Main image courtesy of Better Health.

If you’re in the mental health field, you know how important your skills are to assisting patients. Since the pandemic, the need for mental health specialists, including therapists, has increased and in 2022 around 23% of adults in the U.S. sought out mental health assistance. This has put a lot of strain on therapists who have seen the number of patients they treat increase. Luckily, technology has advanced and there are lots of options when it comes to AI assistance for mental health specialists, including AI scribes. But what does that mean for mental health practices? In this article, we’re delving deeper in that and more, including:

• AI scribes for therapists and mental health
• The benefits of AI scribes
• How therapists use ambient scribes
• The best AI scribes for mental health specialists

Are there AI scribes in the mental health field?

How AI is making a difference in mental health

Although much of the stigma surrounding asking for help with mental health has disappeared, people can still be a little hesitant to seek out therapy or other solutions in this essential medical field. Thankfully, technology is making it easier to meet people where they’re at when it comes to getting assistance for their mental health. Not only are there AI chatbots to speak with patients 24/7 to guide them through helpful coping strategies or to schedule an appointment with a therapist, but there are also apps that can help patients learn more about their mental illness and take a greater role in their treatment.

‍

Perhaps most importantly, there are now AI scribes that are helping those in the mental health field improve patient care. While you may be aware of doctors in other fields such as orthopedics and neurology using AI to improve charting and get faster diagnoses, did you know therapists and other mental health professionals are also taking advantage of AI scribes? That’s right, because like other healthcare specialists, therapists and psychologists are losing a lot of time to note taking, organizing files, and ensuring other clerical and administrative tasks (like billing and appointments) are completed accurately in a timely manner. Ambient medical scribes are making their way into more and more private practices as well as larger mental health facilities, and those specialists that are using them are finding that they are starting to see a variety of benefits. 

‍

• How do AI scribes work? You don’t have to have a degree in computer science to use a medical AI scribe, which is one of the biggest draws of the technology. It is an application you can download to your smartphone or tablet, and once granted patient consent, it will “listen” to the encounter and transcribe the conversation that takes place. 

‍

• How do AI scribes listen? AI scribes utilize machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) to transcribe the audio and summarize it into a coherent note that follows a template or format that’s designed by the user. The more the scribe is used, the more it can anticipate what information should be put where, and can even transcribe information from speakers with accents.

‍

The benefits of an AI scribe for therapists and mental health

There are a lot of practical advantages to including an AI scribe in your therapy practice 

If you’re on the fence or a little wary about including AI in your mental health practice, you’re not alone, as many therapists and psychoanalysts don’t know the full extent to which AI can really help them (and their patients) in the day to day running of their facility. That’s why we thought it could be useful to discuss some of the major benefits mental health professionals have encountered with their AI scribes.

• Can help with burnout. Since the influx of new patients during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s safe to say that a lot of mental health clinicians are experiencing burnout. This is not only due to the increase in the numbers of patients, but all the additional administrative tasks/paperwork that are essential to running a successful practice. Like their colleagues in other medical fields, therapists need to ensure their patients’ electronic health records are accurate, up to date, and reflect any treatments and medications the patient is using. This requires completed notes that are then incorporated with the EHR system.

Without the help of an AI scribe, the only way for a therapist to complete their notes is to divert attention away from the patient during the encounter. As it progresses, the therapist will need to jot down or type into a computer the information in real time as the patient speaks, potentially missing important information, and not being fully present for their patient. If they do not complete the note and add it to the EHR system right after the appointment, they will have to do so after hours. This is a larger administrative burden than you may think, and it can take a good chunk of time out of a therapist’s day, when they would much rather be seeing patients.

An AI medical scribe can alleviate the need for the therapist to get all the information during a visit, since it transcribes the entire encounter in real time. They’ll no longer need to worry about having to input notes manually into the EHR, potentially missing information. With an AI scribe, this is all done automatically, leaving mental health professionals more time for themselves, and their patients.

• Cost effective. Most therapists do not have the budget to hire a human scribe, and a lot are already over-burdened with extra administrative work. (See the burnout section above.) They are doing the job of multiple people a lot of times, and it can lead to overload and increase the potential for mistakes. Using AI to eliminate paperwork and the potential loss of information makes sense, and ensures that sensitive patient information is always stored securely. 

