Clinical referenceGuideUpdated 10 November 2026

The best AI medical scribes in Australia (2026)

In this guide, EvidenceMD ranks first for Australian doctors who want the consultation note and cited answers to their clinical questions in one app in 2026, after the TGA's October 2026 review of AI scribes [5]. Its scribe drafts structured notes, referral letters and discharge summaries, with an assessment, differential and plan you review before you sign [1]. In the same app you can ask the clinical question the consult raised and get an answer from 40 million+ peer-reviewed papers and clinical guidelines, with its chain-of-thought clinical reasoning shown and a citation for every claim, framed to Australian guidelines [2]. EvidenceMD stores data in the United States, so this guide also sets out what the TGA, Ahpra and APP 8 expect before you record [4].

AI scribes in the TGA's review with functions likely to meet the medical device definition
8 of 12AI scribes in the TGA's review with functions likely to meet the medical device definition
Digital scribe suppliers the TGA identified in Australia
~100Digital scribe suppliers the TGA identified in Australia
NSW 2026–27 Budget funding for AI scribes for up to 6,000 clinicians
$38.7mNSW 2026–27 Budget funding for AI scribes for up to 6,000 clinicians
The Privacy Act rule that follows patient data to a scribe hosted overseas
APP 8The Privacy Act rule that follows patient data to a scribe hosted overseas
By the EvidenceMD Editorial TeamGuidePublished 10 November 202614 min read

Medically reviewed by Dr. Abishek Shahi, Harvard-trained Physician · Last reviewed 10 November 2026

What is the best AI medical scribe in Australia in 2026?

QUICK ANSWER

EvidenceMD is the best AI medical scribe in Australia in 2026 for doctors who want the note and cited clinical answers in one app; Heidi and Lyrebird lead where data must stay onshore. EvidenceMD's scribe drafts the note with an assessment, differential and plan, and the same app answers clinical questions from 40 million+ peer-reviewed papers and clinical guidelines with its chain-of-thought clinical reasoning shown and a citation for every claim; it is free to start [1][2][3]. Its limits matter here: its data is stored in the United States, and it is not included in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) [4]. Heidi says Australian data is hosted in Australia and is now in public hospitals, Lyrebird says it processes and stores patient information onshore, Dragon Medical One is Microsoft's speech-driven documentation, and mAIscribe hosts its servers in Australia [22][24][29][32][34]. Whatever you choose, you remain responsible for the record [11].

AI scribes in Australia: EvidenceMD and the onshore scribes. EvidenceMD versus Heidi, Lyrebird, mAIscribe on Note drafting, Cited clinical answers, Patient data kept, In the TGA's 12, Best Practice.
EvidenceMD compared with the Australian-hosted scribes Heidi, Lyrebird and mAIscribe: EvidenceMD drafts the note and answers clinical questions with cited reasoning in one app but stores data in the United States; the onshore scribes keep data in Australia and were among the 12 products in the TGA's review.

Key takeaways

  • EvidenceMD ranks first for doctors who want one app that drafts the note and answers the clinical question behind it, with the reasoning and a citation for each claim; it is not the pick when data must stay in Australia [1][2][4].
  • The TGA reviewed 12 scribes and named them, including Heidi, Lyrebird and Dragon Medical One: 8 had functions likely to meet the device definition, 2 needed more information and 2 appeared unlikely to be devices [5].
  • It will not say which is which. A TGA spokesperson said it does not intend to publish product-specific findings, so the check falls to you and your health service [9].
  • A scribe that suggests diagnoses, treatments or investigations is likely a medical device; one that only records, transcribes, summarises and drafts for your review is not [6].
  • Data location separates the field. Heidi, Lyrebird and mAIscribe say they keep Australian data onshore, Victoria requires its public health services to use scribes that store and process data in Australia, and EvidenceMD stores data in the US, so APP 8 applies [4][18][20][24][28][34].
  • You stay responsible. Ahpra says the practitioner must check the accuracy and relevance of AI-scribed records, and that TGA approval does not change that duty [11].

What did the TGA's October 2026 review of AI scribes find?

Two-thirds of the scribes it looked at do more than take notes, and none of their suppliers had said so.

The TGA scanned the market in 2025 and identified about 100 suppliers of digital scribes in Australia. It surveyed them, received responses from 40, and focused its review on 12 products, chosen to include those with the greatest market share and some smaller suppliers: Heidi Health, Lyrebird Health, Microsoft Dragon Medical One, Abby Health, mAIscribe, AskSam, VoiceBox Scribe, Medilit, VoiceboxMD, ConsultNote AI, Carepatron and iMedX [5].

