Should you hire more staff or implement Clinically?
If your practice is overwhelmed with documents and referrals, you have two main options. Here's an honest comparison to help you decide.
By Dr Wojt Janowski and Dr Karan Makhija, Clinical Haematologists and Co-founders of Clinically
Cost comparison
Clinically costs approximately $5,000 per year for a 6-doctor practice, compared to $73,000–90,000 in Year 1 costs for hiring an additional admin staff member — over 90% less. Ongoing annual costs remain under $5,000 versus $65,000–80,000 for staff.
| Cost Item | Hiring Admin Staff | Clinically |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $50,000-60,000/year | $4,140–4,968/year (6 doctors) |
| On-costs (super, leave, etc.) | +$15,000-20,000/year | Included |
| Recruitment costs | $3,000-5,000 one-time | No recruitment |
| Training time | 4-8 weeks (lost productivity) | Setup in 2-4 weeks |
| Office space & equipment | Desk, computer, phone (~$5,000+) | Use existing devices |
| Total Year 1 | $73,000-90,000 | $4,140–4,968 |
| Ongoing Years | $65,000-80,000/year | $4,140–4,968/year |
Clinically costs over 90% less than hiring staff
~$5,000 per year vs $70,000+ per year (based on a 6-doctor practice)
Source: Clinically internal data. Staff salary estimates based on Australian medical admin roles, 2024–2025.
Capacity comparison
A full-time admin hire adds 38 hours per week but is limited by human processing speed, sick leave, annual leave, and turnover risk. Clinically gives back 10+ hours per week to existing staff through AI-enhanced automation that runs 24/7 with no downtime — and scales to handle any volume at the same cost.
Hiring Admin Staff
- Capacity Added
- ~38 hours/week (full-time)
- Processing Speed
- Limited by human speed (5-10 min per referral)
- Availability
-
- Subject to sick leave (~10 days/year)
- Annual leave (4 weeks/year)
- Turnover risk (retraining costs)
- Scalability
- Linear: Need 2x staff for 2x volume
Clinically
Recommended- Capacity Added
- ~10 hours/week back to existing staff (automation)
- Processing Speed
- AI processes documents in ~30 seconds (80% full accuracy)
- Availability
-
- 24/7 processing, no downtime
- No leave, no sick days
- No turnover concerns
- Scalability
- Infinite: Same cost for 50 or 500 documents
When each option makes sense
When Hiring Staff Makes Sense
- You need front-desk reception coverage
- You need clinical support (nursing, etc.)
- You have non-automatable tasks requiring human judgment
- You have complex patient interactions requiring empathy
When Clinically Makes Sense
- Document processing is the bottleneck
- You want to grow without adding headcount
- You want consistency and reliability
- You want to eliminate lost referrals
- You're cost-conscious about overhead
Best of both worlds
Most practices use both: Clinically automates the repetitive work, and staff focus on complex cases and patient interaction.
"We didn't replace our admin team — we freed them from repetitive document work so they could focus on patients. Same staff, three times the volume."
— Dr Karan Makhija, Clinical Haematologist and Co-founder of Clinically
Before
2 staff, overwhelmed
2+ hours/day on documents
Referrals getting lost
With Clinically
Same 2 staff, less stress
25 min/day on documents
Zero lost referrals
Result
3x the volume
Same headcount
Staff focus on patients
Same staff handle 3x the volume with less stress.
Return on investment
Here's what the numbers look like:
Option A: Hire Staff
- Year 1 cost:
- $75,000
- Time saved:
- Some
- Scalability:
- Linear
- ROI:
- Moderate
Option B: Clinically
- Year 1 cost:
- ~$5,000
- Time saved:
- 10 hrs/week
- Scalability:
- Infinite
- ROI:
- Excellent
Clinically pays for itself in the first month
At $30–40/hour for admin staff, 10 hours/week saved = $15,000–20,000/year in value
Source: Clinically internal data from Australian specialist practices, 2024–2025.
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