Dr Sarah Baldwin led a quality-improvement (QI) project in her Burnaby, BC clinic to quantify the impact of automation on administrative workload.
Using Cortico’s integrated tools for booking, intake, document triage, eligibility verification, reminders, and secure messaging, her team:
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Saved 18 to 29 hours per week
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Reduced documentation errors from 15% to 0.3%
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Eliminated ≈$800/week in lost billing
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Cut no-shows to nearly zero
Most importantly, the system transformed Dr. Baldwin’s “admin days” into genuine time off.
Watch the 20-minute webinar: Redesigning Clinical Efficiency Through Automation.
The Problem
Before automation, administrative work consumed much of Dr Baldwin’s non-clinical time. Charting, scheduling, and follow-up tasks regularly overflowed into days off, adding roughly 10–12 hours of unpaid labour each week. Her medical office assistant (MOA) also struggled to keep up, creating a cycle of backlog and burnout.
To understand the scope, Dr. Baldwin and her MOA tracked the time required for each task. Their goal: identify workflow changes that could reduce admin time without adding staff.
Implementing Automation
Dr Baldwin chose Cortico, an automation platform integrated with the OSCAR EMR, to test five key areas where automation could make a measurable difference.
Document triage (Waive the Wait)
AI automatically names, categorizes, and routes incoming referrals, labs, and pharmacy requests to the correct charts. After a short 1–2-week training period, the system runs independently, matching patients by PHN and flagging the right provider.
Result: Over 6 hours saved weekly for the MOA; documentation errors reduced from 15% to 0.3%.
Online self-scheduling
Patients receive a booking link and choose their own appointment within preset time ranges. Links expire automatically to encourage timely booking, and satisfied patients can leave verified Google reviews through a built-in feedback step.
Result: 67% of patients now book independently; MOA scheduling time reduced from 10–12 to 4.5 hrs/week. This reduction allowed the MOA to cut back from 4–5 days to 2–3 days per week.
Pre-visit questionnaires & photo upload
Patients complete intake forms detailing history, medications, and allergies, and upload photos for dermatology concerns before confirmation.
The data imports directly into the EMR and feeds into Heidi AI for automatic consult-note generation, significantly shortening documentation time.
Result: Faster charting and stronger medicolegal documentation with baseline photos.
Automated MSP eligibility check
A one-click check runs before each clinic day to flag invalid coverage.
Result: ≈$800/week in lost billing eliminated.
Automated reminders & no-show fee collection
Cortico sends text and email reminders at customizable intervals, with delivery and open timestamps logged in the EMR. Repeat no-show patients must pre-pay via Square before re-booking, and form or note fees unlock documents automatically after payment.
Result: No-shows and late cancellations reduced from 3–7/week to near zero, and staff no longer collect credit-card details over the phone.
Additional Micro-Efficiencies
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One-click pharmacy updates: Preferred pharmacies selected by patients are auto-added to charts.
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Direct prescription notifications: Patients receive secure confirmation when prescriptions are sent.
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Secure messaging: After-care instructions, requisitions, and results are sent through two-factor authentication, fully logged in the EMR.
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Click reduction: A one-step billing shortcut in Cortico bypasses Oscar’s final screen, removing dozens of daily clicks and saving several hours weekly.
Results by the Numbers
| Area | Time Saved / Improvement |
|---|---|
| MOA administrative tasks | 11.5–15 hrs/week |
| Chart creation & document handling | 6–7 hrs/week |
| Physician time | 4–7 hrs/week |
| Lab requisitions & aftercare | 2–5 hrs/week |
| Pharmacy management | ≈ 2 hrs/week |
| Total | 18–29 hrs/week saved |
Estimated annual financial impact: $24,000–$61,000 from combined efficiency gains and recovered billing.
Human Impact
“Before this, every day off was just more admin. Now I can actually disconnect. It’s made my work feel more sustainable.” - Dr. Sarah Baldwin
Looking Ahead
Dr Baldwin notes that automation only works when workflows are solid first. Her clinic mapped out every process before introducing technology and continues to refine systems every six months as patient needs evolve.
Cortico is now piloting two features she plans to adopt:
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Tickler automation, which uses optical character recognition (OCR) to detect keywords in reminders and trigger automated follow-up messages.
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Secure provider-to-provider messaging, expected to replace fax-based communication and save another 4–7 hours/week.
Lessons Learned
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Measure and document baseline workflows before automating.
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Introduce automation in sequence; fix workflow gaps first.
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Small time savings compound dramatically when multiplied across high patient volumes.
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Eligibility checks and standardized billing workflows recover as much value as staff efficiency.
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Automation supports sustainability by giving clinicians back time for patients and themselves.
Watch the full webinar presentation here: Redesigning Clinical Efficiency Through Automation.
