AI Scribe for Psychiatrists
Document MSE narratives, PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores, suicide and homicide risk assessments, and psychiatric medication management without typing during the visit. Built for solo telepsych, group practices, and CL psychiatry.
Documentation for Every Psychiatric Visit
From a 90-minute initial evaluation to a 20-minute med check, PatientNotes adapts to the visit length and the billing code you intend to drop.
Initial Psychiatric Evaluation
Full 60-90 minute intake covering presenting illness, psychiatric and medical history, MSE, formulation, and treatment plan. Maps to CPT 90791/90792.
Medication Management
20-30 minute follow-ups with target symptom tracking, side-effect screening, AIMS check, lab review, and dose changes. Bills as 99214 or 99215.
Therapy Progress Notes
Add-on psychotherapy documentation (90833/90836/90838) layered on E/M visits with intervention, response, and progress toward measurable goals.
Crisis Evaluation
Urgent suicide and homicide risk assessments with Columbia C-SSRS scoring, protective factors, means restriction counseling, and disposition.
Telepsychiatry
Video-visit documentation including platform attestation, location of patient, and modifier 95 with place-of-service 10/02 captured automatically.
Annual Treatment Plan Review
Yearly diagnostic re-formulation, response-to-treatment summary, and updated goals required by most commercial and Medicaid payors.
Psychiatry-Specific Features
Built around the actual content of a psychiatric note, not a generic SOAP wrapper.
MSE narrative, not checkboxes
Generates the seven-domain Mental Status Exam (appearance, behavior, speech, mood/affect, thought process, thought content, cognition/insight/judgment) as a defensible paragraph rather than a click-grid.
PHQ-9 and GAD-7 capture
Extracts spoken depression and anxiety scale answers in real time, sums the score, and inserts severity language (mild/moderate/severe) directly into the assessment.
Risk assessment templates
Structured suicidal ideation (SI), homicidal ideation (HI), and self-harm sections with intent, plan, means, protective factors, and Columbia C-SSRS levels embedded.
Psychiatric medication intelligence
Recognizes SSRIs, SNRIs, atypicals, mood stabilizers, stimulants, and benzodiazepines with correct doses, washouts, and black-box warnings (e.g., suicidality on antidepressants under age 25).
F-code suggestions
Inline ICD-10 suggestions for the F-codes you actually use (F32.1, F33.X, F41.1, F90.X, F43.10, F31.X) with severity and remission qualifiers.
Psychotherapy note segregation
Optional separate psychotherapy notes per 45 CFR 164.524(a)(1)(i), kept out of the primary chart and excluded from standard ROI requests.
A typical Tuesday for a psychiatrist using PatientNotes
A solo telepsychiatrist starts at 8 AM with a new-patient initial evaluation. She opens the visit in PatientNotes, hits record, and conducts the interview as she normally would. The patient describes a six-week course of low mood, early-morning awakening, and intrusive guilt. As the patient answers PHQ-9 questions verbally, the model captures the digit responses and tallies them in the assessment. By the time she says “tell me about how you’re sleeping,” the score is already in the draft.
Mid-morning brings six 25-minute medication management visits back to back. For each, she pulls up the prior note, asks about target symptoms, side effects, and adherence, and lets the model write. The MSE narrative populates from her observations during the conversation, not from a checkbox grid. When she says “no SI, no HI, no plan,” those entries land in the structured risk section automatically. She reviews each note for 60-90 seconds, edits anything off, and signs.
At 4 PM she gets a same-day crisis call. The model recognizes the elevated risk language and surfaces the Columbia C-SSRS template. The disposition (voluntary admission to the affiliated unit) gets documented with capacity narrative, informed consent for hospitalization, and means restriction counseling. By 5:15 her notes are signed and her inbox is empty — the kind of evening she did not have on Dragon.
Last updated April 2026 by the PatientNotes Clinical Team.
Sample AI-Generated Psychiatry Note
Real medication-management follow-up. Note the inline PHQ-9/GAD-7, full MSE narrative, structured risk section, and CPT 99214 time-and-MDM justification at the bottom.
