From Handwritten Notes to AI Scribe: 60 Years of Experience, Evolved

How Rheo AI Scribe Helped a Veteran Chiropractor Cut Documentation Time By 80%

According to Dr. John Kellenberger, “experience counts.” Coming from him, that's not an empty motto. It's a lived truth.

Before his nearly six-decade career in chiropractic, Dr. Kellenberger spent years leading a hospital X-ray department, a foundation that shaped how he practices. He went on to spend 13 years mastering the Gonstead method and teaching it to other chiropractors. Retirement, however, never stuck, and he returned to practice twice before settling in part time at Stevens Family Chiropractic.

But across a career defined by that kind of dedication, one part of the job never got easier: documentation.

Here's how Rheo AI Scribe solved the one problem experience alone couldn't.

The Challenge: Notes During the Day, Documentation at Night

After all these years, Dr. Kellenberger knew what was waiting for him at the end of the day.

During clinic hours, he jotted the notes he could between visits and came back to finish them later, often spending a couple of hours after closing out the day. Ultimately, what should have been part of the visit became a second shift—adding unnecessary hours to his part-time schedule.  

He couldn’t cut corners, either. Since his patients skew older and rely heavily on insurance, every visit requires thorough documentation. He knew he needed a solution that gave his time back to the part of practice that mattered most.

The Solution: AI Scribe Keeps Documentation in the Clinic

When Rheo AI Scribe became available, Dr. Kellenberger was the first in the practice to start using it, and he’s used it every day since. Instead of jotting notes between visits and coming back to them later, he documents the visit as he goes. The note is captured and organized in real time, already structured and aligned with insurance requirements.

"It’s an absolute fabulous tool... I don’t have to stay there for a couple hours after I finish with treating patients. The scribe does all my notes for me.”

He’s applying that same approach to how he teaches. Using AI to develop clinical material on complex cases like grade 1 L5 spondylolisthesis treated through the Gonstead method, he’s turning decades of expertise into clear, structured content he can share with students.

The Results: Documentation That Stays in the Clinic

For Dr. Kellenberger, the shift was immediate and tangible. Documentation that once stretched well past the end of clinic now wraps up inside the visit itself, leaving his evenings free for the first time in years.

With that time back, he's able to do what he returned to practice to do: care for patients without documentation getting in the way.

Where Clinical Experience Meets AI Innovation

For anyone who still sees AI as something meant for younger, more tech-native providers, Dr. Kellenberger has a simple response: “I’m almost 90 years old and I’m not afraid of it,” a perspective that speaks to how he’s always approached the work—and why, in his words, “it makes the practice more enjoyable and more fun.”

Perhaps most important of all, Rheo doesn’t replace his experience. It gives Dr. Kellenberger a way to protect it, keeping his time focused on patients, his documentation where it belongs, and his hard-won knowledge in active use as he continues to teach the next generation of chiropractors.

See how Rheo AI Scribe helps you keep practicing at your best. Book a demo.