Nabla

Today, we’re talking about Nabla Copilot and how it’s used at your company. First, could you give me an overview of your company and your role there?

We’re an electronic health records (EHR) company focusing on primary and specialist outpatient care clinics in North America. Our primary focus is providing a forward-thinking, ultra-modern EHR with simplified workflows and user-friendly interfaces. I handle sales, marketing, and operations; I focus on building the product sales pipeline, managing the brand image and marketing efforts, and handling partnerships and operations.

What prompted your company to search for a product like Nabla?

About a year ago, when AI started gaining popularity, we wanted to ensure that we were at the forefront of the trend. We wanted to be one of the first EHRs in our area to integrate with a copilot. Our goal was to be the first to market with our offering and use that advantage to help drive sales. So far, it’s proven to be successful.

What were your key requirements when evaluating Nabla?

Because it’s a partnership with multiple parties, it was important to define common ground between both teams. Nabla’s team was fantastic: they’ve been very easy to work with, very responsive, and enthusiastic about expanding, and that has made it much easier for our teams to work together.

The other crucial aspect was the technology itself. We’d evaluated multiple copilots, and Nabla stood out as the easiest, fastest, and most mature choice. That made the decision very simple – we wanted to make sure we could create the partnership, but the product spoke for itself.

Which competitors did you consider, and how did you conduct comparative testing?

Apart from Nabla, we considered included Mutuo Health, based in Toronto, and another European-based company whose name escapes me.

We tested various products by downloading the software and then discussing future plans and planned product innovations with their teams. The primary focus was speed testing – how quickly a specific product could load the notes and the transcripts, and how quickly the transcripts could be transcribed in real time. We conducted A/B testing between products, and Nabla consistently outperformed, especially when compared to newer competitors who were still in the early stages and playing catch-up in the AI field.

What feedback did you receive from clinicians during the evaluation process?

The quality of the notes being created was a critical factor. Some of the competitors were slower, but they would also produce incomplete and poorly structured notes, and they were slow to build out templates. In contrast, Nabla’s notes were detailed, and they offered a range of templates that they continue to improve upon and innovate.

Doctors are naturally cautious about integrating AI and technology into their practices, so it’s vital to ensure the accuracy and thoroughness of the notes. Nabla is very good at this; it captures all spoken information effectively and ensures nothing is lost in translation.

Which features of Nabla stood out?

The ease of the onboarding process stood out. As a Chrome extension with a user-friendly API, Nabla’s setup and onboarding processes were simple. In contrast, competitor vendors seemed underprepared, especially when it came to partnering with EHRs. Their processes often felt improvised, whereas Nabla’s approach was structured, straightforward, and reliable.

How did the pricing models compare among the vendors you evaluated?

The pricing models were quite similar among all three vendors – typically about $100 per user.

Do clinicians who access Nabla through you benefit from preferential pricing, compared to obtaining Nabla directly?

Yes; we can offer our customers preferred pricing.

What was your overall experience with Nabla’s sales and onboarding processes like?

Our experience has been very positive – they were responsive, and both the product and sales teams have been great to work with. They’re good problem-solvers, and we haven’t encountered any issues so far. The onboarding process was also very smooth; they’ve put a lot of thought into it and documented everything thoroughly, which makes for easy partnerships.

What is the onboarding process like for new clinicians introducing Nabla into their practice?

The onboarding process for new clinicians is very straightforward. As resellers, we’ve been trained in Nabla’s onboarding method. The application is extremely user-friendly, and most doctors can start using it within minutes. Other products often require a lot of training and communication, while Nabla operates like any other app – it’s possible to download it and start using it right away.

Can you describe the end-users of your Nabla partnership in more detail? How extensively is the product being used today?

Our partnership with Nabla is new, and the numbers are still growing on our side, but the interest among our user base is evident. We’re focusing on our entire user base of primary care physicians and specialists, and we’re emphasizing Nabla’s potential to improve their clinical workflows. We have fewer than 10 users fully signed up right now, but we’re continuing to grow in North America, and many of our new users are joining because of Nabla.

How receptive are physicians to the product? What sparks their interest and convinces them to use the product?

The initial draw is usually the novelty and appeal of new technology, which is then tempered by concerns about safety and security. We spend a lot of time reassuring physicians that all of the necessary safety checks are met.

Could you describe how Nabla works for physicians? What does the interface look like, how do they access it, and what are the features they engage with on the platform?

Nabla is integrated directly into our notes engine through an API. Physicians have two options: they can use the dictate feature provided by Nabla by simply clicking the ‘Dictate’ button in our notes, which then populates within our EHR.

Alternatively, if they want the note transcriptions, they can click a button that transcribes directly onto their page. We can turn this feature on and off, so we offer it only to paying users.

When users access Nabla through our notes engine, they don’t see any part of the Nabla user interface. They only see our EHR user interface, with transcription powered by Nabla’s engine in the backend.

Physicians also have the option to use the Nabla Chrome extension for video calls or phone calls. It’s a straightforward download on their Chrome browser and extremely easy to use – they just click ‘Start Consultation’ and then proceed as usual.

Currently, all of our users are using the Chrome extension; the integrated version is about to go live.

How easy is it for the end user to integrate the product into their workflow?

