Headway's AI note assistant, Scribe, helps your provider stay present with you during sessions while keeping thorough, accurate documentation. With your permission, Scribe transcribes your Headway Telehealth session and drafts a progress note. Your provider then reviews, edits, and signs that note so it reflects their own clinical judgment.
Think of Scribe as working with your therapist, not in place of them. Less time spent on insurance paperwork means more of your provider's attention stays on you.
How Scribe helps you
Scribe is designed to make your sessions better for you, not just easier for your provider.
- Your provider's full attention. Instead of pausing to type while you talk, your provider can focus on you and the conversation. In a small study of a similar AI documentation tool used in healthcare visits, clinicians made more eye contact with patients, and most patients surveyed (69%) said their clinician seemed more focused on them.
- Notes that reflect what you talked about. Your progress note is drafted from what you and your provider actually discussed, not only what they remember hours later. Your provider then reviews and edits it. Thorough, accurate notes are part of what your insurance relies on when it covers your sessions.
- You decide. You'll be asked before transcription ever turns on, you can say no, and you can ask your provider to pause it at any time. Learn more in Consent and your choices below.
- Your privacy comes first. No video is recorded, and transcripts are kept only as long as needed to check accuracy. Learn more in Privacy, security, and data use below.
Consent and your choices
AI-assisted notes are completely optional. Scribe never turns on without your consent, and you'll receive the same care whether or not you agree.
- How consent works: Your provider may send you a consent form to sign in your Headway account before your session, or ask during your session, in which case a pop-up will appear on your screen. Transcription starts only if you agree. If you decline, your session continues as a normal telehealth visit.
- You only need to consent once: Your consent covers your future sessions with that provider. If you also see another provider on Headway, they'll need to ask for your consent separately.
- Pausing or changing your mind: You can ask your provider to pause transcription at any point during a session. You can also revoke your consent at any time from your Settings page. If you revoke during a session, no AI note will be created for that session, and future sessions won't be transcribed unless you opt back in.
- Knowing when it's on: During every session, an on-screen indicator shows whether transcription is on or off.
Privacy, security, and data use
Headway is HIPAA-compliant and SOC 2 certified, and we handle your health information in accordance with our HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices. For AI-assisted notes, we keep the least amount of session data we need, for the shortest time we need it.
What happens to your session data
- During your session: Audio is transcribed securely. Video is never recorded.
- Right after your session: The transcript is used to draft a progress note for your provider. The audio is deleted as soon as the transcript is created.
- Your provider's review: Your provider reviews, edits, and signs the note. Only that signed note becomes part of your health record, just like any other progress note.
- For about 30 days: The full transcript is stored in Headway's secure environment. During this time, a small group of trained Headway employees may review it to make sure notes are accurate and safe, and to improve note quality.
- After about 30 days: The full transcript is deleted or de-identified. De-identified means personal details are removed, following HIPAA's de-identification standard, so the transcript can't be traced back to you. Your provider decides whether Headway may keep de-identified transcripts to improve Scribe and other Headway products. If they turn this setting off, their transcripts are deleted.
Important privacy details
- Your sessions don't train outside AI models. Scribe is built by Headway and runs on HIPAA-compliant models from our AI partner, Anthropic, under a zero-data-retention agreement. Anthropic doesn't store your transcript or use it to train its models.
- We don't sell your data. We do not sell your clinical data to third parties.
- Transcripts aren't part of your record. Today, neither you nor your provider can view the raw transcript. Your provider's signed note is the record of your session, and you can always request your progress notes, as you're entitled to under HIPAA.
- Legal and quality exceptions. In rare cases, Headway may be required by law to share a transcript, for example in response to a lawful order. If we identify a quality concern during our accuracy review, we'll respond in accordance with applicable law and Headway's policies, and we may keep that transcript for more than 30 days.
Experience and cost
Using Scribe doesn't change the nature of your telehealth visit. It's still a one-on-one session between you and your provider. Scribe is included as part of Headway at no extra cost to you.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my provider using AI for notes?
Your provider can choose to use Scribe so they can stay more present with you while keeping thorough, accurate documentation. They review and edit every draft so it reflects their clinical judgment.
Do I have to say yes?
No. It's optional, your provider must get your consent first, and you can keep seeing your provider as usual if you decline.
Can I say no to just one session?
Yes. You can ask your provider to pause transcription at any time. You can also turn consent off in your Settings page and opt back in later.
Does my provider review the note?
Yes. Nothing goes into your record without your provider's review and signature. Some sections, like risk assessments, are not drafted by AI and are always completed by your provider.
Is my session recorded?
No video is ever recorded. Audio is used only to create the transcript and is deleted once the transcript exists. The full transcript is kept for about 30 days, then deleted or de-identified.
Who can see my transcript?
Only a small group of trained Headway employees who work on Scribe's accuracy and safety reviews. Transcripts aren't shared with your health plan as part of normal billing, and they aren't used to train outside AI models.