Actually, he posted that it was 9 times a day, not 9 times your level. So it caps at the ninth heal, period. And, as has been pointed out, it's really not that massively powerful. Most healing is done as down-time, when it's not nearly as relevant. A party with a cleric of any significant level will experience a similar effect.
Shape-changing in combat is time-consuming, generally, and may not be a good idea, depending on what you're fighting. A powerful ability? Sure. A broken one? I don't think it is.