ClinicalAIWeekly - Sourced reviews of AI tools for clinicians

Quick start: pick your specialty and EHR

AI tool directory

Filter, search, and tick up to 3 tools to compare side by side.

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Find my AI scribe

Five quick questions. You get the top 3 matches with reasons, missing information, and possible dealbreakers, using only sourced data. Note quality is not yet independently tested.

Practice size Specialty EHR Budget per clinician per month Need a free tier?

Your matches will appear here.

Buyer's checklist

Tick items as you confirm them with a vendor. Your ticks stay in this browser only. Want the printable version? Open the checklist download.

BAA: will the vendor sign a Business Associate Agreement before any patient data is used?
Data retention: how long are audio and transcripts kept, and can you set or shorten that?
Model training: is your data used to train or improve models, and can you opt out in writing?
EHR integration: direct push into your EHR, or copy and paste?
Consent for recording: does the tool support capturing and documenting patient consent?
Specialty templates: are there templates for your specialty (for example psychiatry or therapy notes)?
Pricing model: price per note or encounter vs flat per month, and any note caps?
Cancellation terms: monthly vs annual, notice period, and data return or deletion when you leave?

Questions to ask on a vendor demo

Can I see your standard BAA, and who are your subcontractors that touch patient data?
Where is audio and note data stored, and for how long by default?
Is any of my data used for model training? Is that off by default?
Show me a full note for a visit in my specialty, start to finish.
How do clinicians review and correct a note before it reaches the chart?
How does the note get into my EHR, and what happens if the integration fails?
What happens to my data if I cancel, and how do I get a copy?
What is the all-in price per clinician, including setup, caps, and overage?
Can I run a trial with real workflows, and what is the trial length?
What security reports (for example SOC 2) can you share under NDA?

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Plain-language guide: HIPAA, BAAs, and recording consent

Each card states a bold rule, what it means for a practice choosing an AI scribe, and a named official source. Not legal advice; check with your counsel or compliance lead.

Treat an AI scribe that handles PHI as a business associate

Rule: Treat an AI scribe that creates, receives, maintains, or transmits PHI for your practice as a business associate.

HHS says a business associate is a person or organization (other than a workforce member) that performs certain functions or services for a covered entity involving PHI. HHS examples include an independent medical transcriptionist, or the vendor of an app that provides transcription services to a physician, and cloud providers engaged to process or store ePHI. For a practice, expect a BAA before visit audio, transcripts, or notes leave your control, and ask which subcontractors also touch that data.

Source: HHS, Business Associates guidance

Get a written BAA before the vendor handles PHI

Rule: Put a written Business Associate Agreement in place before the vendor handles PHI, and make sure it covers the required terms.

HHS says a covered entity may disclose PHI to a business associate with satisfactory assurances in a BAA. Among other requirements, a BAA must describe permitted uses and disclosures, bar other uses except as permitted or required by law, require appropriate safeguards (including Security Rule protections for ePHI), require reporting of unauthorized uses or disclosures and breaches, require subcontractors to agree to the same restrictions, and require return or destruction of PHI at termination where feasible. Ask for the standard BAA early - including on free tiers and trials.

Source: HHS, Sample Business Associate Agreement Provisions

No ePHI in the cloud without a BAA - encryption is not enough

Rule: Do not store or process ePHI in a cloud or AI scribe service without a HIPAA-compliant BAA. Encryption alone does not remove that duty.

HHS guidance on HIPAA and cloud computing says that when a covered entity engages a cloud service provider to create, receive, maintain, or transmit ePHI, the provider is a business associate - even if it only holds encrypted ePHI and lacks an encryption key. Using such a service without a BAA violates the HIPAA Rules. HHS also says OCR does not endorse, certify, or recommend specific products, so "HIPAA certified" is not an official label.

Source: HHS, Guidance on HIPAA & Cloud Computing

Recording consent is mostly state law, separate from HIPAA

Rule: Some states require consent from all parties to record a confidential communication. Check the law where you and the patient are located.

California Penal Code section 632 makes it unlawful to intentionally record a confidential communication without the consent of all parties. A confidential communication is one carried on in circumstances that may reasonably indicate any party desires it to be confined to the parties. Clinical visits often look like that setting. A cautious practice approach is to ask every patient, document consent, and confirm the scribe tool supports that workflow.

Sources: California Penal Code section 632; Justia, 50-state recording law survey

In-depth comparisons

Company-vs-company deep dives: pricing tables, security, retention, and psychiatry fit, each with a dated source list.

Freed vs Heidi Health

Low-cost self-serve vs a free plan with native apps.

Heidi Health vs Nabla

Published prices vs the most conservative data defaults.

Nabla vs Freed

Organization-led EHR deployments vs self-serve pricing.

Tali AI vs Freed

Canadian dictation-first scribe vs US ambient scribe.

Abridge vs DAX Copilot (Dragon Copilot)

The two enterprise ambient platforms health systems compare most.

Freed vs Abridge

Private practice self-serve vs enterprise Epic-native.

Heidi Health vs DAX Copilot (Dragon Copilot)

Self-serve plus enterprise vs Microsoft's unified dictation and ambient AI.

Best AI scribe for psychiatry

Shortlist guide with sourced criteria.