None of the 12 suppliers identified its product as a medical device. On the TGA's review, eight included functions likely to meet the definition of a medical device, two needed more information, and two appeared unlikely to be medical devices [5]. The review published on 16 October 2026 explains why: many scribes now include generative AI features that analyse information, decide what is clinically relevant, or generate conclusions and recommendations that may influence diagnosis or treatment, and when a scribe makes those recommendations "it may not always be clear" how information was selected or generated [5].

The TGA was explicit about its limits. It did not test any product, check safety and performance, assess compliance with detailed device requirements, or look at privacy and data protection [5]. It also said that disclaimers such as "not intended for diagnosis" are not enough to decide whether a product is a device, and that it will run targeted compliance activities where scribe functions meet the definition [5][6].

The TGA will not name the eight

The TGA's report lists the 12 products but not which finding applies to each, and a spokesperson told Health Services Daily it does not intend to publish product-specific findings [5][9]. Lyrebird said the TGA had not advised it of any findings and its scribe is not in the ARTG; Heidi said it would keep working with the TGA on the report's findings; iMedX said the TGA had not told it any current InstaNote function was likely to be a device [7][8][9]. In newsGP, the deputy chair of an RACGP expert committee called the review timely and stressed keeping a human in the loop [8].

The TGA's AI scribe review: what it found: ~100 suppliers, 12 products, 8 of 12, 0 of 12, Not named.
The TGA's digital scribe review in numbers: about 100 suppliers identified, 40 survey responses, 12 products reviewed, 8 with functions likely to meet the medical device definition, and no product-specific findings published.

When is an AI scribe a medical device in Australia?

The TGA decides by intended purpose, one feature at a time. Its digital scribes guidance, last updated on 16 October 2026, gives a function-by-function test [6].

The TGA's test for common scribe functions, from its digital scribes guidance (16 October 2026)
FunctionNot a medical device when it…Likely a medical device when it…
Reviewing patient historyPresents or organises complete information from the record [6]Selectively displays, prioritises or analyses information to generate diagnostic or treatment suggestions [6]
Drafting referral lettersCommunicates what the practitioner already said or documented [6]Adds diagnostic or treatment suggestions [6]
Medical codingAssigns codes that reflect what was documented in the encounter [6]Generates diagnostic conclusions or recommendations from coding outputs [6]
Reference informationRetrieves or displays reference material without applying it to a patient [6]Applies or interprets reference material to suggest diagnosis or treatment for an individual patient [6]
AI insight and chatbot functionsHelps you search, organise or summarise existing information [6]Generates diagnoses, prognoses, investigations, treatment options or follow-up recommendations you did not identify [6]
Acting without reviewLeaves every note for you to review and confirm [6]Finalises notes or places orders without clinician review [6]

→ Scroll the table sideways to see the remaining columns

A device must be in the ARTG before it is supplied in Australia unless it is exempt [6]. The exemption that matters for scribes covers clinical decision support software: the scribe must only make a recommendation to a health professional, must not replace clinical judgement, must not analyse information from another medical device, and must display how each recommendation was generated. Exempt software still has to meet regulatory requirements, and the supplier must notify the TGA [5][6]. The wording of that exemption was amended from 1 November 2026, which the TGA says clarifies when it applies rather than changing its scope [10].

Two practical points follow. A product can carry both kinds of feature, so ask about each one, not the product as a whole [6]. And updates matter: if a software update adds a therapeutic function, the TGA expects the developer to stop supplying it until it is in the ARTG, remove the function or meet the exemption, and it asks health professionals to check whether updates have changed what their scribe does [6].

What do Ahpra and the RACGP expect of doctors who use an AI scribe?

Ahpra's expectations apply to every registered practitioner, from a GP to a surgeon or a hospital registrar: consent first, check every note, and know where the data goes.

Scribe use has grown fast. In a newsGP poll in November 2025, two in five respondents (40% of 1,516 votes) said they were using AI scribes in their general practice, up from 22% in August 2024; it is a self-selected poll of readers, not a census [14]. In hospitals, Metro South Health in Queensland is rolling out Heidi across its health service after a 2025 trial in which clinicians reported saving an average of 59 minutes a day, and the NSW 2026–27 Budget set aside $38.7 million for AI scribes for up to 6,000 clinicians, without naming a supplier [21][22].

Ahpra: the record is yours

The practitioner remains responsible for safe, quality care and must apply human judgement to any AI output. If you use a scribe, you are responsible for checking the accuracy and relevance of the record, and TGA approval of a tool does not change that duty [11].

Ahpra: consent before recording

Informed consent is particularly important for AI that records consultations, and Ahpra warns there may be criminal implications if consent is not obtained before recording. In several states and territories, listening-devices law requires all parties' consent [11][15].

