Clinicians have dictated for decades; the question is only whether the tool is worth the friction. Dragon costs $700, runs on Windows only and is on its own timeline. Built-in dictation invents drug names. ahsk sits in the middle: hold a key, say the letter, and it is typed where your cursor is, in the EHR text box, in Outlook, in Word, on a Mac, a Windows PC or your phone, with a dictionary that spells "amlodipine" and "Dr. Nwachukwu" the way you told it to. There is one thing you need to know before using it for patient data, and it is in the section below.
Read this first: what ahsk is not
ahsk transcribes in the cloud and does not offer a Business Associate Agreement. It does not store your audio, and your dictionary stays on your device, but that is not the same as HIPAA or GDPR-health compliance. For identifiable patient records, check your institution's policy first or use a tool with a signed BAA. For everything else a clinician writes in a day, which is most of it, read on.
The dictionary is the product
Drug names, procedures, colleagues, wards, abbreviations: put them in the dictionary once, or correct them once after pasting, and they come out right every time. Whisper large-v3, the model ahsk uses, was chosen for accuracy on accented English, which in most hospitals is most of the staff.
Letters that come out as letters
Dictate a referral in one breath, fillers and all, and ahsk formats it: paragraphs, punctuation, a greeting and a sign-off if you set the voice mode to Mail. Tap fn for hands-free when you are reading from a chart and both hands are busy; tap again when you are done.
Any system, any device
ahsk types where the cursor is. If the EHR has a text field, it works; there is no integration to request from IT. Windows PCs on the ward, the Mac at home, the phone on the way to clinic, one account.
Key Features
Personal dictionary
Drugs, procedures, names and abbreviations, spelled as you decided.
Letters formatted
Referrals and summaries land with paragraphs and a sign-off.
Hands-free
Tap fn, read from the chart, tap again.
Works in the EHR text box
Anywhere with a cursor. No integration to request.
Dictate the next referral letter
Free, 50 credits, no card. Add three drug names to the dictionary and say the letter.
Download for MacFrequently Asked Questions
Is ahsk HIPAA compliant?
No. There is no BAA. Audio is transcribed in the cloud and not stored, but you should not use ahsk for identifiable patient records unless your institution's policy allows it. It is well suited to everything else clinicians write.
How does it compare with Dragon Medical?
Dragon Medical One has a BAA and medical vocabularies built in, and costs accordingly. ahsk costs €9.99 a month, runs on Mac, Windows and iPhone, and relies on your own dictionary. Different tools for different parts of the day.
Is transcription on-device?
No. Audio is transcribed by Whisper large-v3 in the cloud and is not stored. Your dictionary and learned corrections stay on your device. If your work must never leave the machine, ahsk is the wrong tool and we would rather say so than pretend.
What does it cost?
Every account starts with 50 credits and no card. Pro is €9.99 a month for unlimited dictation, translation and AI rewriting, and one subscription covers Mac, Windows and iPhone.
