Compare AI Scribes: Heidi Health vs Coviu Assist vs Lyrebird Health

AI Notes Comparison: Which solution is right for you?

Heidi Health vs Coviu AI Scribe vs Lyrebird Health

Clinics across Australia are increasingly adopting AI scribes to reduce clinician burnout, streamline documentation, and free up valuable time for patient care. But with several purpose-built solutions now available, choosing the right tool depends on your clinical setting, workflows, and digital maturity.

Whether you're running a fully virtual clinic, an in-person practice, or a hybrid model combining telehealth, phone, and in-person care, here’s how Heidi Health, Coviu's AI Scribe, and Lyrebird Health compare - three leading AI scribes designed specifically for healthcare.

What Is Heidi Health?

Heidi Health is an AI assistant for GPs, allied health, mental health, dental, and veterinary professionals, built with features like contextual commands (“Ask Heidi”), referral automation, and adaptive documentation flows.

Heidi states that in real time it transcribes your consultation and does not store audio recordings permanently. Instead, only the transcript (text) is stored, and clinicians can manage retention settings. Heidi also notes that for Australian users, it uses data localisation solutions to meet regulatory requirements. In some cases, data may be processed outside Australia, but this is done using privacy safeguards that limit access and do not retain identifiable information.

It integrates with EHRs and offers a web-based interface, but may require configuration and setup for smooth operation across hybrid consult types like phone and telehealth.

What Is Coviu AI Scribe?

Coviu AI Scribe is a healthcare-grade AI documentation assistant. It works across telehealth, phone, and in-person consultations - with no extra logins, no complex setup, and built-in patient consent controls.

Rather than functioning as a standalone tool, Coviu AI Scribe is embedded within a broader clinical workflow platform - including hosted telehealth, virtual waiting rooms, secure patient handovers to reception, and seamless transitions between care modes, all within a single, unified environment.

Clinicians can select or create custom note templates tailored to their specialty - enabling fast, consistent documentation that aligns with diverse clinical requirements.

Coviu is fully hosted in Australia, and all clinical audio, transcription, metadata, and notes are processed and stored onshore under rigorous governance — including ISO 27001 certification, healthcare-grade encryption, and robust audit trails.

What Is Lyrebird Health?

Lyrebird Health offers ambient AI scribing that passively listens in to consultations, capturing natural speech to produce real-time clinical documentation. It focuses primarily on in-person and some telehealth setting, and offers integration with tools like Best Practice Premier.

Lyrebird emphasises that it transcribes audio in real time on Australian servers, and destroys audio immediately after transcription. Documents are stored briefly (default 7 days) on encrypted servers within Australia, with options to shorten or extend retention. However, switching between consult types (e.g. phone to in-person) may introduce workflow friction.

Choose Coviu

Best suited for hybrid and virtual clinics that want an AI scribe embedded into their telehealth, phone, and in-person workflows - all in one secure platform. With no app-switching, no external setup, and built-in patient consent, it offers a streamlined documentation experience alongside tools like virtual waiting rooms, patient handover to admin, and flexible note templates tailored to various specialties. Coviu AI Scribe is ideal for healthcare teams seeking consistency, simplicity, and time savings across modes of care.

Ideal for : Hybrid and virtual clinics that need an AI scribe to work seamlessly across phone, telehealth, and in-person consults.

Choose Heidi Health

Designed for GPs and multi-specialty clinics working primarily in-person or within established EHR systems. Its strengths lie in advanced features like clinical coding, referral automation, and smart command prompts. It supports telehealth and phone settings but may require additional setup. Heidi is ideal for teams that want a deeply customisable AI assistant and are willing to manage more technical configuration.

Ideal for : Clinics wanting a powerful, flexible AI assistant that adapts over time, particularly in general practice and veterinary care.

Choose Lyrebird Health

Caters to clinicians who value ambient, passive listening with a strong privacy focus. It’s well-suited to in-person consultations where minimal tech interaction is preferred. With no long-term audio retention and rapid note generation, Lyrebird offers a hands-off experience - best for individual practitioners or small practices working primarily face-to-face.If you value ambient scribing with no manual inputs, fast document generation, and a focus on data privacy. Lyrebird’s passive listening model suits clinicians who prefer a “hands-off” AI experience, especially in in-person settings where real-time notes and certificates are key.

Ideal for : Individual clinicians or smaller practices with a strong focus on in-person consultations.

What is the best AI scribe for hybrid clinics?

Coviu's AI scribe is the best AI scribe for hybrid clinics that deliver care via telehealth, phone, and in-person consultations. It’s fully embedded into the Coviu platform, with built-in consent and seamless transitions across care modes.

Ambient AI scribing, like Lyrebird Health, passively listens in the background to generate notes, often suited to in-person consults. Active AI scribing, like Coviu's AI Scribe, starts with patient consent and captures structured notes during live telehealth, phone, or in-person consultations, offering greater control and compliance.

Heidi Health and Lyrebird Health both support some telehealth workflows, but they require separate setup and do not offer full phone consultation integration. Coviu is the only AI scribe natively integrated into a phone and video platform.

Pricing varies by provider. As of 2025, Coviu AI scribe costs AUD $79 per user/month (as an add-on), Heidi Health’s Pro plan is USD $99 per user/month, and Lyrebird Health starts from AUD $150 per user/month depending on usage.

Yes, Coviu offers a free trial with no credit card required. This lets you experience its AI scribing across telehealth, phone, and in-person settings before deciding.

Yes, all three platforms - Coviu, Heidi Health, and Lyrebird Health offer healthcare-grade security and comply with Australian privacy regulations.