Ahpra: understand the tool

Know a tool's intended use and limits, and whether patient data it records is used to train the AI model [11]. In one Ahpra case study, a scribe that added a plausible diagnosis to a referral letter met the medical device definition [12].

RACGP: ideally stored in Australia

The RACGP says personal data collected by an AI scribe should ideally be stored in Australia, and suggests asking each vendor whether data is processed and stored in Australia or overseas [13].

RACGP: scribes make errors

Scribes can filter out pertinent information, mishear symptoms or medicines, and confuse historical with current symptoms, and GPs using them remain responsible for an accurate record [13].

The Commission: before, during, after

The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care's AI Clinical Use Guide is organised around what to do before, while and after you use an AI tool, with a separate safety scenario for ambient scribes [16].

Where do AI scribes keep Australian patient data, and does it matter?

For a scribe, data location is not a technicality: the scribe hears identifiable patients, so where it stores and processes audio and notes decides which privacy obligations you take on.

Every organisation that provides a health service and holds health information is covered by the Privacy Act, whatever its size [17]. If a scribe sends identifiable patient information to a provider outside Australia, APP 8 applies: before disclosing, you must take reasonable steps to ensure the overseas recipient handles it in line with the Australian Privacy Principles, generally through an enforceable contract, and under section 16C you can remain accountable for what the recipient does [18]. Your privacy policy must also say whether you are likely to disclose information overseas and, where practicable, to which countries [19].

Some health services have gone further. Victoria's Department of Health tells its public health services that they must only use AI scribes that store and process data in Australia, must complete a privacy impact assessment first, and that individual clinicians should not adopt a scribe without their organisation's approval [20]. Healthdirect's 1800MEDICARE GP service uses Heidi or Lyrebird and says all data is hosted within Australia [23].

The vendors differ. Heidi says it ensures all its data is locally hosted within Australia, while its privacy FAQ adds that it uses a combination of localised and, when necessary for performance, offshore services [24][25]. Lyrebird says patient information is processed and stored in Australia, its databases sit in AWS Sydney, its AI processing runs on Microsoft Azure in Sydney, and audio is deleted after transcription by default [28][29][30]. mAIscribe says its servers are hosted in Australia and recordings are deleted 24 hours after the consultation [34]. EvidenceMD stores application data on Microsoft Azure in East US 2 (Virginia, United States), with data encrypted at rest and in transit and SOC 2 Type II in progress [4].

Who should choose an Australian-hosted scribe

If you work in a Victorian public health service, if your hospital, network or practice policy requires onshore storage, or if you do not want to manage an APP 8 overseas disclosure and name the United States in your privacy policy, choose a scribe that keeps data in Australia, such as Heidi, Lyrebird or mAIscribe, and confirm it in the contract [18][19][20][24][28][34]. EvidenceMD is not the right scribe in those settings; it still fits de-identified clinical questions, where no patient information leaves your practice [4].

Which are the best AI medical scribes in Australia in 2026?

Ranked on what an Australian doctor gets in the consult: the note, help with the clinical question, where data lives, how the TGA review touches the product, and how you can get it.

  1. EvidenceMD: best overall for the note and cited clinical answers in one app

    EvidenceMD's scribe listens to the consultation and drafts structured notes, discharge summaries and referral letters, and because it runs on the same reasoning engine as its clinical decision support, the assessment, differential and plan come from that engine, with red flags and peer-reviewed citations alongside the note [1]. In the same app you can ask the clinical question the consult raised and get an answer drawn from 40 million+ peer-reviewed papers and clinical guidelines, with its chain-of-thought clinical reasoning shown and a citation for every claim, framed to Australian guidelines where it matters; it answers in 30 languages and needs no licence verification [2]. It works on the web, iOS, Android and as a Chrome extension, and is free to start, with Individual plans from US$50 a month or US$450 a year (50 scribe sessions a month) and an unlimited Max plan [1][3]. Limits: application data is stored in the United States, so identifiable consultations are an APP 8 overseas disclosure; it is not in the ARTG and was not one of the 12 products the TGA reviewed, so ask how it is classified, as you would with any vendor; its coding suggestions are ICD-10 and CPT codes, not MBS items; and it reaches your clinical software through its Chrome extension or copy and paste rather than a native Best Practice integration [1][4][6][18].

