Best AI Scribe for Nurses in Australia (2026 Comparison)

A note on Medicare items for nurses

Two MBS pathways are commonly conflated in nursing-platform marketing — including, until recently, in our own. We've corrected the framing here:

• Items 82200–82216 sit in MBS Category 8 / Group M14 and are Nurse Practitioner consultations, claimed by AHPRA-endorsed Nurse Practitioners. They are graded by problem complexity and duration (82200 = obvious problem; 82215 = ≥40 min). They are *not* mental-health-nurse-specific items.
• Items 81010 / 93026 / 93029 are the Non-directive Pregnancy Support Counselling (NDPSC) family — the only MBS items a credentialled mental health nurse can personally claim. The patient must be currently pregnant or pregnant in the preceding 12 months, the referral must be from a non-specialist medical practitioner, services are capped at 3 per pregnancy, and the session must be ≥30 minutes.

Most CMHN community work is funded outside the MBS — through PHN-commissioned services that absorbed the former Mental Health Nurse Incentive Program (MHNIP) from 2016, plus state community mental health, NDIS, and salaried roles. See our reference guide for CMHNs for the full breakdown.

What Nurses Need from an AI Scribe

Clinical Handover Documentation

Shift handovers are the highest-stakes documentation in nursing. Incomplete or unclear handover notes contribute to adverse events. The ISBAR (Introduction, Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) framework is widely used in Australian healthcare settings, and an AI scribe needs to structure dictated content into this format reliably.

Nurse Practitioner Consultations (Items 82200–82216)

Endorsed Nurse Practitioners billing 82200–82216 need notes that justify the item complexity claimed: 82200 for obvious-problem attendances; longer items for full history-taking, examination, investigations, and management. The scribe needs templates that capture duration, presenting problem, examination findings, and clinical reasoning.

CMHN Documentation — NDPSC and PHN-funded work

For credentialled mental health nurses, two documentation contexts dominate. NDPSC sessions (item 81010) need pregnancy-status, referral, and non-directive-framing capture. PHN-commissioned community mental health work needs to satisfy the contract's minimum data set — typically referral source, presenting issue, K10 or equivalent, intervention, and discharge planning. The scribe needs to support both shapes without forcing CMHNs into Better Access templates that don't apply.

Community and Home Visit Notes

Community nurses document in the field — often between visits, in a car, or on a tablet. The scribe needs to support mobile-friendly dictation with quick turnaround. Notes cover wound assessments, medication administration, vital signs, patient education, and care coordination with GPs and specialists.

Nursing Assessment Tools

Nurses use specific clinical instruments: NEWS2 (National Early Warning Score), 4AT delirium screening, CIWA-Ar withdrawal scoring, and pain assessment tools. Having these instruments accessible alongside documentation streamlines the clinical workflow.

The Contenders

Grounded Scribe

Nursing-relevant features:

• Note templates for clinical handovers (ISBAR), community nursing, Nurse Practitioner consultations, and CMHN documentation (NDPSC + PHN-funded contexts)
• 30+ clinical assessment tools including NEWS2, 4AT, and CIWA-Ar — all free, no login required
• Both ambient recording and dictation mode — dictation is ideal for post-visit documentation in community settings
• Care pathways with nursing-led program templates for wound care management and chronic condition self-management
• Mobile-responsive interface for field documentation
• Australian data hosting

Pricing: Free tier (10 sessions/month), Plus ($19/month), Core ($39/month), Pro ($69/month), Max ($99/month).

Best for: CMHNs, Nurse Practitioners, community nurses, and shift nurses who need flexible documentation with integrated nursing assessment tools.

Heidi Health

Key features:

• AI clinical notes with customisable templates
• Australian-based platform with local data hosting
• Growing template library

Pricing: Free tier available. Paid plans from approximately $30/month.

Considerations: Strong general platform expanding into allied health. Nursing-specific templates are growing but specialised formats (ISBAR handovers, NP consultation items, NDPSC) may need customisation. No integrated clinical scoring tools.

Lyrebird Health

Key features:

• Ambient AI documentation
• Template customisation available
• Australian-developed platform

Pricing: Plans from approximately $29/month.

Considerations: Good ambient recording for longer consultations. Community nursing dictation (short, structured notes) may be equally well served. Nursing-specific templates are limited.

Freed AI

Key features:

• AI medical scribe with customisable templates
• Quick turnaround on note generation

Pricing: From approximately $99 USD/month.

Considerations: US-focused platform. MBS item references, Australian medication names, and local healthcare terminology may not be well supported. Higher price point in AUD.

Head-to-Head Comparison

Our Recommendation

For Australian nurses, the critical question is whether the platform handles your specific documentation type. Nurse Practitioners billing 82200–82216 need duration-matched MBS templates. CMHNs need NDPSC-aware templates plus a way to document PHN-funded community work that doesn't force a Better Access shape. Shift nurses need reliable ISBAR. Community nurses need quick field dictation.

Grounded Scribe offers the broadest nursing-specific support, including dedicated templates, integrated nursing assessment tools (NEWS2, 4AT, CIWA-Ar), and care pathway templates. The assessment tools alone are a significant differentiator — having validated bedside scoring available alongside your documentation platform saves switching between systems.

Test any platform with your most common documentation task. If the draft is 80-90% accurate, it is saving you time.

Start your free trial — 14 days, no credit card required.

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*This comparison is based on publicly available information as of April 2026. Pricing, features, and availability may have changed since publication. We encourage you to verify current details directly with each provider.*

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