They downloaded ScribbleVet and did not ever turn the other one back on.”
Dr. Steinberg has also seen veterinarians hesitate because an AI-generated note doesn’t follow their exact preferred format. His advice is to give the tool a chance before focusing too closely on those differences.
“My recommendation is that you have to let go a little bit. And within a week, you will forget all about it.”
Doctors who were less comfortable with technology also had little difficulty getting started.
“It’s really as intuitive as any program could ever be. It’s very simple. The interface is very straightforward.”
According to Dr. Steinberg, no formal training was necessary.
“They haven’t watched a video, haven’t read a blog about it. They just turn it on and go.”
Better Records, With More of the Day Left
For Dr. Steinberg, ScribbleVet did not simply make documentation faster. It changed when and how it happens.
He can dictate while closing a surgical case, capture the substance of a detailed client conversation, move the finished note into Instinct EMR, and complete a day’s worth of records in a fraction of the time it once required.
The result is more complete documentation without adding several more hours to the end of an already busy day.
“I would not be able to see as many cases as I see and still get out of there at a reasonable time. So without question, it’s the time save.”
See how much time ScribbleVet could give back to your day. Start your free 14-day trial.
