Heidi AI scribe or evidence answer engine: what each is built to do
Heidi began as an ambient scribe and remains strongest there: it captures the consultation, drafts the note, proposes codes and offers a wide template library, with a wearable microphone and dictation alongside. Evidence was added on top of that. DR. INFO began as an evidence answer engine and remains strongest there: it retrieves from named guideline corpora, reasons over the retrieved documents and cites to the source page, with scribe, discharge letter, report and ICD code flows alongside. Neither is a worse product than the other; they answer different questions, and a practice should buy the one whose first job matches its own.
Is Heidi Evidence available during a consultation in the UK and EU?
This is the one comparison point that is not a matter of emphasis. Heidi's own help documentation states that if you are using Heidi within the UK or EU, Evidence will not be available during a session [1]. Outside a session it is available, subject to plan limits. A clinical question usually arises while the patient is still in the room, so for a UK or European clinician the feature is absent at the moment it would be used. DR. INFO answers during the consultation in every market it serves. If your reason for looking at Heidi is the evidence feature rather than the scribe, this is the fact to check first against your own market.
Is Heidi Health CE marked under EU MDR?
Heidi's scribe usage policy states that Heidi Scribe is registered as a Class I medical device with the UK's MHRA, intended for administrative assistance, dictation, transcription and documentation [3]. That is a UK registration scoped to documentation. Heidi does not publish an EU CE mark. DR. INFO Clinical, the cited answer engine, is CE marked under EU MDR 2017/745 at Class I [2]. Both companies are clear that clinical decisions remain the clinician's, and both should be read that way.
Where does each product store patient data?
Heidi states that personal data for European users remains within the EU and EEA in accordance with GDPR [4]. DR. INFO stores data on EU servers under GDPR and does not use it for training. For most European information governance reviews these two positions are comparable, and the question that separates tools in practice is where the processing happens and whether the vendor trains on what you record. Ask both vendors to put their answer in writing for your own data protection assessment.
How much does Heidi Health cost?
Heidi publishes a free plan with unlimited transcription, then Clinician and Practice plans whose prices are not listed on its pricing page [5]. DR. INFO has a free tier for verified clinicians and students. Because Heidi does not publish paid tier prices, a direct cost comparison is not possible from public information, and any figure quoted elsewhere should be checked with the vendor.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between Heidi Health and DR. INFO?
- Heidi is an ambient scribe first, built to draft the clinical note, with an evidence feature added on top. DR. INFO is an evidence answer engine first, built to answer a clinical question from retrieved guidelines with citations to the source page, with documentation flows alongside. The products overlap but their first job differs.
- Can I use Heidi Evidence during a consultation in the UK or EU?
- No. Heidi states that if you are using Heidi within the UK or EU, Evidence will not be available during a session [1]. It is available outside a session, subject to plan limits.
- Is Heidi Health CE marked under EU MDR?
- Heidi does not publish an EU CE mark. It states that Heidi Scribe is registered as a Class I medical device with the UK's MHRA for documentation purposes [3]. DR. INFO Clinical is CE marked under EU MDR 2017/745 at Class I [2].
- Which is better for ambient documentation?
- Heidi, on current evidence. It has the more mature ambient scribe, a wider template library, dictation and a wearable microphone, and a larger installed base. DR. INFO offers scribe, discharge letter, report and ICD code flows, but documentation is not the product's centre.
- Which is better for answering a clinical question?
- DR. INFO. It retrieves from named guideline corpora across European, American and international societies, cites to the source page with paragraph level interrogation, and answers during the consultation in every market it serves, including the UK and EU.
- Is Heidi Health European?
- No. Heidi is an Australian company founded in Melbourne in 2019. It states EU and EEA data residency for European users [4], which is a hosting commitment rather than a statement about where the company is based.
- Which is cheaper, Heidi Health or DR. INFO?
- Both offer a free tier. Heidi's free plan includes unlimited transcription with a limited Evidence allowance, and its paid plan prices are not published [5]. DR. INFO is free for verified clinicians and students. Beyond the free tiers, a direct comparison is not possible from public information.
Buy Heidi if your problem is documentation volume: it is the more mature scribe, with a wider template library and a larger installed base. Buy DR. INFO if your problem is evidence: it answers a clinical question from named guideline corpora with citations to the source page, during the consultation, in the UK and EU as well as everywhere else. The single fact worth checking before you choose is Heidi's own statement that Evidence is not available during a session for UK and EU users [1]. Many practices will run a scribe and an answer engine side by side, and that is a reasonable outcome.
References
- 1.Heidi Help Center, Heidi Evidence (regional availability, sources, plan limits).
- 2.Regulation (EU) 2017/745 on medical devices (EU MDR).
- 3.Heidi, Scribe usage policy (medical device registration, intended purpose).
- 4.Heidi, GDPR compliance (EU/EEA data residency).
- 5.Heidi, pricing (Free, Clinician and Practice plans).
- 6.Ravichandran et al. HealthBench Hard evaluation.