  2. Heidi: best Australian-hosted scribe with the widest public-sector footprint

    Heidi is the scribe most often seen in Australian public health: Metro South Health is implementing it across its health service after a 2025 trial in which 92% of clinicians reported spending less time on administration, and healthdirect's 1800MEDICARE GP service uses Heidi or Lyrebird [22][23]. Heidi says Australian data is hosted locally in Australia, that it does not store audio of consultations and does not use sensitive health information for model training, and it lists ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type 2 [24][25]. Its Evidence feature answers clinical questions with citations to guidelines, medicine references and research, with HealthPathways as a partner source in Australia and New Zealand [26]. Limits: it was one of the 12 products in the TGA review, its privacy FAQ says some services run offshore when necessary for performance, and Best Practice has told its users that using Heidi II, Heidi's agent that reads and navigates records, with Bp Premier would breach its licence agreement [5][25][27].

  3. Lyrebird: best for onshore data and Best Practice general practice

    Lyrebird is Australian-built for GPs and for specialists including cardiology, psychiatry and surgery, with a two-way Best Practice integration and connections to hospital systems such as Oracle Cerner [30]. Its privacy policy says data is stored in Australia (AWS Sydney) and not transferred overseas apart from limited non-health metadata, its help centre says AI processing runs on Microsoft Azure in Sydney, and audio is deleted after transcription unless you turn on retention [28][29]. Its Australian pricing page lists a no-cost plan with limited actions, a version included with Best Practice, and a Pro plan at $160 a month billed annually [31]. Limits: it was in the TGA review, and the TGA has not said where it landed (Lyrebird says it was not advised of any findings); the no-cost plan has no EMR integrations; and its site does not describe a cited clinical-question feature [5][9][30][31].

  4. Microsoft Dragon Medical One: best for dictation in hospitals

    Dragon Medical One is Microsoft's speech-driven clinical documentation, sold on its Australian site, and it was one of the 12 products the TGA reviewed [5][32]. Microsoft's newer Dragon Copilot adds ambient capture of multi-party conversations into notes, but Microsoft lists it for physicians in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland, not Australia [33]. Limits: in Australia you are buying speech-driven documentation rather than the ambient Copilot product, and it is a documentation tool rather than a source of cited clinical answers [32][33].

  5. mAIscribe: a smaller Australian option with onshore servers

    mAIscribe is built in Australia, with a scribe-only plan and a fuller plan that adds EMR sync and an MBS helper for co-billing; it publishes prices of $99 a month (or $67 a month billed annually) for the scribe and $188 a month for all features, excluding GST [35]. It says its servers are hosted in Australia, recordings are deleted 24 hours after the consultation, and user data is not used for AI training [34]. Limits: it was in the TGA review, its claim that it raises billings is the vendor's own, and any MBS suggestion still has to be checked against the item's requirements by you [5][13][35].

AI medical scribes in Australia compared, from each vendor's own pages and the TGA review (November 2026)
ScribeBest forWhere patient data is keptCited clinical answers in the appIn the TGA's 12How to start
EvidenceMDThe note plus cited clinical reasoning in one appUnited States (Azure East US 2)Yes, with chain-of-thought clinical reasoning shownNo; not in the ARTGFree to start; from US$50 a month
HeidiAustralian-hosted scribing at scaleAustralia, per Heidi; some offshore services for performanceYes, Heidi EvidenceYesOne seat with a weekly trial allowance; paid Clinician, Practice and Enterprise plans
LyrebirdOnshore data and Best Practice integrationAustralia (AWS and Azure, Sydney)Not describedYesNo-cost plan; Pro $160 a month billed annually
Microsoft Dragon Medical OneSpeech-driven dictation in hospitalsAsk MicrosoftNot describedYesContact Microsoft
mAIscribeAustralian scribe with MBS helperAustralia, per mAIscribeNot describedYesFrom $67 a month billed annually, ex GST

→ Scroll the table sideways to see the remaining columns

What does EvidenceMD's AI scribe produce in an Australian consultation?

A worked example, de-identified, from a cardiology outpatient clinic.

A 68-year-old woman is referred with palpitations. Her ECG shows non-valvular atrial fibrillation; she has treated hypertension, no heart failure, diabetes, stroke or vascular disease, and an eGFR of 62. The cardiologist asks for and records her consent to the scribe at the start [11]. EvidenceMD drafts the consultation note and the letter back to her GP, with history, examination, ECG findings, an assessment and a plan, and flags that stroke prevention has not yet been addressed [1]. The cardiologist then asks in the same app: should she be anticoagulated, and with what?

