Dictate in any app · Clinical

Voice typing in athenahealth

athenahealth is browser-based, which changes what dictation options a practice actually has. With Typally you hold a hotkey, speak, and the text lands in athenahealth exactly where your cursor was.

From the people who build Typally. If athenahealth's own option covers your use, use it — this page will tell you when it does.
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In short

  • athenahealth's own dictation: Integrations with clinical dictation products exist and are configured at practice level.
  • What Typally does instead: types into the focused window, so it works in athenahealth and everywhere else you write.
  • Best used for: clinical narrative sections

Does athenahealth have built-in dictation?

Integrations with clinical dictation products exist and are configured at practice level. Because the interface runs in a browser, what works depends on the practice's setup rather than on anything you install yourself.

Why dictate in athenahealth at all?

Small and mid-size practices carry the same documentation load as hospitals with none of the IT department. The physician is often the person deciding what software gets used, and also the person typing notes at nine in the evening.

In practice people use it for: Clinical narrative sections, patient instructions, referral letters, billing notes, and practice administration.

How to dictate in athenahealth

Setup happens once, outside athenahealth, and then applies to every program on the machine:

1

Get Typally running

Install, sign in, and it waits in the tray.

2

Click into the right box in athenahealth first

Whatever has the cursor receives the text, so click the right place in athenahealth before starting.

3

Speak with the key held down

Push to talk, say your piece, release to transcribe.

4

Read it before you move on

Typally is not HIPAA-certified and transmits audio to a third-party transcription service. It must not be used for protected health information. Your practice's obligations do not change because a tool is convenient.

What Typally adds in athenahealth

Typally is for the administrative half of a practice, and it covers it well: policies, supplier email, website copy and staff communication, all from one hotkey in the browser athenahealth already runs in. It is not certified for protected health information and must not be used for it — patient documentation needs a product covered by a business associate agreement.

What this looks like in practice

A practice manager writing the new patient-onboarding policy dictates four pages in twenty minutes. The clinicians in the same practice keep using the approved clinical product for notes, because the policy document contains no patient data and the notes do.

One habit that makes it work better

Separate the two jobs cleanly. Patient documentation belongs in whatever your practice has approved for it; everything administrative can use ordinary tools.

What to watch out for in athenahealth

Typally is not HIPAA-certified and transmits audio to a third-party transcription service. It must not be used for protected health information. Your practice's obligations do not change because a tool is convenient.

Frequently asked questions

Is Typally HIPAA compliant for athenahealth notes?

No. Typally is not HIPAA-certified and audio is processed by a third party. Use a clinical dictation product covered by a business associate agreement for patient data.

What can a practice use general dictation for?

Administrative writing with no patient information in it: supplier email, policy documents, staff communication, website copy.

Does athenahealth have its own dictation?

Dictation in athenahealth generally comes from an integrated third-party product configured by the practice, not a feature you switch on yourself.

Try it in athenahealth

You can try this on the free plan — 100 minutes a month, no card, no trial countdown.

Try Typally free

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