Clinic Name
Ken Martin Audiology
Challenges
- Transition a practice from a hospital setting to an independent, family-run clinic
- Track and manage patient files more efficiently
- Make scheduling and other features accessible from both office and home
Results
- Digital files and processes enable a high level of professionalism with a small staff
- Shortcuts for chart notes make it much simpler and faster to document patient visits
- Integrations including QuickBooks, HealthiPlan, CareCredit, ESCO, and more streamline administrative work
How Sycle Keeps Operations Simple for a Community-Focused Clinic
When Dr. Ken Martin, Au.D., decided to open a private audiology practice with his wife Shannon after a decade in a hospital setting, he wanted to ensure the kind of personal touch only a small family clinic can provide. But he knew he’d need more than ideals and clinical expertise to succeed. Without the resources of a large institution behind him, he’d also need a way to manage his own business.
Fifteen years later, Sycle has become so core to his clinic’s daily operations that the three-person Ken Martin Audiology team can’t imagine life without it.
A Community-Focused Mission
Ken and Shannon, who serves as office manager, started out with a simple mission: providing comprehensive hearing healthcare with a personal touch built on relationships. With the help of full-time patient care coordinator Megan Williams, they’ve done just that. “We’re very professional with our patients, but they feel that personal connection when they come in,” he says. “We don’t have to do a ton of marketing because we get a lot of word of mouth.”
The practice offers comprehensive hearing evaluations, hearing aid fittings and follow-up care, newborn hearing screenings, and various audiometric testing services. While they refer out for specialized services like pediatric ABR evaluations and vestibular testing, they maintain strong relationships with regional specialists to ensure seamless patient care.
Sycle Provides the Foundation
“Sycle was our first choice for a cloud-based solution. It’s affordable while giving us everything we need, and it’s always been easy to learn.”
Having worked with hospital systems, Ken recognized the importance of modern practice management technology. As a family business, mobility was key as well. “We knew we’d need to access this at home in the evening,” he explains. “Sycle was our first choice for a cloud-based solution. It’s affordable while giving us everything we need, and it’s always been easy to learn.”
Initially, Ken and his team used Sycle primarily for patient management and scheduling. As the practice evolved, so did their use of the platform. “Over time, we started using Sycle to track which hearing aids belong to which patient, charting their notes, and keeping patient and financial records.”
Paperless, Integrated, and Color-Coded
With paper charts taking up too much space, Ken’s team made the decision to go fully digital. “We hired a friend to scan everything into Sycle for us,” he says. “It was pretty easy.”
Sycle’s integrations extend the clinic’s digital capabilities. Their audiometer syncs directly with the system, pulling audiogram results automatically. Hearing aid programming software connects seamlessly, and they use NOAH Sycle Sync for device management. Their My Vitals Pro business intelligence platform syncs with Sycle as well.
Ken finds the Cochlear implant referral system particularly valuable. “Sometimes it recommends Cochlear implants for more patients than I would have thought of, which makes me think about options for patients I might have missed.”
Color-coding helps the clinic work quickly and efficiently so they can focus on the patients in front of them. “New patient audiograms are tagged in black, and hearing aid fittings and contracts are red. When you’re scrolling through documents, you can know what they are without having to read them first.”
Shortcuts have become indispensable for documentation. “If someone walks in for hearing aids to be checked and cleaned, I type three letters and the note is done,” says Ken. “That’s one of my favorite features—it makes all appointment outcomes much faster.”
Sycle even helps the clinic maintain its personal touch by automatically sending personalized birthday cards, appointment follow-ups, and warranty reminders. “They don’t get a lot of mail anymore unless it’s junk, so they really value these touchpoints,” says Ken.
A Partnership for the Future
“Sycle has been a backbone for our practice… I don’t know what we would do without it.”
“Sycle has been a backbone for our practice,” says Ken. “We all use it constantly in different ways—I’m doing outcomes and hearing aids, Megan is doing scheduling and callbacks, Shannon is doing insurance and billing.” The practice continues to explore new features, with digital signatures next on their list.
After fifteen years of practice growth and evolution, Ken continues to see Sycle as an essential partner rather than just software. “I don’t know what we would do without it,” he says.