What EvidenceMD returns for the anticoagulation question, framed to Australian guidance (illustrative, de-identified)
Part of the answerWhat EvidenceMD shows
AssessmentCHA2DS2-VA score of 2 (age 65–74, hypertension). The Australian guideline uses this sexless version of CHA2DS2-VASc, so female sex adds no point [36]
Evidence, cited at the sentenceThe 2018 NHFA/CSANZ guideline recommends anticoagulation at a CHA2DS2-VA score of 2 or more and a NOAC (apixaban, dabigatran or rivaroxaban) in preference to warfarin, with the citation on that sentence [36]
RecommendationOffer a NOAC after a bleeding-risk review, choosing the dose for her age, weight and renal function, with each step of the reasoning visible [2]
Next stepConfirm the dose in the Australian Medicines Handbook or Therapeutic Guidelines, record the shared decision in the letter, and add it to the plan the scribe drafted

→ Scroll the table sideways to see the remaining columns

The cardiologist reads the reasoning, opens the guideline citation, edits the plan and signs the letter. The decision and the record stay with the doctor, as Ahpra requires [11]. That is the case for ranking EvidenceMD first: the note and the evidence behind the plan arrive together, and every step can be checked.

See how EvidenceMD's scribe drafts the note and the reasoning

Read what the scribe records, what it drafts and how its citations sit alongside the note.

See EvidenceMD's AI scribe

When is EvidenceMD not the right AI scribe in Australia?

In several common situations a different scribe is the better choice, and saying so is part of a fair ranking.

Your data must stay in Australia

Victorian public health services, many hospital networks and practices with an onshore policy need a scribe that stores and processes data in Australia. EvidenceMD stores data in the United States; choose Heidi, Lyrebird or mAIscribe and confirm hosting in the contract [4][20][24][28][34].

You need an ARTG-included or notified product

If your organisation will only use scribes whose clinical features are in the ARTG or covered by a notified exemption, ask for that evidence feature by feature. EvidenceMD is not included in the ARTG, so it will not pass an ARTG-only rule [6].

You live in Best Practice

If you want the note to land in Bp Premier through a supported two-way integration, Lyrebird offers one, while EvidenceMD relies on its Chrome extension or copy and paste [1][30].

You want MBS help

EvidenceMD's coding suggestions are ICD-10 and CPT codes built for US billing, not MBS items. Lyrebird and mAIscribe describe MBS prompts, which you still need to verify yourself [1][13][31][35].

How should an Australian doctor choose an AI scribe after the TGA review?

Six checks that work for a solo specialist, a group practice or a hospital department.

  1. List the features you will actually use

    Notes and letters only, or also suggested diagnoses, investigations, coding or patient summaries. Clinical suggestions are what move a scribe towards device territory [6].

  2. Ask for the regulatory status of each clinical feature

    Request the ARTG entry or the exemption the supplier relies on, and check that any recommendation shows how it was generated [5][6].

  3. Find out where audio and notes are processed and stored

    Get the country, the cloud region and the subprocessors in writing; if any are overseas, plan for APP 8 and update your privacy policy [18][19].

  4. Check your employer's rules first

    Public health services may restrict scribes to approved, onshore products; Victoria's advisory says clinicians should not adopt one without their organisation's approval [20].

  5. Pilot it in your own specialty

    Victoria's advisory warns that accuracy in primary care cannot be assumed in other specialties such as oncology or maternity, so test it on your own case mix [20].

  6. Consent, check, sign

    Ask at the start of each consultation, read every note before it is saved, and remove anything you did not say or decide [11][13].

Choosing an AI scribe in Australia: six checks: 1 Features, 2 Status, 3 Data, 4 Employer, 5 Pilot, 6 Sign.
Six checks for choosing an AI scribe in Australia after the TGA review: list the features you will use, ask for each clinical feature's regulatory status, find where data is stored, check your employer's rules, pilot it in your specialty, and consent, check and sign every note.

Frequently asked questions

Which AI scribes did the TGA review in 2026?

The TGA's digital scribe review, published on 16 October 2026, examined 12 products: Heidi Health, Lyrebird Health, Microsoft Dragon Medical One, Abby Health, mAIscribe, AskSam, VoiceBox Scribe, Medilit, VoiceboxMD, ConsultNote AI, Carepatron and iMedX. Eight had functions likely to meet the medical device definition, two needed more information and two appeared unlikely to be devices. EvidenceMD was not among the 12.

Why won't the TGA say which AI scribes may be medical devices?

The TGA has not explained its reasons publicly; a spokesperson said only that it does not intend to publish product-specific findings, and that it is contacting suppliers about particular features. Until suppliers say more, ask each one, EvidenceMD included, for the ARTG entry or exemption behind every clinical feature you plan to use.

Which AI scribe suits Australian specialists and hospital doctors?

For a specialist who wants the note and cited reasoning on the clinical question together, EvidenceMD ranks first, provided US data storage is acceptable to you and your organisation. In public hospitals, use the scribe your health service has approved: Metro South Health uses Heidi, and Victorian public health services must use scribes that keep data in Australia. Lyrebird lists cardiology, psychiatry and surgery among its specialties.

