Stop managing documents manually.
Start seeing patients.
The typical specialist practice loses 20–30% of admin staff time to manual document processing, based on Clinically internal data from Australian specialist practices. Here's what that looks like — and how Clinically fixes it.
By Dr Wojt Janowski and Dr Karan Makhija, Clinical Haematologists and Co-founders of Clinically
Receiving referrals
Manual referral intake — checking email inboxes, fax machines, and organising files — takes 15–30 minutes per day. With Clinically, documents arrive automatically from email, fax, and web and are converted to searchable PDFs with zero staff time.
| Task | Manual Process | With Clinically |
|---|---|---|
| Check for documents | Check email inbox multiple times per day, check fax machine | Documents arrive automatically from email, fax, web |
| Download & organize | Download email attachments individually, file in folders | All documents captured automatically |
| Convert to PDF | Manually convert Word docs, scan paper documents | Automatic conversion to searchable PDFs |
| Time per day | 15-30 minutes | Automatic, zero staff time |
Extracting patient information
Manual data entry from referral letters takes 5–10 minutes per document with a 5–10% error rate from typos and duplicates. Clinically's AI extracts patient details in 30 seconds with 80% full accuracy and less than 1% error rate after human review.
| Task | Manual Process | With Clinically |
|---|---|---|
| Read document | Read through referral to find patient name, DOB, Medicare | AI extracts patient details automatically (80% full accuracy) |
| Data entry | Type patient information into your system | Data pre-filled, ready for review |
| Find existing record | Search for existing patient record manually | Automatic matching to existing patients |
| Create new record | Manually create if new patient | One-click patient creation if new |
| Time per referral | 5-10 minutes | 30 seconds |
| Error rate | 5-10% (typos, duplicates) | <1% (with human review) |
Classifying documents
Manually reading each document to determine its type and urgency takes 2–5 minutes per document. Clinically's AI classifies documents instantly — identifying referrals, pathology reports, radiology, and correspondence — and routes them to the correct triage queue automatically.
| Task | Manual Process | With Clinically |
|---|---|---|
| Identify type | Read document to determine type (referral vs. report) | AI classifies automatically (referral, pathology, radiology, etc.) |
| Route to person | Route to appropriate folder/person manually | Routes to correct triage queue automatically |
| Track status | Hope nothing falls through cracks | Tracking ensures every document is actioned |
| Time per document | 2-5 minutes | Automatic, instant |
Communicating with patients & referrers
Manually contacting patients and referring doctors about referral status takes 30–60 minutes per day. Clinically automates SMS and email notifications for referral receipt, appointment confirmations, and reminders — reducing "did you get my referral?" calls by 90%.
| Task | Manual Process | With Clinically |
|---|---|---|
| Referral received | Manually call/email each patient | Automatic SMS/email confirmation |
| Status calls | Field "did you get my referral?" calls all day | 90% reduction in status calls |
| Appointment reminders | Manually send appointment confirmations | Automatic appointment reminders |
| Referrer updates | Manually update referring doctors | Optional automated status updates |
| Time per day | 30-60 minutes | 10 minutes (exceptions only) |
Total time savings
Typical practice processing 30-50 documents per week
| Task | Manual Time | Clinically Time | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Document receipt & organization | 1.5 hrs/week | 0 hrs/week | 1.5 hrs |
| Data entry & patient matching | 5 hrs/week | 1 hr/week | 4 hrs |
| Classification & routing | 1.5 hrs/week | 0 hrs/week | 1.5 hrs |
| Patient/referrer communications | 4 hrs/week | 1 hr/week | 3 hrs |
| TOTAL | 12 hrs/week | 2 hrs/week | 10 hrs/week |
That's 2 hours per day your staff can redirect to patient care.
At $30–40/hour for admin staff, that's $15,000–20,000 per year in savings.
Source: Clinically internal data from Australian specialist practices, 2024–2025.
The hidden costs of manual processes
Beyond time, manual processes create risks and costs you may not be measuring:
"As practising haematologists, we saw urgent referrals delayed because they were buried in a fax pile. That's a clinical risk no practice should accept."
— Dr Wojt Janowski, Clinical Haematologist and Co-founder of Clinically
Lost Revenue
- Risk of lost referrals = lost patients
- Delayed triage = frustrated referrers send patients elsewhere
- Can't scale patient volume without hiring more staff
Clinical Risk
- Duplicate patient records → fragmented medical history
- Lost referrals → potential patient harm
- Delayed triaging → missed urgent cases
Staff Burnout
- Repetitive manual work → low morale
- Constant anxiety about missing something
- Overtime to "catch up" on document backlog
Referrer Relationships
- Lost or delayed referrals frustrate referring doctors
- No confirmation system → "did you get it?" phone calls
- Poor communication → referrers send patients elsewhere
Ready to stop managing documents and start seeing patients?
Average implementation time: 2-4 weeks
ROI timeframe: First month