Medical transcription software that turns recordings into finished letters
Many clinicians still think out loud into a recorder: between patients, in the car, at the end of a ward round. Stenograph takes those audio files and returns structured text you can send, a clinic letter, a report or a summary, with medication names and anatomy spelled from a medical vocabulary and timestamps that let you jump back to any sentence.
Referral letter, cardiology
Dear Dr. Castellano,
Thank you for seeing Mr. R. Alvarez, 64, whom I am referring for evaluation of exertional chest tightness over the past six weeks.
Relevant history
Hypertension, type 2 diabetes, former smoker.
Current medication
- metoprolol succinate 50 mg once daily
- metformin 1,000 mg b.i.d.
- atorvastatin 40 mg at night
Kind regards,
Dr. L. Brandt
Transcribe recorded dictations into letters and reports
Traditional medical transcription meant sending tapes or files to a typist and waiting for a draft. With Stenograph you upload the file yourself and read the result minutes later. You pick the output you need before processing: a plain transcript, a letter, or a report with headings. The structure is applied on top of a faithful transcript, so you can always compare what was said with what was written.
- Upload audio or video from a recorder, phone or computer
- Choose transcript, letter or report as the output
- Timestamps on every paragraph for quick checking
- Export to Word, PDF, TXT or SRT
Which recordings work well
Dictations recorded close to the speaker transcribe best: a phone held at a normal distance, a handheld recorder, a headset at the desk. Common audio and video formats are accepted. If a recording has several voices, for example a case discussion recorded with everyone's consent, speaker labels separate them in the transcript.
Structured clinical output instead of a wall of text
A raw transcript of a three minute dictation is one long paragraph with every hesitation kept. That is not something you can file. Stenograph removes filler words and false starts, adds punctuation, and arranges the content under the headings you dictated or the ones your template expects.
- History, Examination, Investigations, Impression and Plan as headings when spoken
- Medication lists and problem lists as one item per line
- Spoken instructions such as "new paragraph" and "make that a list" followed in the file
- A clean letter body with salutation and sign off when you choose the letter format
You can also set a writing style for reports so every document from your practice reads the same; see dictation writing styles.
Clinical terminology spelled the way you write it
Transcription errors in medicine are not cosmetic. Stenograph applies its medical vocabulary to every file: drug names, dosing terms, anatomical structures, procedures and eponyms. Your own dictionary sits on top for consultant names, local services and unusual products. When a practice works on the Team plan, everyone shares one dictionary, so a correction made by one clinician helps all of them. The details are on custom vocabulary speech recognition.
Handling patient information honestly
Stenograph does not hold a HIPAA certification and does not provide a Business Associate Agreement, and we say so plainly. What we can describe precisely is the handling of your files.
Uploaded audio is deleted once processing finishes; we do not keep recordings
Transcripts are kept in your history only if you leave history switched on, and you can delete them
Nothing you upload is used to train AI models
Files and text are encrypted in transit and at rest
Your organization's policy on patient identifiers decides what may go into a recording. A common approach is to dictate clinical content without names or record numbers and add identifiers inside the record system. Where policy requires a BAA, choose a vendor that signs one. Read more on dictation privacy.
Transcription of files or live dictation
Two ways of working, one subscription. Live dictation puts text straight at your cursor while you speak, which suits letters you write at the desk; it is described on medical dictation software. File transcription suits work you record elsewhere and process later. Many clinicians use both: dictate the urgent letters live, record the rest during the day and upload in one batch at the end.
| Live dictation | File transcription | |
|---|---|---|
| Input | Your voice through the hotkey | Uploaded audio or video |
| Output | Text at the cursor in any app | Transcript, letter or report with timestamps |
| Best for | Letters and notes written now | Recordings made away from the desk |
| Monthly allowance on Solo | 1,500 minutes | 300 minutes |
Medical transcription for small practices
A small practice often has one person handling letters for several clinicians. Team gives up to five people a pooled allowance of 3,000 transcription minutes per month, a shared dictionary and styles, an admin console and one invoice. Enterprise raises the pool to 10,000 minutes and adds SSO, SCIM, audit log and data retention controls. For background on the field itself, read medical transcription explained for practices.
Medical transcription questions
How long does a transcription take
Most dictations are processed in a few minutes, longer files take proportionally longer. You see the progress while it runs.
Can I keep the original recording in Stenograph
No. Audio is deleted after processing by design. Keep your original file on your own device if your organization requires it.
Do you offer a BAA or HIPAA certification
No. We do not claim a certification and do not sign a BAA. We describe exactly how audio and text are handled, and clinicians follow their organization's policy on patient identifiers.
How are transcription minutes counted
By the length of each uploaded file, per billing month. Deleting a transcript does not return minutes. The allowance renews with the next period.
Is there a human typist reviewing the files
No. Transcription and formatting are done by AI, and you review the result yourself before sending.
Upload a dictation and get a letter back
Create your account, choose the medical vocabulary and upload the first recording. The structured text is ready to check and export.