Does Heidi Health keep Australian patient data in Australia?

Heidi says all its data is locally hosted within Australia, and its privacy FAQ adds that it uses a combination of localised and, when necessary for performance, offshore services, so ask for the detail in your contract. EvidenceMD, by comparison, stores application data in the United States on Microsoft Azure East US 2.

Where does Lyrebird Health process and store patient information?

Lyrebird says patient information is processed and stored in Australia: its privacy policy names AWS in Sydney and says data is not transferred overseas apart from limited non-health metadata, and its help centre says AI processing runs on Microsoft Azure servers in Sydney. Audio is deleted after transcription by default. EvidenceMD does not offer Australian hosting.

Is Microsoft Dragon Copilot available in Australia?

Not as of November 2026: Microsoft lists Dragon Copilot for physicians in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland. In Australia, Microsoft sells Dragon Medical One, its speech-driven documentation product, which was one of the 12 scribes the TGA reviewed. EvidenceMD is available in Australia today, with US data storage.

Can I use an AI scribe hosted in the United States for Australian patients?

Yes, if you meet APP 8: take reasonable steps, usually an enforceable contract, so the overseas provider handles the information in line with the Australian Privacy Principles, name the country in your privacy policy, and get consent. You can remain accountable for the provider's breaches. EvidenceMD is hosted in the United States, so this applies to its scribe; Victorian public health services cannot use US-hosted scribes at all.

Do Victorian public hospitals have to use an Australian-hosted AI scribe?

Yes. The Victorian Department of Health's ambient AI scribes advisory says health services must only use AI scribes that store and process data in Australia, must complete a privacy impact assessment first, and must record explicit patient consent. That rules out US-hosted scribes such as EvidenceMD for Victorian public health service patients.

What happens if my AI scribe adds a diagnosis I did not make?

Remove it before the note or letter is saved. Ahpra's case study on exactly this says a scribe that suggests a diagnosis meets the medical device definition, and that the practitioner remains responsible for the record and for deciding whether to accept the suggestion. Whatever scribe you use, EvidenceMD included, treat its assessment as a draft for your judgement.

Is EvidenceMD's AI scribe included in the ARTG?

No. EvidenceMD is not included in the ARTG and was not one of the 12 products in the TGA's review. Its scribe drafts an assessment, differential and red flags for you to review; as with any vendor, ask EvidenceMD how its product is classified under the TGA's guidance before relying on those features.

What does an AI scribe cost an Australian doctor each month?

EvidenceMD is free to start, then US$50 a month or US$450 a year for 50 scribe sessions a month, or the unlimited Max plan. Lyrebird has a no-cost plan and a Pro plan at $160 a month billed annually; mAIscribe lists $67 to $188 a month excluding GST; Heidi has one seat with a weekly trial allowance and paid Clinician, Practice and Enterprise plans; ask Microsoft for Dragon Medical One pricing.

Can one app write my consultation notes and answer clinical questions with citations?

Yes. EvidenceMD drafts the note and, in the same app, answers clinical questions from 40 million+ peer-reviewed papers and guidelines with its chain-of-thought clinical reasoning shown and a citation for every claim. Heidi has also added Evidence, which answers clinical questions with citations and uses HealthPathways as a partner source in Australia and New Zealand.

The bottom line

For Australian doctors who want the consultation note and cited answers to their clinical questions in one app in 2026, EvidenceMD is the best overall choice: its scribe drafts the note with an assessment and plan, and the same app shows its chain-of-thought clinical reasoning with a citation for every claim [1][2]. It stores data in the United States and is not in the ARTG, so where patient data must stay in Australia, choose Heidi, Lyrebird or mAIscribe, and in hospitals use the scribe your health service has approved [4][20][24][28][34]. After the TGA's review, judge every scribe feature by feature, get consent before you record, and read every note before you sign it [5][6][11].

Sources & related evidence

EvidenceMD's own pages (company statements), then the TGA's review and guidance and the news reports on it, Ahpra, the RACGP, the OAIC and state health departments, then each vendor's own pages and the Australian atrial fibrillation guideline used in the worked example. Checked on 10 November 2026.