PSYCHIATRIC FOLLOW-UP / MEDICATION MANAGEMENT Date: 04/28/2026 Visit type: 99214 (established, moderate MDM) Telepsych: No CC: "The Lexapro is helping but I'm still not sleeping." HPI: 34 y/o female with MDD recurrent moderate (F33.1) and GAD (F41.1), seen 4 weeks after escitalopram dose change. Reports mood improved from "5/10" to "7/10". Crying spells down from daily to twice weekly. Anhedonia partially resolved - returned to morning runs. Initial insomnia persists: 60-90 min sleep latency 4-5 nights/week. Denies hypersomnia, weight change, or psychomotor agitation. Anxiety: average 4/10 (was 7/10), no panic attacks since last visit. Symptom rating scales (administered today): - PHQ-9: 8 (was 16) — mild range. Items endorsed: sleep (3), fatigue (2), concentration (2), down/depressed (1). No suicidal ideation (Q9 = 0). - GAD-7: 6 (was 14) — mild range. Safety screen: No active SI, no plan, no intent. No HI. No homicidal ideation. Columbia C-SSRS: 0/0. Means: removed firearm from home in March (verified with husband). Protective factors: 4-year-old daughter, supportive marriage, intact treatment alliance. Side effects: Mild nausea x first 2 weeks, resolved. No sexual dysfunction endorsed on direct questioning. No bruxism, no diaphoresis. PMH: Migraine without aura. Hypothyroidism (TSH 1.8 last month, on levothyroxine 75 mcg). Allergies: NKDA. Substances: 1-2 glasses wine/week. No tobacco. No cannabis. Caffeine ~200 mg/day. Current medications: - Escitalopram 20 mg PO qAM (titrated from 10 mg six weeks ago) — partial response - Hydroxyzine 25 mg PO qHS PRN insomnia — using 4-5x/week, minimal benefit - Levothyroxine 75 mcg PO qAM - Sumatriptan 50 mg PRN migraine MENTAL STATUS EXAM: Appearance: Well-groomed, casually dressed, appears stated age, eye contact good. Behavior: Cooperative, engaged, no psychomotor agitation or retardation. Speech: Normal rate, rhythm, volume, and prosody. Mood: "Better, like 7 out of 10." Affect: euthymic, congruent, full range. Thought process: Linear, goal-directed, no loosening or tangentiality. Thought content: No SI, HI, AVH, paranoia, or delusions. No obsessions noted. Cognition: A&O x4. Attention intact (DOWB without error). Recent and remote memory grossly intact. Insight: Good. Judgment: Good. ASSESSMENT: 1. Major depressive disorder, recurrent, moderate (F33.1) — partial response to escitalopram 20 mg, PHQ-9 down from 16 to 8 over 6 weeks. Residual insomnia and concentration are the limiting symptoms. 2. Generalized anxiety disorder (F41.1) — improved, GAD-7 mild range. 3. Insomnia, chronic, secondary to depression vs. primary (G47.00) — not adequately controlled on hydroxyzine PRN. 4. Hypothyroidism — euthyroid on current dose, continue PCP management. PLAN: 1. Continue escitalopram 20 mg qAM. Re-evaluate response at 12 weeks; if PHQ-9 not <5 will discuss augmentation with bupropion XL 150 mg vs switch to duloxetine 60 mg. 2. Discontinue hydroxyzine. Start trazodone 50 mg PO qHS for insomnia, may titrate to 100 mg after 1 week if tolerated. Counseled on priapism warning, morning sedation, and orthostasis. 3. Sleep hygiene reinforced: fixed wake time, no screens 1 hr before bed, caffeine cutoff at noon. Patient agreeable. 4. Continue weekly individual CBT with Dr. Martinez (released to coordinate). 5. Safety: firearm remains out of home, suicide hotline (988) reviewed, crisis plan in chart. 6. Labs: BMP and TSH at 3 months given dose change. 7. RTC 4 weeks for medication management. Earlier if worsening symptoms, side effects, or emergent SI. Time spent: 28 minutes (face-to-face, video). MDM: Moderate (chronic illness with exacerbation, prescription drug management). CPT 99214 supported. Diagnoses billed today: F33.1, F41.1, G47.00.
