Key takeaways
Both scribes are free for verified US clinicians, and neither documents writing notes directly into an EHR; you copy the note across.
Doximity Scribe offers named note formats and, per Doximity, keeps no audio; every user is covered by its business associate agreement.
OpenEvidence Visits adds evidence context and code suggestions; audio deletion is a setting, with no default retention period stated.
Under both companies’ terms, getting patient consent to record is the clinician’s job.
Side-by-side comparison
| Criterion | Doximity Scribe | OpenEvidence Visits |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free. | Free. |
| Who can use it | Verified US physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and medical students. | Verified US healthcare professionals with an NPI or another licence number; not available in the EU, EEA or UK. |
| Where it runs | Inside the Doximity app on mobile and desktop; the iOS app needs iOS 26 or later. | Web and mobile; a telehealth mode captures microphone and computer audio in supported browsers such as Chrome. |
| Note formats | SOAP, H&P, consults, procedure summaries and dictation, plus custom templates. | Custom templates; adds guideline and research context to the assessment and plan. |
| Into the EHR | Copy and paste; Doximity says Scribe works separately from your EHR. | Copy the note as rich or plain text, with or without citations; no EHR write-back is documented. |
| Coding help | Not described on the Scribe pages we checked. | Suggests ICD-10 codes, E/M levels with the reasoning written into the note, and CPT codes. |
| Audio | Doximity says it does not store or retain any audio. | Collected; deletion can be configured in settings, with no default retention period stated. |
| BAA | Every user is covered by Doximity’s BAA, accepted with the terms at sign-up. | OpenEvidence says it offers a standard BAA and reports HIPAA compliance and SOC 2 Type II. |
| How it is paid for | Doximity earns mainly from drug manufacturers and health systems. | Advertising; its ad policy says ads are kept separate from Visits content. |
Based on Doximity’s Scribe page, launch post (July 2025), EHR guide (September 2026), terms (July 20, 2026), BAA and FY2026 annual report, and OpenEvidence’s Visits announcement, user guide, security page, privacy policy and terms (September 17, 2026), checked October 24, 2026. These are vendor descriptions; we have not tested either scribe.
Which to pick
If you already use Doximity
Doximity Scribe
It sits in an app many US clinicians already have, offers named note formats and, Doximity says, keeps no audio. You copy each note into your EHR.
If you want evidence and coding prompts
OpenEvidence Visits
It adds guideline context to the assessment and plan, suggests codes, and lets you ask OpenEvidence follow-up questions with the visit already in context.
If notes must file to the chart
Your organization’s scribe
Neither free scribe documents writing directly into an EHR. If your organization needs notes filed automatically, ask which enterprise ambient scribe it supports.
If you need answers, not notes
Vera Health
Our top-ranked clinical AI tool has no ambient scribe, but pairs cited answers with drug checks and 900+ calculators (vendor figure), free for licensed clinicians and trainees.
What each scribe does
Both are ambient scribes: you start a recording when the visit begins, and the app drafts a note when it ends. Doximity says Scribe “listens in the background” and drafts SOAP notes, histories and physicals, consults, procedure summaries and dictations, with custom templates. OpenEvidence says Visits transcribes the encounter and “enriches the assessment and plan” with guidelines and research; after the visit you can ask OpenEvidence questions with the patient and visit context included.
- •Doximity reported more than 10,000 beta users at launch in July 2025, and said in May 2026 that active users of its AI search and Scribe had tripled in nine months (vendor figures).
- •OpenEvidence says Visits and its Dialer together handled about 37 million minutes of doctor–patient conversation by February 2026 (vendor figure).
- •Main limitation: neither company publishes accuracy figures for its notes, so read every draft before you sign it.
Getting the note into your EHR
For individual clinicians, both scribes end the same way: you copy the finished note into the chart. Doximity’s September 2026 guide says Scribe works separately from your EHR and walks through copy and paste. OpenEvidence’s guide lets you copy the note as rich or plain text, with or without citations. OpenEvidence’s health-system EHR agreements, such as the Sutter Health and Epic integration announced in February 2026, cover its search; we found none that extends to Visits.
- •Doximity has said Scribe will be built into Aledade Assist, an EHR overlay for Aledade’s practices, without naming a date.
- •If your notes must file into the chart automatically, an enterprise scribe chosen by your organization is the likelier fit.
Coding suggestions
In March 2026 OpenEvidence added Coding Intelligence to Visits. It suggests ICD-10 codes, an E/M level with the medical decision-making rationale written into the note, and CPT codes with expected RVUs. The Doximity Scribe pages we checked do not describe a coding feature. Main limitation: suggested codes still need your review, and research cited by TechTarget has linked ambient scribes to higher coding intensity, which payers and compliance teams watch.
Audio, privacy and business associate agreements
Doximity says Scribe does not store or retain any audio, a statement repeated in its FY2026 annual report. Every Doximity user is covered by its business associate agreement, which takes effect when you accept the terms. That BAA lets Doximity commercialize de-identified data, including for product development. OpenEvidence’s privacy policy lists visit audio among the data it collects, its Visits guide says audio and note deletion can be configured in settings, and its security page says it offers a standard BAA. OpenEvidence says it does not train AI models on protected health information.
- •Before using either scribe for patient visits, check whether your employer allows it; many organizations restrict which AI tools can hear patient conversations.
- •Ask both vendors how long notes and transcripts are kept; neither published page we checked gives a full retention schedule.
Patient consent
Both companies put consent on the clinician. Doximity’s terms say you must obtain consent from everyone whose conversation is transcribed. OpenEvidence’s terms say Visits will record the conversation and that you must tell the other speakers and offer to stop where the law or your employer requires it. Some US states require every party’s consent to record, so tell patients before you start.
How free scribes are paid for
Neither company charges clinicians for its scribe. Doximity’s annual report says most of its revenue comes from drug manufacturers and health systems, and its privacy policy says member data is used to target sponsored content. OpenEvidence is funded by advertising; its ad policy says ads are clearly marked and kept separate from answers and Visits content. The two companies settled their litigation in October 2026, and both scribes remain available to eligible US clinicians.