--- title: "Dictation for doctors and clinicians on a Mac: a workflow guide" description: "How clinicians can use general dictation on a Mac for letters, emails, reports and admin writing, where it fits next to clinical documentation systems, and the privacy questions to settle first. Workflow guidance, not medical or compliance advice." url: "https://speechbee.app/guides/dictation-for-doctors" --- # Dictation for doctors and clinicians Clinicians write a lot that isn't a clinical note: referral letters, reports, emails, teaching material, rotas and research. General dictation on a Mac can take much of that typing off your hands. This guide covers that workflow, how it differs from clinical dictation systems, and what to check before patient information is involved. By the SpeechBee team, who make SpeechBee. Updated 12 October 2026. > ### Please read this first > > This page is about software and writing workflow. It is not medical, legal or compliance advice, and SpeechBee is not a medical device. Your organisation's policies and the law where you work decide which tools may handle patient information. Many organisations require approved, contracted systems. Follow them, and do not dictate patient information into any app, including ours, unless it is approved for that use. ## Clinical dictation and general dictation are different tools **Clinical documentation systems**, such as Nuance's Dragon Medical One or speech recognition built into an electronic health record, are bought by organisations, set up for medical vocabulary, and connected to the patient record. If your organisation provides one, use it for clinical notes. **General dictation apps** turn your speech into text in any app on your computer. They are not connected to a patient record and come with no medical vocabulary. They suit the rest of your writing. ## Where general dictation helps - **Emails and messages** to colleagues and teams. - **Teaching, presentations and research writing.** - **Reports, audit write-ups and policies.** - **Personal admin** that piles up at the end of the day. - **Letters and documents** where your organisation permits the tool. ## Set it up 1. **Add your vocabulary to the dictionary.** Drug names, specialty terms and colleagues' names that your app mishears. General apps don't know them until you teach them. 2. **Save snippets** for sign-offs with your title, standard paragraphs and addresses. 3. **Dictate in sections** and don't stop to fix mistakes. Fix them afterwards. 4. **Read or listen back** before sending. Dictation can mishear a word that changes the meaning, so always check dosages, numbers and names yourself. ## Where your words go Cloud dictation apps send audio to their servers. Some offer business agreements and compliance programmes. Apple Dictation may run on your Mac or Apple's servers depending on language and settings; Apple says you can check under **System Settings**, **Keyboard**, **Dictation**. Local apps transcribe on your Mac. Knowing which is which is the first step in any conversation with your information governance team. ## SpeechBee SpeechBee is the app we make. Hold a key in any Mac app, talk, and the text appears at your cursor. It transcribes on your Mac: audio is processed in memory, never uploaded and never recorded, and it works offline. Its dictionary learns the terms you add, snippets insert standard text, and it can read selected text aloud for checking. It is $79 a year or $99 once, after 7 days free. It is a general dictation app. It has no built-in medical vocabulary, no connection to patient records, and it is not a medical device. Where patient information is involved, your organisation decides whether any tool, ours included, may be used. ## Questions ### Can I use general dictation software for clinical notes? Only if your organisation approves it for that use. Many require approved clinical documentation systems for anything in the patient record. ### Does SpeechBee know medical terms? It has no built-in medical vocabulary. You can add the terms you use to its dictionary so they are spelled the way you want. ### Is SpeechBee HIPAA compliant? We do not make compliance claims. SpeechBee transcribes on your device and does not send your audio or text to us, but whether you may use it with patient information is a decision for your organisation. ### What is Dragon Medical One? Nuance's clinical speech recognition product for healthcare organisations. This page does not cover it in detail. ## Keep reading - [Dragon alternatives for Mac](https://speechbee.app/compare/dragon-alternatives-mac) - [Offline dictation on a Mac](https://speechbee.app/guides/offline-dictation-mac) - [Voice to text for email and Slack](https://speechbee.app/guides/dictation-for-email-and-slack) ## Sources All checked on 12 October 2026. - [Apple: Use Dictation on Mac](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-dictation-mh40584/mac) - SpeechBee facts from our [homepage](https://speechbee.app/) and [privacy policy](https://speechbee.app/privacy)