Most physicians open Scribe, dictate a note, and assume the defaults will do. They're not wrong, but they're leaving time on the table. A few targeted setup choices mean the note that comes out of dictation reflects your specialty's structure and your personal style, not a generic outpatient template.
Step 1: Choose the right template for your note type
Scribe offers SOAP, H&P, Consult, and simple dictation templates, and you can build your own from scratch. The template shapes the section structure of every note you generate, so choosing one that matches how your specialty documents is the highest-leverage setup decision you can make. A hospitalist dictating daily progress notes has different needs than a surgeon writing operative summaries or a psychiatrist documenting a mental status evaluation. If none of the built-in templates fit, build a custom one. You can create multiple templates for different encounter types if you practice across settings.
Step 2: Write a custom prompt for your specialty
Custom prompts tell Scribe how to handle your dictation before it generates a note. A well-written prompt can specify preferred section order, note length, clinical emphasis, and terminology conventions for your specialty.
A psychiatrist's prompt might prioritize mental status, risk language, and treatment plan specificity. An urgent care physician's might specify brevity and a focused problem-oriented structure. You write the prompt once, and Scribe applies it every time. Step 3: Use Smart Edits to refine the output quickly
After Scribe generates a note, Smart Edits handles the most common post-generation adjustments in one tap:
- "Add Billing Codes" appends billing documentation based on the note's clinical content
- "More Concise" tightens a note that ran longer than needed
- "More Detailed" expands a section that needs more depth or specificity
- "Update Pronouns" corrects pronoun usage throughout the note in one step
The "Suggest a change" text field handles anything the one-tap options don't. Describe the adjustment in plain language and Scribe applies it.
Step 4: Use Refine with Ask for specialty-specific language
"Refine with Ask" connects your note to Doximity Ask, where you can make freeform requests that go beyond Smart Edits. Reframe the assessment in your specialty's referral language, add context that didn't make it into the dictation, or restructure a section entirely, without rewriting from scratch.
The result
A Scribe setup that reflects your specialty means the note coming out of dictation is closer to what you'd write yourself. Review time drops. The note needs a read-through, not a rewrite. Try it free with your existing Doximity account.
