Could you introduce yourself in a few words?
I am a general practitioner, in private practice for six years, in a rural area. My work is varied: managing acute conditions, follow-up of chronic patients, supporting complex situations, prevention, screening, coordination with the practice team, and supervising general practice interns.
Can you describe a typical consultation with Aldebaran: before, during, after?
Before the consultation, Aldebaran allows the patient to prepare for the visit, specify the reason for the visit, and provide certain useful details. This helps them refocus on their request and better prioritize the topics to be addressed.
It is particularly useful for avoiding the effect of multiple, cascading requests, sometimes not prioritized. For some patients, the tool can also be used with the help of the medical assistant or medical residents.
During the consultation, Aldebaran makes it possible to quickly have the important elements in view: main reason, points of concern, and follow-up items. This helps structure the exchange.
After the consultation, the tool helps consolidate care: tests to plan, items to organize, and follow-up. It also serves as a shared, readable resource for the practice team.
What has changed the most in the way you work?
The main change is the patient's involvement in their own care. They no longer come only with a raw request: they can prepare for their consultation, think about their follow-up, and take a greater part in structuring their care pathway.
The other change concerns teamwork. Certain elements become clear well in advance, which allows medical assistants to intervene earlier: suggest actions, prepare a prevention assessment, or gather useful information before I step in.
The tool is also useful for general practice residents. It helps them structure patients' requests and better organize their reasoning during consultations.
Have you noticed a time saving or an efficiency gain?
Yes, there is both a time saving and an efficiency gain.
The fact that certain information is entered in advance means that you arrive at the consultation with data that can already be used. We spend less time collecting information and more time analysing and deciding.
This is also a benefit for the team, which can anticipate certain actions.
The efficiency gain is due mainly to the structure: Aldebaran helps frame the consultation, prioritise requests, and quickly identify the elements to be dealt with.
There is also value in help with coding. Interns, and sometimes even more experienced doctors, can forget certain codes appropriate for preventive, follow-up or assessment procedures. The tool makes it easier to identify them.
Can you share a concrete example of use?
The most telling example concerns preventive check-ups and chronic follow-ups.
When a patient completes the questionnaires in advance, Aldebaran automatically helps direct the review toward the useful items: screenings not performed, preventive care to update, risk factors, chronic follow-up items, points to address during the consultation.
This is particularly relevant for diabetic, hypertensive patients, or more broadly for patients with several risk factors. The tool quickly highlights what needs to be checked: biological monitoring, cardiovascular screening, vaccination, organized screenings, therapeutic education, lifestyle habits.
Another very concrete example is use by the medical assistant. If a screening is not up to date, she can identify it before my intervention even begins and suggest the appropriate steps to the patient: mammogram, Pap smear, organized screening, preventive check-up. This makes the care pathway smoother and more coherent.
What is your overall feedback on Aldebaran?
I think this type of tool is intended to take an important place in the future of our practices. It will not replace the doctor, but it addresses a real evolution in our practice: more requests, more prevention, more chronic follow-up, more coordination, and the need to have simple, readable checkpoints shared by the team.
