Summary
Check four things before recommending an AI scribe or admin tool. The evidence for what it saves, the data contract it signs, how its notes hold up when a claim is audited, and how the recommendation itself is disclosed. A billing, IT or marketing firm that has these answers in writing can recommend a product without staking its own reputation on a demo.
Clinics ask the firms they already work with. The billing company hears about documentation, the managed IT provider hears about integration and security, and the marketing agency hears about the phones and the booking flow.
Each of those firms sees a different part of the risk. The billing firm sees what happens when a note does not support a code. The IT firm signs off the data flows. The agency carries any claim it makes in public.
This guide sets out what each kind of firm should check, with the primary sources behind each check, so a recommendation rests on the record and not on a sales call.
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See the partner program| Firm | Check | Ask the vendor for |
|---|---|---|
| Billing and revenue cycle | Notes support the codes billed | How the clinician reviews and signs each note |
| Billing and revenue cycle | Audit trail | Who edited the draft, and when |
| Managed IT | Data contract | A business associate agreement in the US, an Article 28 contract in the UK |
| Managed IT | Security assurance | The SOC 2 report or audit status, and its scope |
| Managed IT | Integration | How notes and bookings reach the clinic's record system |
| Marketing agency | Claims | The evidence behind any time saved or result promised |
| Marketing agency | Disclosure | Partner terms in writing, so the fee can be disclosed |
What the evidence supports
AI scribes save some documentation time, and less than the marketing suggests. A randomised trial published in NEJM AI in 2025 followed 238 physicians across 14 specialties. One product cut note-writing time by 9.5 percent, another showed no significant change, and neither reduced after-hours time in the record.
Accuracy needs the same care. Drafts can contain errors and omissions, which is why every serious product treats the note as a draft for the clinician to review and sign. Our review of what the hallucination studies show sets out the published rates.
A firm should recommend on that basis. The tool drafts, and the clinician decides what enters the record.
For billing and revenue cycle firms
The note is the evidence for the claim. A drafted note that records more than happened, or less, becomes a coding problem the moment a payer audits it, and the billing firm usually sees that problem first.
Ask how the clinician reviews and signs each note, whether edits are logged, and whether the product suggests codes or only documents the visit. A product that documents well can help capture work that was done and not recorded, a pattern covered in our note on undercoding.
The clinician still signs the note, and the coder still codes from it. A recommendation should leave both of those roles intact.
For managed IT firms
The data contract comes before the demo. In the US, a vendor that creates, receives, maintains or transmits protected health information for a clinic is a business associate under HIPAA and needs a business associate agreement. In the UK, a processor needs a written contract with the terms set out in Article 28 of UK GDPR.
Security assurance should be read, not assumed. A SOC 2 report is a CPA's examination of a service organisation's controls, so ask for the report or the audit status and check which systems it covers. In the NHS, organisations deploying ambient scribing are expected to complete a clinical safety case, a data protection impact assessment and DTAC checks.
Integration decides adoption. In the AMA's 2024 survey, 84 percent of physicians said integration with the electronic health record was required before they would adopt an AI tool. The same holds for admin tools, which need to read and write the clinic's diary rather than run a second one.
For clinic marketing agencies
Agencies meet AI through the phones and the booking flow. An AI receptionist that answers calls and books appointments changes conversion, and the agency is often the first to see missed calls in the data. Our guide to AI receptionists for medical practices covers what these tools handle.
Two rules apply to any recommendation the agency makes in public. The FTC expects a paid relationship behind an endorsement to be disclosed clearly, and the UK CAP Code requires marketing communications to make their commercial intent clear. A referral fee is a paid relationship.
Claims need the same discipline as the clinic's own advertising. A promise of hours saved should rest on published evidence, and the trial above is a sober guide to what that evidence currently shows.
Consent and recording
An ambient scribe records the consultation, so consent comes with it. GMC guidance treats a recording of a patient as part of their care, and in the US a minority of states require every party to agree to a recording. Our summary of US recording laws lists them.
A firm does not need to advise on the law to ask the question. It needs to know the vendor has a clear answer for how a patient declines, and what happens to audio when they do.
How wai answers these checks
wai covers the clinician workspace, the ambient scribe, letters with cited evidence, and front desk and admin automation in one product. Notes are drafts the clinician approves. wai acts as processor under UK GDPR and signs a business associate agreement with US practices.
Firms that recommend wai can join its partner program. Partners earn 10 percent of what a clinic pays in its first year for an introduction and 15 percent when they run the sale, paid quarterly on cash collected, with no fee on renewals and nothing paid per patient.
The short answer
Get the evidence, the contract, the audit trail and the partner terms in writing before recommending anything. The firm's name is on the advice, and the clinician's name is on the note.
Already recommending tools to clinics? The partner program pays on what the clinic pays, never per patient.
See the partner programFrequently asked questions
Do AI scribes actually save clinicians time?
Some time, less than most marketing claims. A 2025 randomised trial in NEJM AI with 238 physicians found one product cut note-writing time by 9.5 percent while another showed no significant change, and neither reduced after-hours time in the record.
Does an AI scribe vendor need a business associate agreement?
In the US, yes, if it creates, receives, maintains or transmits protected health information on the clinic's behalf. That makes it a business associate under HIPAA. In the UK the equivalent is a processor contract containing the terms in Article 28 of UK GDPR.
Is SOC 2 a certification?
No. SOC 2 is a report from a CPA's examination of a service organisation's controls relevant to security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality or privacy. Ask for the report or the audit status, and check which systems and period it covers.
Can AI-drafted notes cause billing problems?
They can if nobody reviews them. A note that records more or less than happened will not support the code billed when a payer audits it. The clinician should review and sign every note, and edits should be logged.
Does a marketing agency have to disclose a software referral fee?
In most public recommendations, yes. The FTC expects material connections behind an endorsement to be disclosed clearly, and the UK CAP Code requires marketing to make its commercial intent clear.
What NHS requirements apply to AI scribes?
NHS England's guidance on ambient scribing expects a clinical safety case under DCB0129 and DCB0160, a data protection impact assessment, and a product that meets the Digital Technology Assessment Criteria, whether or not it is a medical device.
Can billing, IT or marketing firms partner with wai?
Yes. Billing and revenue cycle firms, managed IT providers and clinic marketing agencies are all eligible for the wai partner program, which pays 10 or 15 percent of what a clinic pays in its first year. The terms are on the partner page.
Sources
- Lukac PJ, Turner W, Vangala S, et al. Ambient AI Scribes in Clinical Practice, A Randomized Trial. NEJM AI 2025;2(12). 238 physicians, 14 specialties.
- HHS, business associates under the HIPAA Privacy Rule
- ICO, what needs to be included in a controller and processor contract
- AICPA, SOC suite of services, SOC 2 examination of controls at a service organisation
- NHS England, guidance on the use of AI-enabled ambient scribing products in health and care settings
- AMA, physician enthusiasm grows for health care AI, 12 February 2025
- FTC, Endorsement Guides, what people are asking
- ASA and CAP, affiliate marketing advice
- GMC, making and using visual and audio recordings of patients
- wai Partners, published program terms
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