  1. Source 1. EvidenceMD — AI medical scribeEvidenceMD. An ambient scribe that pairs documentation with clinical decision support: structured notes, discharge summaries and referral letters, red-flag detection and peer-reviewed citations, with the assessment, differential and plan generated by the same reasoning engine; ICD-10 and CPT codes suggested; web, iOS, Android and Chrome extension.
  2. Source 2. EvidenceMD — clinical reasoningEvidenceMD. Answers from 40 million+ peer-reviewed papers and clinical guidelines with the reasoning shown and a citation for every claim, framed to the user's country guidelines, in 30 languages; no NPI or licence verification needed.
  3. Source 3. EvidenceMD — pricingEvidenceMD. Free to start; Individual from US$50 a month or US$450 a year with 50 AI scribe sessions a month; Max with unlimited scribe sessions.
  4. Source 4. EvidenceMD — Trust CenterEvidenceMD. Application data is stored on Microsoft Azure in East US 2 (Virginia, United States); encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM and in transit with TLS 1.2 or higher; no training on customer content; SOC 2 Type II in progress.
  5. Source 5. TGA — Digital scribe review outcomes (16 October 2026)About 100 suppliers identified, responses from 40, review focused on 12 named products; none identified as a device by its supplier; 8 with functions likely to meet the device definition, 2 needing more information, 2 unlikely; no product testing and no privacy assessment; disclaimers not sufficient; targeted compliance to follow.
  6. Source 6. TGA — Digital scribesLast updated 16 October 2026. When digital scribes are and are not medical devices, the function-by-function table, the exempt clinical decision support conditions, new features added by updates, consent information for patients, and what health professionals should check.
  7. Source 7. The Medical Republic — Eight of 12 AI scribes may be medical devices, TGA finds (16 October 2026)Report on the TGA review, the 12 products named, and responses from Heidi Health and iMedX.
  8. Source 8. newsGP — AI medical scribes face stricter TGA oversight (19 October 2026)RACGP news coverage of the review, including comment from the RACGP Expert Committee – Practice Technology and Management and Heidi's response.
  9. Source 9. Health Services Daily — TGA refuses to name AI scribes flagged as possible medical devices (19 October 2026)A TGA spokesperson: the TGA does not intend to publish product-specific findings; Lyrebird said the TGA had not advised it of any findings and its scribe is not in the ARTG.
  10. Source 10. TGA — Clinical decision support system exemption amendments (8 September 2026)The CDSS exemption wording is amended from 1 November 2026 to clarify when it applies; the TGA says the amendments do not change its scope or introduce new regulatory requirements.
  11. Source 11. Ahpra — Meeting your professional obligations when using AI in healthcarePage reviewed 22 August 2024. The practitioner remains responsible for safe and quality care and must apply human judgement to AI output; checking the accuracy and relevance of AI-scribed records; possible criminal implications of recording without consent; TGA approval does not change the duty of human oversight.
  12. Source 12. Ahpra — AI in healthcare: case studiesIncludes a scribe that adds a plausible diagnosis to a referral letter and therefore meets the medical device definition, with the practitioner responsible for the record.
  13. Source 13. RACGP — Artificial intelligence (AI) scribes fact sheetData ideally stored in Australia; ask whether data is processed and stored in Australia or overseas; consent at the beginning of each consultation; common scribe errors; GPs remain responsible for accurate records; verify MBS suggestions.
  14. Source 14. newsGP — GPs' AI scribe use doubles in one year: poll (12 December 2025)newsGP weekly poll, 3–10 November 2025 (1,516 votes): 40% of respondents currently using AI scribes in their general practice, up from 22% in August 2024 (1,170 votes).
  15. Source 15. Avant — Artificial intelligence for medical documentation (27 March 2026)Listening-devices law requiring all-party consent in the ACT, NSW, SA, Tasmania and WA; consent at the start of each consultation; notes as drafts.
  16. Source 16. Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care — AI Clinical Use GuideStructured around before, while and after using AI tools, with a companion safety scenario for ambient scribes.
  17. Source 17. OAIC — What is a health service provider?An organisation that provides a health service and holds health information is covered by the Privacy Act 1988 even if it is a small business.
  18. Source 18. OAIC — APP Guidelines, Chapter 8: Cross-border disclosure of personal informationReasonable steps before disclosing to an overseas recipient, generally an enforceable contract, and accountability for the recipient's acts under section 16C.
  19. Source 19. OAIC — Read the Australian Privacy PrinciplesAPP 1.4: a privacy policy must say whether the entity is likely to disclose personal information to overseas recipients and, if practicable, the countries where they are located.
  20. Source 20. Victorian Department of Health — Ambient AI Scribes Sector Advisory (May 2025)Minimum standard for Victorian public health services: only AI scribes that store and process data in Australia; a privacy impact assessment before implementation; explicit, recorded patient consent; no clinician adoption without organisational approval; accuracy in primary care not assumed in other specialties such as oncology or maternity; the signing clinician retains responsibility for the note.
