This guide covers the essentials of using HotDoc's AI Document Assistant, which uploads incoming correspondence, automatically extracts key details, and imports documents into your Practice Management System (PMS). At the moment, it is only for Best Practice users.

1. What is Document Assistant?

HotDoc's Document Assistant helps your practice save time and manage inbound communication (like faxes, scanned letters, or emails) more efficiently by:

• Processing inbound documents securely
• Extracting key details (e.g. patient name/DOB, practitioner, subject)
• Helping match documents to the correct patient and practitioner before import
• Allow you to quickly select where to import these (Patient file, Doctors Inbox, Investigations)

2. Before you start

Confirm the HotDoc Sidebar is installed and connected
Document Assistant is accessed via the HotDoc Sidebar. If it isn't installed on the computers doing the uploading, you won't be able to use the feature.The Sidebar will need to have the green 'Connected' icon to show that it's successfully connected to Best Practice.

Confirm your HotDoc user account has access to the Sidebar

You will require access to the Sidebar in order to use Document Assistant. 

Refresh the Sidebar to ensure the Document Assistant feature is showing

Once Document Assistant has been turned on for your clinic, you'll need to refresh the Sidebar in order for it to show up. You can do this by clicking the HotDoc logo at the top of the Sidebar.

This will need to be done for each Sidebar you plan to use Document Assistant on.

3. Setting up auto-archiving - Send instructions to your IT.

When you import a scanned document into Best Practice using Document Assistant, the automatic archive feature can automatically move the original file into an "Archived - HD Document Assistant" subfolder inside your scans folder. This keeps your folder tidy, removes the manual work for your team and prevents them from uploading any double-ups. 

To use this feature, you will need to be uploading your scans and documents from a shared folder that lives on your server, a network drive or local computer at your practice. 

You will need assistance from your IT to set up auto-archiving. You can view how to set this up in the Dashboard under Document Assistant -> Settings.
 

4. How to upload and process documents

1. From the HotDoc Sidebar, go to Menu → Document Assistant.
   

2. Upload your documents (you can do multiple at a time). Supported formats are PDF, JPG, and PNG (DOC coming soon):
   • Press green Upload button 
   • Drag and drop files into the uploader, or Click Browse Files and select from your folder. 
     

3. Click Start Processing to begin. HotDoc will process each file and extract key details (like patient name/DOB, practitioner, and subject).

   Note: If a document has already been imported into Best Practice, we'll show this to avoid accidentally uploading the same document multiple times.

5. How to review extracted details and import into BP

Once processing begins, your documents will appear in the left panel with a spinner until each one is ready to review and import.

1. Select the document you want to review, you will see the details automatically extract on the right.
2. The extracted fields are editable, so you can correct anything before importing. The fields include:
   • Document destination:
     • Doctors Inbox (default): Correspondence In or investigations, 
     • Patient file
   • Practitioner (auto-filled, their last seen practitioner in BP)
   • From Name / From Company (sender details)
   • Date of Service (auto filled)
   • Subject (auto filled)
   • Category (currently limited but coming soon- you'll be able to choose your categories from BP).
      
3. Once you have confirmed the patient's information is correct, click Import. HotDoc will then import the document directly into Best Practice using the same secure process used for HotDoc Forms. 
   • Note: If you have automatic archiving setup and the box is ticked, this will ensure it's moved automatically into the archived folder once imported into best practice.

6. What happens after you've imported files into BP

Once a document is successfully imported to your PMS, it will disappear from your To review list and will appear in your Imported list.

If the import fails for any reason, it will appear in your Failed list instead, where you can view the document and its filename so you can ensure you manually import the document to the appropriate location.

If you've set up automatic archiving, once a scanned document has been imported into Best Practice, we will automatically move the original file into an "Archived - HD Document Assistant" subfolder inside your scans folder. You can then empty the documents from this folder, whenever best suits your practice.

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Where will the document appear in Best Practice?

Depending on what you selected for Document Type:

• Doctor's Inbox: as Correspondence In, or Investigations, depending on what you selected.
  
• Patient File: added directly to the patient's record under Correspondence in

7. Privacy & security

The short version:

• Your documents are not stored permanently in HotDoc.
• Files are handled securely and temporarily.
• Extracted data will be deleted no later than 72 hours after upload.
• All data is hosted in Australia within HotDoc's secure AWS environment.
• HotDoc is SOC 2 Type 2 certified, meaning an independent auditor has verified that our systems and security controls meet strict standards for protecting sensitive data.

Document processing steps

1. When you click "Start processing"

• Documents are uploaded via the HotDoc Sidebar.
• HotDoc temporarily stores a copy of your document and the file name during processing.
• The document is securely sent to a HotDoc-managed processing service to extract key details (such as patient name and practitioner).
• After processing, HotDoc temporarily stores the document metadata (e.g. patient/practitioner selection).

2. When you click "Import"

To insert the document into Best Practice, HotDoc temporarily stores:

• The document metadata (e.g. patient/practitioner selection), and
• A base64-encoded version of the document (a plain text representation of the file).

HotDoc does not keep a long-term copy of the document. All document details are deleted no later than 72 hours after upload, including if the document was not successfully processed or imported.

Extracted information

The system only extracts key filing details to help you allocate the document correctly, including:

• Patient (identified by name and date of birth)
• Practitioner
• From Name (the person who sent the document)
• Company Name (the organisation who sent the document)
• Date of Service
• Subject
• Category 
   

This information is used solely to assist with correct filing into Best Practice.

Data hosting

• All data is processed and hosted within HotDoc's secure AWS environment in Australia.
• The extraction process uses HotDoc-managed, self-hosted services – no third-party providers are used for document processing.

8. FAQs