Telling patients about the AI scribe
Most patients are glad you are looking at them instead of a screen. They still want to know what is listening and what happens to it. Here is a short way to explain it, and a one-page form you can adapt.
What to say
“I use an AI scribe that listens to our conversation and drafts my note, so I can pay attention to you instead of typing. I read and sign everything it writes. The recording doesn’t go into your record and isn’t used to train AI. Is that all right with you today?”
Ask before you start recording, and ask again if someone new joins the room, such as a family member or an interpreter.
Written or spoken consent
Some practices collect a signature once, at check-in or with the intake forms, and ask out loud at each visit. Others ask out loud only and note it in the chart. The form works for both: the patient signs it, or your staff record the date of the spoken consent on the line at the bottom.
If a patient says no
Don’t record. Write the note the way you did before, and keep their choice somewhere your team will see it before the next visit. A patient can also ask you to stop partway through; stop the recording and carry on.
What the form tells patients
- What is recorded: the sound of the conversation while the recording is on. No video.
- The recording is used only to draft the note and does not become part of the medical record. There is no option to save it: it is deleted after it is transcribed (within 7 days if it cannot be), or kept on the clinician’s phone until they delete the note. A written transcript is kept, encrypted, with the clinician’s records.
- The clinician reads, corrects and signs the note before it goes into the chart.
- Scribeable and the companies it uses to transcribe and draft notes work under Business Associate Agreements. Scribeable staff open a record only to fix a problem or when the law requires it, and patient information is not used to train AI models.
- HIPAA and the practice’s Notice of Privacy Practices apply as they always do.
- The patient can say no, or ask to stop the recording at any point, and their care does not change.
It has a line for your practice name, check boxes for yes and no, signature and date lines for the patient or their representative, and a line for staff to record spoken consent. Download it here.
Check before you use it
Some US states require everyone in a conversation to agree before it is recorded. Check your state’s law, make the form match your Notice of Privacy Practices, and have your compliance lead or counsel look at it before you use it. This page and the form are a starting point, not legal advice.
For the details behind each line of the form, see how long recordings are kept and the Business Associate Agreement.