  21. Source 21. The Medical Republic — NSW Health commits $38.7m to AI scribes for up to 6000 clinicians (1 July 2026)The 2026–27 NSW Budget set aside $38.7 million for AI scribe technology for up to 6,000 clinicians statewide; the department did not say which scribe it would use.
  22. Source 22. Metro South Health — AI scribe rollout benefits patient care in Metro South Health (2 September 2026)Metro South Health is working with Heidi to implement its AI scribe across the health service after a 2025 trial: an average of 59 minutes a day saved, and 92% of clinicians reporting less time on administration.
  23. Source 23. healthdirect — 1800MEDICARE (GP) collection noticeLast reviewed September 2026. The service uses one of two Australian AI note-taking tools, Heidi Health or Lyrebird Health, and states that all data is hosted within Australia.
  24. Source 24. Heidi — APP complianceHeidi: "We prioritise data sovereignty by ensuring all our data is locally hosted within Australia."
  25. Source 25. Heidi — Data privacy and security FAQs (1 September 2026)Heidi processes data using a combination of localised and, when necessary for performance, offshore services; does not store audio recordings of consultations; does not use sensitive health information for model training; ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type 2.
  26. Source 26. Heidi — Heidi Evidence help article (28 September 2026)Evidence answers clinical questions with citations from curated sources such as guidelines, medicine references and published research; partner sources include HealthPathways (AU, NZ).
  27. Source 27. The Medical Republic — Best Practice: using Heidi II considered a 'breach' (29 October 2026)Best Practice told users that using Heidi II with Bp Premier would breach its end user licence agreement; Heidi's CEO described Heidi II as heavily guard-railed and said Heidi had engaged with the TGA.
  28. Source 28. Lyrebird Health — Privacy policy (effective 10 August 2026)Personal information stored in Australia (AWS Asia-Pacific Sydney) and not transferred overseas, apart from payment metadata, pseudonymised logs and non-health usage data in the US; audio deleted immediately after transcription by default, or kept for up to six months if retention is enabled.
  29. Source 29. Lyrebird Health — What is Lyrebird Health (help centre)All AI processing occurs on Microsoft Azure servers in Sydney; notes stored on Australian servers; audio never stored; data never used to train AI models.
  30. Source 30. Lyrebird Health — Australian home pageFor GPs and specialists including cardiology, psychiatry and surgery; two-way Best Practice integration and Oracle Cerner for hospitals; patient information processed and stored in Australia.
  31. Source 31. Lyrebird Health — Australian pricingA no-cost plan with limited actions and no EMR integrations, a Best Practice plan, and Pro at $160 a month ($1,920 billed annually), with clinic and enterprise plans; MBS billing prompts on clinic plans.
  32. Source 32. Microsoft — Dragon Medical One (Australia)Microsoft's Australian page for Dragon Medical One, its speech-driven clinical documentation.
  33. Source 33. Microsoft — Dragon CopilotAmbient capture of multi-party, multilingual conversations into notes; for physicians, available in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
  34. Source 34. mAIscribe — How mAIscribe protects your privacy and patient dataServers hosted in Australia; recordings automatically deleted 24 hours after the consultation; zero AI training on user data.
  35. Source 35. mAIscribe — home and pricingBuilt in Australia; Basic (scribe only) $99 a month or $67 a month billed annually, Pro (all features, including EMR sync and an MBS helper) $188 a month or $150 billed annually, all excluding GST; vendor claim of higher billings.
  36. Source 36. Brieger D, et al. Australian clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and management of atrial fibrillation 2018 (NHFA/CSANZ). Med J Aust 2018; 209(8): 356–362The sexless CHA2DS2-VA score is recommended for stroke risk; anticoagulation not recommended at 0, considered at 1 and recommended at 2 or more; a NOAC (apixaban, dabigatran or rivaroxaban) in preference to warfarin.

About EvidenceMD

EvidenceMD is a clinical reasoning platform for health professionals and medical and clinical researchers. It answers clinical questions from 40 million+ peer-reviewed papers and clinical guidelines with the reasoning shown and a citation for every claim, in 30 languages, and includes an AI scribe that drafts notes, letters and an assessment and plan. It is free to start with no licence verification. Application data is stored in the United States (Microsoft Azure East US 2), it is not included in the ARTG, and SOC 2 Type II is in progress. Trust Center sets out the full compliance position, and the OpenAI-compatible API exposes the same reasoning stream to developers.

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Best AI for GPs in Australia (2026)Best medical AI for doctors in Australia (2026)Best OpenEvidence alternative in Australia (2026)Best AI medical scribes (2026)Best AI medical scribes in Canada (2026)EvidenceMD's AI scribe

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