I think that Nabla has done a great job of keeping the implementation process simple. Integration is very straightforward – because it’s done via Google Chrome, you don’t need any additional technology or software, so the integration with your existing software stack is seamless. You can connect it however you want and implement it within your workflows.

What does the workflow look like after capturing and transcribing the dictation?

The only post-recording tasks are copying and pasting, editing, and signing off on the note. After recording, you click “Stop Consultation” and the note is automatically generated. You can then edit the note directly in the Chrome extension, or if you’re using it in tandem with an EHR, you can copy and paste the note directly into the EHR and sign off on it there.

You can also copy the entire transcript and save it elsewhere if desired, but typically, people focus on capturing the note rather than keeping the transcript.

What do you think works particularly well with Nabla, and what are its weaknesses?

The key strengths of Nabla are its speed, the quality and variety of note templates, and the quality of transcription – the tool is around the 95th percentile for accuracy of translation and transcription, which is excellent.

As for shortcomings, the only issue raised so far is the size of the notes. Physicians are known for their meticulousness, and they sometimes feel it’s necessary to add a substantial amount of detail, even though point-form notes are more concise and efficient. However, that’s not a product deficiency as much as a need for users to adjust to a different way of doing things.

Some vendors try to replicate the style in which clinicians usually take notes. Does Nabla offer anything similar, or is the transcription output more standardized?

Nabla does allow us to build out different templates. We haven’t yet devoted the resources to creating clinician-specific templates, but this is something we’re considering for larger accounts. For now, Nabla offers a standard set of around ten templates for users to choose from.

The custom templates would be tailored to specific workflows. For example, a pain management specialist may have a particular workflow and initial consultation process that may not be fully captured or organized correctly in the standard Nabla templates. Creating a customized template would require setting parameters in the system to properly capture the specifics of such consultations. Nabla would take care of this; we would simply pull the actual note template used by the physicians, and Nabla would then create that within their AI templates.

Which specialties do the existing templates support?

The default one includes areas such as the chief complaint, history of present illness (HPI), medical history, social history, and family history. Other templates available include the default SOAP notes, APSO notes, psychiatric notes, physical exam notes, cardiology notes, dietitian notes, psychology notes, and lactation consultation notes.

What feedback have you received from your customers?

The main challenge is gaining trust in the system and integrating it into daily workflows. Nabla is seen as exciting and innovative, but clinicians need to take the leap and adjust their workflows to incorporate it. That’s a work in progress for each clinician. We provide support to ensure they understand how and when to use Nabla, but ultimately, it’s up to them to implement it.

What is continued adoption like over the longer term?

The adoption rate is high, but it does vary depending on factors such as the physician’s age, how busy their practice is, whether they carry a computer with them, how many days per week they attend their clinic, and so on. It’s essential to target the right customer profile, and we’re focusing our efforts on residents and fellows fresh out of university who are more open to adopting our system.

Are there any stability or reliability issues?

No, I haven’t heard anything or experienced any stability issues yet.

Have you encountered any practical obstacles in having physicians use Nabla?

We did have a minor issue with a clinician who was using a different browser instead of Chrome, which meant they weren’t able to use the Nabla extension. Nabla requires Chrome, which is known for its fast performance. As for hardware, if a clinician were to have an older computer without a built-in microphone, they would need to purchase and connect an external microphone. That might pose challenges for older clinicians or offices, but ultimately, it’s up to the physician to decide if they want to invest in these solutions.

What has your experience been like with the API integration?

To my knowledge, the API integration was very easy to connect to. It will be directly integrated into our platform’s user interface, allowing clinicians to use Nabla at a higher level and streamline their clinical workflow. The goal is to have everything in one place, which makes it easier for clinicians to use the tool and will drive adoption. Building out the API was straightforward, and we expect it to go live within the next two weeks.

What has the quality of Nabla’s support team been like?

The Nabla team has been excellent. I have had a great experience working closely with our account manager, who has been extremely responsive and helpful. They consistently provide support and have been proactive in exploring further integration, partnership, and marketing opportunities. Overall, they have been fantastic.

Do you feel that partnering with Nabla was the right decision?

Absolutely; I think it’s exceeded our expectations, especially in terms of the level of integration we’ve been able to achieve. The team at Nabla has been fantastic to work with.

Are there any specific areas of growth that you have identified?

Certainly, there’s always room for improvement. The Nabla team has already demonstrated a fantastic product with impressive speed – it speaks for itself. Moving forward, I think it would be useful to focus on innovating in the areas of clinicians’ notes and expanding the range of template options. Adding customization and providing more choices for different medical practitioners and specialties would be the next logical step. If they can address the needs of various markets, it will make their product even more appealing to potential customers.

Do you have any advice for individuals who are currently undergoing the process of selecting and evaluating similar vendors?

When selecting a technology like Nabla, it’s important to consider the uptake and the number of users already using the system. This was a challenge we encountered with some of the other competitors who lacked an established user base. In contrast, Nabla has successfully expanded into different markets and can prove that its product works. Because these products use large language models and machine learning, the more users a product has, the better its performance. This is something to keep in mind during the selection process.

I would also recommend evaluating the user interface aspect; the user interfaces of the competitors we considered weren’t up to industry standards. It’s crucial to research what the interface would look like and how it would fit into your daily workflow as a physician.