Documentation is an essential part of psychiatric care, but it can also be one of the most time-consuming aspects of clinical work. From medication reviews to assessments, psychiatrists are often responsible for generating complex, structured documents in a short space of time.

That’s why many psychiatrists are turning to AI scribes. These tools promise to reduce admin load, improve consistency, and free up time for clinical thinking. However, not all AI scribes are created equal—particularly in a speciality like psychiatry, where precision, privacy, and medical terminology matter.

So what should psychiatrists look for in an AI scribe? And how does NoteMate support these needs?

In this article, we’ll cover the key features any psychiatrist should expect from an AI tool, and how NoteMate was designed to meet them—with clinical-grade templates, no data storage, and strong performance in medical language recognition.

What Makes a Good AI Scribe for Psychiatry?

When evaluating AI scribes, psychiatrists need to consider more than just convenience. A note-taking tool that’s fit for clinical use must align with both the practical demands of psychiatric work, and the ethical responsibilities of medical practice.

Here are four essential features to look for:

1. High Accuracy with Medical Language

Psychiatric notes often include complex terminology—from medication names and dosage schedules to diagnostic formulations and risk assessments. If an AI tool can’t reliably recognise or structure this information, it becomes more of a liability than a time-saver.

An effective AI scribe for psychiatrists should:

• Accurately transcribe psychiatric and general medical terminology

• Handle medication names, dosing formats, and treatment plans

• Support standard mental health frameworks (e.g., MSEs, ICD/DSM terminology)

• Avoid hallucinations or clinical inaccuracies that may require heavy editing

NoteMate uses advanced large language models known for their strength in clinical language, allowing it to handle psychiatric terms with greater precision than general-purpose transcription tools.

2. Templates for Psychiatric Practice

A scribe that simply transcribes audio is limited in value. What’s needed are ready-to-use clinical templates that align with real-world psychiatric workflows.

NoteMate offers customisable templates built for psychiatrists, including:

• Medication Reviews

• ADHD Assessments

• Standard Psychiatry Consultations

• Follow-Up Reviews and Letters to GPs

Templates help ensure consistency across sessions, reduce cognitive load, and improve the speed of documentation, particularly when paired with accurate AI drafting.

3. Data Privacy and Storage

One of the most important—and often most overlooked—factors when choosing an AI scribe is how it handles clinical data.

Many tools store recordings or transcripts on third-party servers (often overseas), which may raise concerns around patient privacy, data breaches, or compliance with local health data regulations.

NoteMate takes a different approach:

• 🛡️ No data is ever stored — not by NoteMate, not by a third party

• 🔒 No session audio is recorded — users dictate after the session

• ⚙️ Real-time transcription only — NoteMate uses a secure, real-time transcription process to convert audio into text as it is spoken. Because the audio is transcribed in real time, no full recordings are ever created, stored, or transferred. The system processes audio in small fragments, further minimising any data exposure and adding an additional layer of privacy.

• 📜 Fully aligned with Australian Privacy Principles (APPs)

This model helps psychiatrists stay in control of their clinical records, reducing risk and avoiding ethical grey areas.

4. Works With Your Workflow

Many AI scribes work by recording full therapy or consultation sessions, and transcribing them automatically. While this might sound efficient, it can raise concerns—particularly in psychiatry, where clinical sensitivity, power dynamics, and patient privacy are paramount.

Some psychiatrists prefer to complete documentation immediately after a session, while others want to take light notes during the consult itself. The key is offering a tool that’s flexible enough to support both, without introducing unnecessary intrusion.

NoteMate offers two flexible input modes:

• Audio input — record your reflections after the session (not during), capturing clinical details while they’re fresh in mind.

• Text input — jot down short notes, shorthand, or key points during the session, then enhance these with NoteMate into a structured, fully formed document.

This means psychiatrists can still capture thoughts in real time (in a way that feels natural), without recording sensitive conversations or impacting the therapeutic process. Whether you're typing brief observations between questions, or dictating your note post-session, NoteMate adapts to your style, and transforms minimal input into clear, professional documentation.

How NoteMate Supports Psychiatrists

Here’s how NoteMate aligns with the documentation demands of psychiatric practice:

✅ Templates for Psychiatry

NoteMate includes purpose-built templates tailored specifically for psychiatric work, including:

• Medication Reviews

• ADHD Assessments

• Standard Psychiatric Consultations

• Follow-Up Reviews

• GP Letters

These templates are structured to align with how psychiatrists think and work—whether you're managing complex pharmacological treatment or conducting focused assessments. They provide a scaffold that makes documentation faster, more consistent, and easier to review later. And, they can all be customised to perfectly fit your individual needs.

🧠 Strong Clinical Language Recognition

NoteMate uses AI models with high performance in the clinical domain, making them particularly effective at handling:

• Medication names and dosage instructions

• Diagnostic terms from DSM and ICD frameworks

• Clinical phrases used in psychiatric formulation

• Structured observations like MSE descriptors

This means your input—whether typed in shorthand during the session or spoken afterward—is translated into clear, professional language that retains your voice, but sharpens the structure.

🔒 No Data Storage, Ever

Unlike many commercial AI tools, NoteMate doesn’t store your clinical data:

• No audio recordings or generated documents

• No third-party access

• No cloud storage

Your documents exist only on your device. This design aligns with the expectations of psychiatrists who deal with highly sensitive information. It's built for those who want the advantages of AI, but not at the cost of privacy or therapeutic integrity.

🧩 Flexible Workflow Integration

NoteMate is not a one-size-fits-all tool. Whether you prefer to:

• Type quick shorthand during a consultation

• Reflect out loud after the session

• Build up notes over time across multiple appointments

…NoteMate meets you where you are. With both text and audio input options, you can choose the method that best fits your clinical rhythm—without changing how you work or compromising therapeutic relationships.

Final Thoughts

Psychiatrists face some of the most demanding documentation requirements in mental health—detailed histories, pharmacological notes, and complex formulations all demand clarity and precision.

AI scribes can help, but only when they’re designed with clinical care, ethical standards, and psychiatric workflows in mind.

NoteMate offers a flexible, secure, and clinically intelligent alternative. It helps psychiatrists spend less time writing, and more time thinking, connecting, and delivering care.

👉 Want to see how it works?

Try NoteMate for free, and experience an AI scribe built with psychiatrists in mind.

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