An AI scribe might save your practice hours of documentation time. But before you introduce one into a psychiatric or behavioral health setting, there’s another question worth asking:

Do you know exactly what happens to your patients’ information?

For psychiatrists, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners (PMHNPs), therapists, and practice administrators, choosing an AI documentation platform means evaluating both clinical functionality and patient privacy.

A secure AI scribe should provide clear answers about Business Associate Agreements, encryption, recording policies, data retention, access controls, and AI model training.

Here are seven practical checks to make before bringing an AI scribe into your practice.

1. Ask for the Business Associate Agreement Before Sharing PHI

If an AI scribe vendor handles protected health information (PHI) on behalf of a HIPAA-covered practice, a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) is generally required. A BAA establishes contractual obligations for appropriately handling and protecting patient information.

What to verify: Does the agreement cover the services you’re purchasing, including any third-party processing of patient information?

A potential red flag: A vendor claims its platform is HIPAA compliant but cannot explain its BAA process.

How PMHScribe approaches it: PMHScribe offers Business Associate Agreements to HIPAA-regulated healthcare customers and states that it maintains BAAs with subcontractors handling PHI.

2. Find Out Whether Patient Sessions Are Recorded

Not every AI scribe handles audio the same way. Some documentation tools save recordings, while others process speech to generate notes without retaining the underlying audio.

Ask what is recorded, what is processed, and what remains available after the appointment.

What to verify: Does the platform retain audio recordings, transcripts, or both? How long is each retained?

How PMHScribe approaches it: PMHScribe processes speech in real time without saving or storing audio recordings. Clinicians can manage the retention and deletion of transcripts and completed notes within the platform.

3. Look Beyond the Word “Encryption”

Encryption is an important safeguard, but it isn’t a complete security strategy. HIPAA’s Security Rule addresses administrative, physical, and technical safeguards, including access management, risk assessment, and protection of electronic patient information.

What to verify: How is information protected during transmission and storage? What safeguards are in place to detect unauthorized access?

How PMHScribe approaches it: PMHScribe documents AWS hosting, AES-256 encryption for stored information, TLS encryption for data in transit, role-based access controls, and audit logging.

4. Understand How Your Patient Data Is Used

A secure documentation workflow should make it clear whether patient information is used beyond providing the service. For AI-powered applications, this includes understanding whether submitted patient data may be used to train or improve AI models.

What to verify: What happens to information after processing? Is it used for model training? What do the privacy policy and vendor agreements actually permit?

A potential red flag: The vendor’s website, privacy policy, and contractual terms describe different data practices.

For mental health professionals, clear data-use policies are essential when evaluating any AI documentation provider.

5. Check Who Can Access Clinical Documentation

For practices with multiple clinicians, understanding access permissions is particularly important.

Ask whether users have individual accounts, whether access can be restricted by role, and whether the platform maintains appropriate audit logs.

What to verify: Can your practice control access to patient documentation and review relevant activity?

How PMHScribe approaches it: PMHScribe documents provider verification, role-based access controls, and audit logs as part of its security approach.

6. Make Sure the Platform Understands Psychiatric Documentation

Mental health documentation presents considerations that may not be addressed by general-purpose transcription software.

Clinical notes can contain sensitive psychiatric histories, medication management details, mental status examinations, and risk assessments.

HIPAA-defined psychotherapy notes, when maintained separately from the medical record and meeting the applicable definition, receive additional privacy protections. Not every psychotherapy progress note qualifies for those protections.

What to verify: Does the platform support your specialty’s documentation needs, and can clinicians control what becomes part of the finalized medical record?

How PMHScribe approaches it: PMHScribe was developed specifically for psychiatric and behavioral health professionals, with workflows supporting psychiatric evaluations, medication management, psychotherapy documentation, and separation of psychotherapy content from standard clinical notes.

7. Review Your Practice’s Responsibilities, Too

Choosing a secure platform is only one part of responsible AI adoption. Practices should establish expectations for clinician review, appropriate patient communication, data retention, account access, and incident reporting.

Patient consent and disclosure requirements may vary based on jurisdiction, care setting, and how the technology processes audio.

What to verify: Does your practice have clear policies covering the use of AI-assisted documentation?

Remember that clinicians remain responsible for reviewing the accuracy and appropriateness of their finalized notes.

The Bottom Line: HIPAA Compliance Is a Starting Point

A HIPAA-compliant AI scribe should do more than advertise a security label. It should help clinicians understand how patient information is handled, what safeguards are available, and where their own responsibilities begin.

The best questions to ask aren’t simply “Is it secure?” or “Is it HIPAA compliant?”

They’re more specific: What information is retained? Who can access it? How is it protected? What does the vendor’s agreement actually cover?

At PMHScribe, patient privacy and mental health-specific documentation needs are central to the platform’s design.

Frequently Asked Questions About AI Scribe Security and HIPAA Compliance

Can PMHNPs use AI scribes while maintaining HIPAA compliance?

Yes. Psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners can use AI scribes within HIPAA-compliant workflows when appropriate safeguards, agreements, and practice policies are in place. PMHNPs should evaluate how patient information is processed, stored, and accessed, and review AI-generated documentation before finalizing it.

What is the most important security feature in a HIPAA-compliant AI scribe?

There isn’t one feature that guarantees HIPAA compliance. A secure AI scribe should combine appropriate contractual protections, encryption, access controls, data retention policies, and administrative safeguards. Providers should evaluate the complete system rather than relying on a single security claim.

Does PMHScribe record or save patient conversations?

PMHScribe states that it uses real-time speech-to-text processing without saving or storing audio recordings. Transcripts and completed clinical notes may be retained within the platform until the user chooses to delete them, subject to applicable record keeping obligations.

Does PMHScribe offer a Business Associate Agreement?

Yes. PMHScribe offers Business Associate Agreements for HIPAA-regulated practices. A BAA helps establish responsibilities for protecting patient information, but practices must also maintain their own appropriate privacy and security safeguards.

Is an AI scribe safe for sensitive psychiatric and psychotherapy documentation?

An AI scribe can support secure psychiatric documentation when it provides appropriate privacy safeguards and workflows for handling sensitive information. Clinicians should verify how psychotherapy content, standard progress notes, and other clinical information are generated and maintained.

PMHScribe offers documentation features developed specifically for psychiatry and behavioral health, including separate psychotherapy documentation workflows.

Can therapists use PMHScribe for telehealth appointments?

Yes. PMHScribe supports telehealth documentation and describes a browser-based workflow that can be used with supported telehealth and audio configurations. Clinicians should confirm their particular technology setup works as intended and meets applicable privacy and consent requirements.

Does PMHScribe replace an electronic health record (EHR)?

No. PMHScribe is an AI-assisted clinical documentation platform, not a certified EHR. Clinicians can review and finalize documentation, then transfer completed notes to their existing EHR or maintain records using an appropriate practice workflow.

Should mental health practices have a separate policy for AI documentation?

Yes. A written AI documentation policy can help establish expectations for approved tools, patient communication, clinician review, data access, record retention, and staff training. Practices should review those policies as their technology and applicable requirements evolve.

Choosing an AI scribe for your mental health practice?

Explore PMHScribe’s HIPAA and security approach to learn how purpose-built AI documentation can support clinical efficiency while helping protect sensitive patient information.