Templates referenced in this note:
Common ICD-10 Codes in Psychiatry
The eight F-codes most psychiatrists drop daily. PatientNotes suggests them inline based on the assessment language.
F32.1Major depressive disorder, single episode, moderateF33.1Major depressive disorder, recurrent, moderateF41.1Generalized anxiety disorderF41.0Panic disorder without agoraphobiaF90.0ADHD, predominantly inattentive typeF90.2ADHD, combined typeF31.81Bipolar II disorderF43.10PTSD, unspecifiedCPT codes commonly billed: 90791 (initial eval), 90792 (with E/M), 99214 / 99215 (established med-mgmt), and 90833 / 90836 / 90838 (psychotherapy add-on).
How psychiatrists use PatientNotes
Three composites drawn from real customer interviews — solo telepsych, mid-sized group, and hospital CL.
Dr. Priya Shah, MD
Solo telepsychiatry practice, Austin TX — 4 days/week, ~22 visits/day
Switched from Dragon Medical One to PatientNotes after losing 90 minutes most evenings to dictation cleanup. The MSE narrative now writes itself during the visit, and PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores land in the assessment automatically. She finishes notes within 30 seconds of ending the video call and has reclaimed her 6 PM cutoff. SimplePractice is her EHR; she pastes the rendered note in one click.
Dr. Marcus Whitfield, DO
Six-clinician outpatient psychiatry group, Cleveland OH
The group had been comparing Heidi against Freed for six months. They picked PatientNotes for the structured suicide/homicide risk template (a payer audit requirement they kept failing) and for the per-clinician pricing that came in 40% under Heidi. Their billing manager reports a 12% lift in 99215 capture once medical decision-making elements started showing up consistently in notes.
Dr. Allison Reyes, MD
Hospital-employed CL psychiatry, large academic medical center
Uses PatientNotes on her phone for bedside consults. The capacity and decision-making templates handle the longest part of CL notes (informed consent and capacity narrative) and the model knows the difference between delirium (F05) and major NCD (F02.X). Epic copy-paste workflow takes about ten seconds; the institution approved it under their existing BAA framework.
Coming from Microsoft Dragon Medical One?
Dragon Medical One is the dictation tool many psychiatrists trained on in residency. It is mature, EHR-integrated, and fast for clinicians who like speaking notes. But dictation requires you to compose the narrative in your head while the patient is present (or after the visit). Ambient scribing, by contrast, listens to the conversation and writes the note for you.
Cost comparison
Dragon Medical One
$99-200/month per user (Dragon Medical One Direct, varies by reseller)
Dictation. You compose the note in your head and speak it.
PatientNotes
$50/month per user on the annual plan, $79/month-to-month
Ambient. The conversation becomes the note.
Three-step migration
- 1
Finish the current Dragon billing month and export your custom voice commands and templates as text.
- 2
Import your three or four most-used templates into PatientNotes (Initial Eval, Medication Management, Telepsych, Crisis). Onboarding will map your dictation macros to ambient prompts.
- 3
Run both tools in parallel for one week. Most psychiatrists pick the ambient flow for med checks first, then for initial evals once they trust the MSE output. Cancel Dragon at the end of the trial.
