Scribe Forms Update

We’re excited to announce a major upgrade to how notes work in Decoda. Templates now use form fields instead of text blocks, giving you more control over your documentation and better connection to patient records. Rolling out January 2026.

Need help? Ask your AI assistant using this prompt: “Help me understand the Decoda Scribe forms update. Here is the documentation: https://docs.decodahealth.com/guides/scribe-forms-migration be very concise” ChatGPT • Claude

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What’s New

Before: Templates were blocks of text with placeholders like {{chief_complaint}}. AI filled these in as paragraphs. Now: Templates are Scribe forms with specific field types. Each piece of information has its own input—text fields, dropdowns, toggles, date pickers, and more.

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Why This Matters

• Cleaner data — Information is organized into separate fields, not buried in paragraphs
• Patient record connection — Vitals and medical history fields automatically save to the patient chart
• Better AI results — Form fields help AI find exactly what to pull from recordings
• Easier editing — Edit individual answers instead of hunting through text blocks
• Flexible inputs — Use the right input type for each piece of data (dropdowns for choices, toggles for yes/no, etc.)

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Template Management

Templates now contain questions (form fields) instead of text blocks.

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Creating a Template

1. Go to Settings > Note Templates
2. Click Create Template
3. Name your template
4. Add questions from the left panel

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Adding Questions

The left panel has three sections: Form Fields — Basic input types you can add:

• Short Text / Long Text
• Number
• Date
• Single Choice (dropdown or radio)
• Multiple Choice (checkboxes)
• Yes/No Toggle (on/off switch)

Patient Record — Ready-to-use fields that automatically save to the patient chart:

• Weight, Height, Blood Pressure, etc.
• Allergies, Medications, Medical History
• These show with a green indicator

Attachments — Photo upload field with placeholders for organizing images (e.g., “Before Photo”, “After Photo”). Previously attachments were in a separate tab—now you can place them directly in your note wherever you want

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Configuring Questions

Each question has:

• Label — The question text shown to users (e.g., “Chief Complaint”)
• Required — Switch to make it mandatory
• AI Description — Extra context to help AI find the right answer from recordings. For example, if your label is “Subjective”, you might add “Patient’s chief complaint, history of present illness, and symptoms in their own words” so AI knows what to look for in the transcript
• Placeholder — Gray hint text shown inside empty fields (e.g., “Enter chief complaint here”)
• Options — For choice fields, the list of choices you can pick

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Reordering & Editing

• Drag the handle icon to reorder questions
• Click any question to edit it
• Delete using the trash icon in edit mode

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Provider Access

Control which providers can use this template:

1. Click Provider Access in the sidebar
2. Select providers by name or location
3. Use “All” or “None” for quick selection

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Creating Notes

Both AI Scribe and Manual notes now use the Scribe forms approach.

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AI Scribe Notes

1. Start a recording as usual
2. When finished, click Generate AI Note
3. Select a template (if not already selected)
4. AI finds answers for each question from your recording
5. Review the answers in the Clinician’s Note tab
6. Edit any fields as needed
7. Save when ready

Tabs available:

• Clinician’s Note — Your answers
• Transcript — Full recording transcription
• Note Template — View of the template
• Codes — Medical codes (if enabled)

AI Chat: After generation, use the chat at the bottom to refine answers. Ask things like “Make the assessment more concise” or “Add more detail about symptoms.”

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Manual Notes

1. Click Create Note and choose Manual
2. Select a template
3. Fill in each question directly
4. Save when complete

All template questions appear as a form—fill them in one by one using the right fields.

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Field Types Reference

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Migrating Existing Templates

Templates from before this update were automatically converted. They appear as a single “Long Text” field containing your old template structure. You can keep using them this way—conversion to Scribe forms is optional but recommended.

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Convert to Scribe Form

For better organization, convert these old templates:

1. Open the template in Settings > Note Templates
2. Look for the blue “Legacy Template Detected” banner
3. Click Convert to Scribe Form
4. AI analyzes your old template and suggests questions
5. Questions appear one by one as they’re generated—review each one
6. Click Apply Questions to replace the old field
7. Review and adjust the generated questions as needed
8. Save the template

The AI figures out the right field types (text vs. dropdown vs. toggle) based on your original template content. Tips:

• Want to keep the original? Duplicate the template first before running the conversion
• Not happy with the suggestions? Discard the changes and your template stays unchanged
• After applying, you can still manually edit, add, or remove questions before saving

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Your Data is Safe

Existing notes are unchanged. All notes created before this update remain exactly as they were. You can still view and access them normally. The new Scribe forms format only applies to notes created after the update.

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Quick Reference

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Tips for Best Results

For AI Scribe:

• Add AI Descriptions to questions to help AI find information (e.g., “Chief complaint and history of present illness”)
• Use specific field types—dropdowns work better than text fields for fixed options
• Review the transcript tab if AI missed something

For Templates:

• Use Patient Record fields for vitals so they save to the chart
• Mark truly required fields as required—don’t overdo it
• Group related questions together in the same order

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Need Help?

• Contact support if you have questions about migrating specific templates
• Ask your AI assistant for quick answers using this prompt:

  “Help me with Decoda Scribe forms. Docs: https://docs.decodahealth.com/guides/scribe-forms-migration be very concise”

  ChatGPT Claude