NovaScribe vs. Doximity Scribe: Is a Free AI Scribe Enough for Your Practice?
Doximity Scribe is free for every verified U.S. physician, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, CRNA and student in those programs. If you already have a Doximity account, it’s likely the first AI scribe you’ll try.
Free is a real advantage, and for many clinicians it’s enough. This post covers what Doximity Scribe does well, and what NovaScribe adds for physicians whose pay depends on how each visit is coded.
Comparison at a glance
| NovaScribe | Doximity Scribe | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (10 notes/mo, all Professional features); Basic $99/mo; Professional $229/mo | Free for verified U.S. physicians, NPs, PAs, CRNAs and students |
| Billing and coding | Professional: CPT with wRVU estimates, ICD-10, E/M level, MDM upgrade suggestions | “Add Billing Codes” Quick Edit on the Doximity website; code sets not specified |
| Note customization | Plain-language custom instructions and profiles; SOAP, narrative and custom formats | Built-in and custom templates, community template library, custom prompts, Quick Edits |
| Patient history | Draws on a patient’s prior visits; AI problem list carried across visits | Pre-charting: type, dictate, paste or upload prior notes before the visit |
| Specialty depth | 15 specialties; operative notes for all major surgical specialties | Specialty templates, including six oncology templates added May 2026 (Doximity) |
| EHR workflow | Copy and paste into any EHR | Copy and paste into any EHR |
| Data retention | Audio deleted within 6 hours of processing | Audio destroyed after transcription; notes and transcripts deleted after 29 days |
As of October 13, 2026. Doximity details are from Doximity’s own help center, blog and terms.
What Doximity Scribe does well
- It’s free. Verified clinicians pay nothing; all you need is a verified Doximity account.
- It runs where you work. Notes can be generated on the phone app or the website. On June 10, 2026, Doximity launched native Mac and Windows desktop apps for its Clinical AI Suite (Doximity blog).
- Pre-charting. You can “add context before the encounter by typing, dictating, or pasting it in,” and Scribe folds it into the note (Doximity blog, June 30, 2026).
- Templates. Doximity offers SOAP, H&P, consult and dictation templates (Doximity Scribe), lets you build your own, and runs a community template library reviewed by Doximity medical fellows.
Billing and coding
This is where the two products differ most.
Doximity Scribe has a Quick Edit option called “Add Billing Codes,” available only on the Doximity website, which “adds relevant billing codes to the note.” Doximity’s documentation doesn’t say which code sets it covers, such as CPT, ICD-10 or E/M levels.
NovaScribe Professional reviews billing on every note:
- CPT code suggestions with wRVU and dollar estimates, including counseling and time-based services.
- ICD-10 codes, validated against CMS code sets.
- E/M level analysis.
- MDM upgrade suggestions that flag when your documentation supports a higher E/M level than you might otherwise bill.
You always choose the final code. NovaScribe shows you what the documentation supports.
What one undercoded visit a day can cost
In 2026, CMS assigns 1.30 work RVUs to an established-patient visit billed as 99213 and 1.92 to a 99214. The 2026 efficiency adjustment doesn’t apply to E/M visits, so these values are unchanged (AUA summary of the 2026 final rule; AANEM 2025-2026 RVU comparison).
Say your documentation supports a 99214 on one visit a day, but the visit is billed as a 99213:
| Step | Value |
|---|---|
| wRVUs missed per visit (1.92 – 1.30) | 0.62 |
| Clinic days per year (example) | 200 |
| wRVUs missed per year | 124 |
| Pay per wRVU (example; use your contract’s rate) | $50 |
| Compensation missed per year | $6,200 |
The $50 rate and 200 clinic days are examples, not benchmarks. Plug in your own contract rate and schedule. The annual Professional plan costs $2,299.
Customizing your notes
Both products let you shape your notes, in different ways.
Doximity leans on templates. You pick a built-in template, build your own on the website, or borrow one from the community library. Custom prompts “tell Scribe how to handle your dictation before it generates a note.” Quick Edits then let you adjust a finished note.
NovaScribe uses plain-language instructions. You tell it how you like your notes written, the way you’d brief a human scribe, and save those preferences as profiles. Notes come in SOAP, narrative or custom formats.
Continuity across visits
NovaScribe can draw on a patient’s prior visits, so a new note reflects what it already knows about that patient. It also keeps an AI-curated problem list that carries forward and updates from visit to visit.
With Doximity Scribe, prior context comes in through pre-charting. You can upload files “such as prior visits, referral letters, or intake forms,” and relevant conditions are pulled into the note. Saved pre-charts can be reused across sessions for up to 30 days, and you choose which one to attach to each visit.
Privacy and data use
Here is what each company publishes. Read both and decide what matters to your practice.
Doximity Scribe
- Audio is “immediately destroyed as soon as it’s transcribed.” Notes and transcripts are “automatically deleted after 29 days” (Doximity Help Center).
- “No patient data from Scribe notes is accessible to Doximity employees or technology partners.”
- Doximity has a BAA with OpenAI, which provides the transcription and summarization behind Scribe. Scribe uses GPT-4o to summarize conversations (Doximity Help Center).
- Doximity’s BAA permits it to use AI systems to process PHI to “provide, support, secure, maintain, improve, and administer” its services. De-identified data “may be used, disclosed, and commercialized” for “any lawful purpose, including product development” (Doximity BAA).
NovaScribe
- “No AI training on your data. Ever.”
- Audio is deleted within 6 hours of processing.
- NovaScribe is HIPAA compliant and publishes its full list of sub-processors.
Because Doximity deletes notes after 29 days, copy each note into your EHR promptly.
When free is the right answer
Doximity Scribe is a sensible choice if:
- You’re salaried, so coding level doesn’t change your pay.
- You see a modest number of patients, or use a scribe only occasionally.
- Templates already cover your note style.
If you’re paid on wRVUs or collections, or you want your notes to draw on a patient’s prior visits and problem list, NovaScribe’s Professional tier is built for you.
FAQ
Is Doximity Scribe really free? Yes. Doximity says access is free for all verified, U.S.-based physicians, NPs, PAs, CRNAs and students in those programs.
Does Doximity Scribe add CPT or ICD-10 codes? Doximity offers an “Add Billing Codes” Quick Edit on the Doximity website. Its documentation doesn’t specify which code sets it covers.
How long does Doximity keep Scribe notes? Notes and transcripts are deleted after 29 days, and audio is destroyed after transcription.
Can I try NovaScribe without paying? Yes. The free tier gives you 10 notes a month with every Professional feature, and no credit card is needed.
Test both side by side
You don’t have to choose blind. Keep Doximity Scribe, and run your next 10 visits through NovaScribe’s free tier as well. It includes every Professional feature, including CPT codes with wRVU estimates, so you can compare the notes and the billing review on the same visits.
