How Access Services Used AI to Ease Documentation Burdens and Restore Clinician Wellbeing

“Once you start using something that works, you see the impact and proof.”

— Jess Fenchel, Chief Operating and Program Officer, Access Services

Access Services, a nonprofit serving 14 counties in Pennsylvania, supports individuals across intellectual disabilities, autism, behavioral health, children and family services and housing programs. As an organization, their mission centers on connecting with people, and their workforce thrives on the magic of in-person interactions. But as the organization grew and demands for services increased, so did the pressure on clinicians to document quickly and accurately. Access Services leadership recognized that supporting the emotional health and efficiency of staff meant rethinking how work was completed.

That’s where a meaningful AI strategy came.

The Problem

Clinicians at Access Services were struggling under the emotional weight of trauma-heavy sessions and the demands of delayed documentation. Delaying notes for days added to the cognitive burden and extended the provider’s mental engagement with the session, increasing their risk of secondary trauma. These delays created friction between staff and supervisors and introduced risks to compliance and data quality. As Jess Fenchel, Chief Operating and Program Officer at Access Services, put it, “Our workforce doesn’t love documentation; they love the face-to-face magic moments [with people].” But that magic was being overshadowed by mounting paperwork and emotional fatigue.

The Solution

To address these challenges, Access Services turned to Bells Documentation Assistant, an AI-powered tool that embeds directly into the organization’s EHR. The decision to implement Bells wasn’t taken lightly. “We’re not tech geniuses,” Fenchel admitted. “We’re social workers.”

But Netsmart was already a trusted partner, and the leadership team viewed Bells as a strategic extension of their existing technology investment.

What made Bells attractive was its augmented intelligence approach: a customizable, lower-risk entry point into AI adoption. Clinicians remained in control, using features like smart editing, templates and recommendations to craft high-quality notes in a way that supported trauma-informed care.

The rollout strategy was just as intentional. Early adopters and “power users” were equipped to lead trainings and peer coaching sessions. “Once you start using something that works, I don’t need to convince you anymore,” Fenchel said. “You see the impact and proof. People buy in themselves.”

The implementation team collaborated with each program to define what good documentation looked like, ensuring that language matched the tone and approach of their clinicians.

The Results

The transformation was immediate and measurable. With Bells, clinicians now complete documentation an average of just four minutes following each session. The total time from session start to signed note dropped to 2.48 hours—down from multiple days.

But the impact went far beyond efficiency.

“We’re no longer carrying the secondary trauma,” clinicians reported. “We close the note, close the book and move on.” Staff shared that they felt lighter, less emotionally burdened and more satisfied at work. Supervisors, similarly, noticed better rapport with their teams as documentation backlogs faded.

Fenchel also noted an unexpected benefit: improved inclusivity. “We see some success for our staff for whom English isn’t their first language,” she said. Bells helped reduce the training time required for high-quality documentation and allowed for a more diverse, supported workforce.

For leadership, the improved quality and timeliness of documentation helped mitigate risk and compliance concerns. “It’s not just about staff savings,” Fenchel emphasized. “It’s an investment in the whole organization.”

Closing

Today, Access Services views Bells not just as a technology tool, but as a strategic member of their service delivery team. While the journey isn’t uniform across all 28 programs, the organization continues to climb the adoption curve with intention and transparency. As Fenchel put it, “We’re committed as an executive team that we have to practice crawling today, because at some point, we have to walk—and we know we have to run.”

By humanizing the technology and focusing on meaningful outcomes, Access Services has made AI a member of the care team—not a replacement for it. Just as Netsmart defines artificial intelligence as augmented intelligence to emphasize the irreplaceable value of human insight, Access Services demonstrates that with the right partner and approach, AI can elevate care by empowering people—not displacing them.