Full migration playbook: PatientNotes vs Dragon Medical One
PatientNotes vs Heidi for psychiatry
Heidi has marketed aggressively to mental health and is the most common comparison psychiatrists ask about. Both products handle ambient capture and produce a usable MSE. The differences come down to risk-section depth, pricing, and how each handles psychotherapy add-on coding.
| Feature | PatientNotes | Heidi |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing (annual) | $50/user/mo | ~$99/user/mo |
| MSE narrative | Seven-domain paragraph format | Seven-domain paragraph format |
| Suicide/homicide risk template | Structured C-SSRS + means + protective factors | Free-text only |
| PHQ-9 / GAD-7 auto-scoring | Yes, inline | Yes |
| Psychotherapy add-on (90833/36/38) | Auto-detects time and codes | Manual |
| Telepsychiatry attestation | Auto with POS 10/02 | Template |
| Psychotherapy note segregation | Yes (45 CFR 164.524) | Limited |
| BAA included | Yes | Yes |
Full breakdown: PatientNotes vs Heidi · PatientNotes vs Freed
Frequently Asked Questions
Eight answers psychiatrists ask before signing up.
Does PatientNotes work for psychiatry?
Yes. PatientNotes is built for psychiatric workflows including initial 60-minute evaluations (CPT 90791/90792), medication management visits (99214/99215), MSE narratives, PHQ-9 and GAD-7 capture, suicide and homicide risk assessment, and telepsychiatry. The model is tuned to recognize psychiatric medication classes and dose adjustments without prompting.
How much does an AI scribe cost for psychiatry?
PatientNotes is $50/user/month on the annual plan, $79/user/month month-to-month, and includes unlimited visits. By comparison Heidi sits at roughly $99/user/month for its paid tier and Freed at $99/month for solo clinicians. Most psychiatrists save 90 to 120 minutes a day, which at typical 99214 reimbursement is around $400 a day in recovered slot capacity.
Is Heidi better than PatientNotes for psychiatry?
Heidi has marketed heavily to mental health and has good MSE templates. PatientNotes matches Heidi on MSE narrative quality and adds a structured suicide and homicide risk section, automatic PHQ-9 and GAD-7 score extraction from spoken responses, and ICD-10 F-code suggestions inline. Heidi is roughly twice the price. For a side-by-side breakdown see /compare/heidi-health.
Can psychiatry-specific notes be auto-generated?
Yes. PatientNotes generates the seven-domain MSE (appearance, behavior, speech, mood/affect, thought process, thought content, cognition/insight/judgment) as narrative paragraphs rather than checkbox output. It also produces biopsychosocial formulations, AIMS rating documentation for tardive dyskinesia screening, and structured medication tables with dose, indication, response, and side-effect columns.
Does it integrate with the EHRs psychiatrists use?
Yes. PatientNotes integrates with Osmind, SimplePractice, TherapyNotes, Valant, and generic Epic and Athenahealth instances via copy-paste, browser extension, and API where available. For solo telepsychiatry clinics on SimplePractice or TherapyNotes the workflow is one click from finished note to encounter chart.
Will it help me bill psychiatry CPT codes correctly?
PatientNotes suggests 90791 (psychiatric diagnostic eval, no medical services), 90792 (with medical services), 99214 and 99215 for established med-management visits, and add-on 90833/90836/90838 for psychotherapy minutes layered on E/M. It captures total time and medical decision-making elements so you can defend a 99215 audit.
How do I switch from Dragon Medical One to PatientNotes?
Three steps. First, finish the month on Dragon and export your custom commands and templates. Second, import your three or four most-used psychiatric templates into PatientNotes (we map dictation macros to ambient prompts during onboarding). Third, run both in parallel for one week before cancelling Dragon. Most psychiatrists complete the switch in five to seven days. See /compare/dragon-medical-one for the full migration guide.
Is it HIPAA compliant for psychiatric notes?
Yes. PatientNotes is HIPAA compliant with a signed Business Associate Agreement, AES-256 encryption at rest and TLS 1.3 in transit, audit logging on every record, and data residency in US-only AWS regions. Audio is deleted within 24 hours by default and you can enable per-patient psychotherapy note segregation under 45 CFR 164.524(a)(1)(i).
See your patients. Skip the after-clinic charting.
Psychiatrists using PatientNotes finish their notes by the time the next patient walks in. Try it on a real visit, free for seven days.
No credit card required. $50/user/month after trial (annual).