Using an AI scribe takes some clerical tasks off the shoulders of providers, and it does so for less than an additional staff member or human scribe would cost. Most AI scribes are subscription based, and you’ll find good ambient medical scribes that cost anywhere from $99-$150+ per month. When you think about how much smoother and more organized your practice will be, it seems to be worth it. And a lot of other mental health professionals agree. 

• Improves efficiency. Not only is AI more cost effective than adding additional staff, it helps improve the efficiency of your workflow. The goal of therapists is to treat their patients, but they also have to manage a practice and run a business—and there are a lot of processes that go into that. AI scribes (like Playback Health) are designed to automate workflow and help make the patient journey as easy and straightforward as possible. Using AI to create notes ensures everything is digital, and it is seamlessly synced with the EHR. This ensures all members of the therapy team are able to access information.

• Suggestions for patient care. AI is not designed to replace human therapists, it is meant to assist them. This not only includes improving how notes are created, but with making suggestions for potential treatment based on the patient’s own information as well as vast amounts of data regarding similar experiences. AI can digest and learn patterns in patient data, and use that to make an informed suggestion to the therapist about potentially successful treatment options—whether that’s more talk therapy, or additional medication. 

• Accurate and consistent. Therapists that use AI to transcribe and document encounters find that the information is very accurate and consistent. Humans entering the same information are less accurate, and there’s a larger possibility that some information is left out or misinterpreted.

• Better patient experience. AI allows therapists and mental health specialists to be fully present with their patients, leaving patients feeling like they are having their needs heard and understood. Patients want to have a conversation, and when therapists don’t have to worry about doing two things at once, patients notice. The goal of all medical professionals is improved patient satisfaction, and the inclusion of AI seems to point in that direction. 

How do therapists use AI scribes?

You’ll find therapists and other mental health professionals get a lot of use out of AI scribes, as they’re designed to help with a variety of tasks. Most specialists use the ambient listening and transcription features of AI scribes to transform their note-taking practice. Allowing the AI to generate and populate the session’s note ensures no information is left out, and that the patient record is complete and up to date. This eliminates the need for a therapist to sit down and type up notes manually, giving them more time to focus their attention on more important matters.

But you’ll also find therapists and mental health specialists using AI to help automate the patient journey and make managing a practice much more efficient. AI can send reminders to patients to schedule follow up appointments, or send them notice of their upcoming scheduled ones. It can ensure prescriptions are refilled and up to date, and ensure registration information is sent out.

AI helps streamline administrative tasks like coding and billing, so that practitioners are paid in a timely manner. This ensures the future financial health of the practice, and allows therapists (particularly smaller offices) budget for expenses and payroll.  

The best AI scribes for mental health specialists 

Which AI scribes should you choose for your practice?

There are lots of reasons you should include an AI scribe in your daily interactions with patients, but which one should you choose? There are many ambient scribes out there that can assist you without breaking your budget. We recommend taking advantage of free trials and demos for a few different AI scribes before you decide which one really makes sense for you. To get you started, we recommend the following AI scribes that can work seamlessly with your EHR system and start to make managing your practice easier.

‍

Playback Health

This is an easy to use AI scribe that offers a lot of benefits for therapists in the mental health field. 

• Pros
  
  • Easily integrate with all kinds of EHR management systems
  • Customizable 
  • SOC 2 and HIPAA compliant
  • Syncs seamlessly for up to date information
  • Automates the patient journey
  • Two tiers of pricing made to fit your budget

‍

• Cons
  
  • EHR integration costs extra at the lower tier
  • Potential for AI to misinterpret information

Mentalyc

This AI scribe is designed specifically for those in the mental health field.

‍

• Pros
  
  • Generates comprehensive notes
  • Secure
  • Can highlight potential treatment options 
  • Uses special algorithms for mental health language

‍

• Cons
  
  • May not be worth the price for smaller practices
  • Chance of contextual language limitations

Nabla

Look into this AI scribe for your therapy practice if you’d like to invest in an application that can help you with more than just notes. 

‍

• Pros
  
  • Notes are easily tailored to each encounter
  • Automatically transcribes information
  • Secure and straightforward to use
• Cons
  
  • High cost per month
  • Not as many options for templates

Will you start to reap the benefits of an AI scribe in your therapy practice?

Whether you work in a larger mental health facility, or you’re running your own practice, an AI scribe could be just the thing you need to improve patient satisfaction and create more efficiency in your workflow. As a mental health specialist, you want to ensure you’re providing the best care possible for your patients, so let an ambient AI scribe like Playback Health take care of administrative tasks so you can concentrate on what you do best—providing mental health assistance.

‍