Written and maintained by CASRAI Editorial Board
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A Freed AI consent form is a written or verbal patient disclosure and authorization used by clinicians before activating Freed AI during an outpatient, inpatient, or telehealth encounter. Because ambient AI medical scribes capture live clinical conversations via a microphone to generate structured SOAP notes, clinics must align their patient consent workflow with state wiretapping laws, medical malpractice insurer standards, and HIPAA Privacy and Security Rule safeguards.
Is Freed AI HIPAA-Compliant? BAA, SOC 2 Type II, and Audio Deletion Architecture
Before drafting a patient consent form, compliance officers and medical group administrators must evaluate the vendor’s technical security posture. Yes, Freed AI is HIPAA-compliant when deployed under an executed Business Associate Agreement (BAA) and configured according to clinical security best practices:
- HIPAA Business Associate Agreement (BAA): Under 45 CFR § 164.308(b) and § 164.504(e), any HIPAA-compliant AI medical scribe that processes electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) on behalf of a covered entity acts as a Business Associate. Freed AI executes a standard HIPAA BAA covering its cloud transcription and clinical note generation pipeline.
- Zero Persistent Audio Storage: A critical privacy distinction that patients frequently ask about during consent is whether an audio recording of their voice is saved permanently. Freed AI streams and processes encounter audio transiently in memory to generate the text transcript and clinical note, and permanently deletes the raw audio recording immediately after processing. No voice recordings are retained on Freed servers or on the clinician’s device.
- SOC 2 Type II Attestation & Encryption: Freed maintains SOC 2 Type 2 (Type II) certification, enforcing TLS 1.2+ encryption for audio and text in transit and AES-256 encryption for generated notes at rest, with clinician-controlled note retention and auto-purge settings.
- Clinician-in-the-Loop Verification: Freed AI does not autonomously write to the legal medical record without human review; the attending physician, nurse practitioner, PA, or therapist reviews, edits, and attests the generated SOAP note before transferring it into the EHR.
When Is a Freed AI Patient Consent Form Required? One-Party vs. All-Party Consent Laws
While the federal HIPAA Privacy Rule (45 CFR § 164.506) permits covered entities to use and disclose PHI for Treatment, Payment, and Health Care Operations (TPO)—which includes clinical documentation by a contracted Business Associate—state wiretapping and eavesdropping statutes independently regulate the act of capturing an audio stream of a private conversation.
| Legal & Governance Framework | Jurisdictions Covered | Consent Requirement for Ambient AI Scribes | Recommended Clinical Practice |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-Party (Two-Party) Consent Wiretapping Laws | California (Cal. Penal Code § 632), Florida (Fla. Stat. § 934.03), Illinois (720 ILCS 5/14-2), Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Delaware/Michigan/Oregon (context-dependent). | Mandatory explicit consent from ALL parties present in the room or telehealth session (including accompanying spouses, parents, or caregivers) prior to activating microphone capture. | Signed written/digital intake consent form PLUS brief verbal confirmation at the start of each encounter. |
| One-Party Consent Wiretapping Laws | Federal law (18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d)) and approximately 38 U.S. states (e.g., New York, Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Virginia). | Statutory wiretapping law requires consent of at least one participant (the clinician), though state medical boards, hospital bylaws, and malpractice carriers strongly require patient notification and consent. | Include ambient AI disclosure in new-patient intake packet OR obtain documented verbal consent with a chart smart-phrase attestation. |
| Cross-State Telemedicine Encounters | Clinician in State A treating a patient physically located in State B. | The stricter state’s wiretapping statute applies (if either the clinician’s state or the patient’s originating site is an all-party state, all-party consent rules govern). | Standardize on affirmative all-party consent across all telehealth sessions. |
Reusable Freed AI Consent Form Template (Written Intake & Verbal Script)
Clinics can adapt the following AI scribe consent form language for their digital patient intake packet, portal eSignature workflow, or exam-room verbal script.
1. Written / Digital Intake Consent Form Template
PATIENT CONSENT FOR AMBIENT AI CLINICAL DOCUMENTATION (FREED AI)
Practice Name: [Insert Clinic / Medical Group Name]
Patient Name: ___________________________ Date of Birth: ____/____/______
1. Purpose of Ambient AI Documentation
To allow your clinician to focus fully on you during your visit rather than typing on a computer,
our practice uses Freed AI, a secure, HIPAA-compliant artificial intelligence medical scribe
assistant, to help draft clinical visit notes.
2. How Freed AI Works & Audio Privacy
During your appointment, Freed AI listens to the conversation between you and your clinician
to generate a written summary of your medical history, symptoms, and care plan.
- NO PERMANENT AUDIO RECORDING: Encounter audio is processed in real time and is
immediately and permanently deleted once the draft clinical note is created.
- CLINICIAN REVIEW: Your clinician personally reviews, edits, and approves every note
before it becomes part of your official Electronic Health Record (EHR).
- HIPAA SECURITY: Freed AI operates under a federal HIPAA Business Associate Agreement
(BAA) and SOC 2 Type II security controls to protect your health information.
3. Voluntary Participation & Right to Opt Out
Your consent is completely voluntary. You may ask your clinician not to use Freed AI, or to
pause or stop the tool at any time during your visit, and doing so will not affect your
medical care.
4. Accompanying Family Members or Caregivers
If a family member, guardian, or caregiver joins your visit (in person or via telehealth),
their spoken participation following this disclosure constitutes consent to transient audio
processing for clinical documentation.
[ ] I CONSENT to the use of the Freed AI documentation assistant during my clinical visits.
[ ] I DO NOT CONSENT to the use of the Freed AI documentation assistant.
Patient / Legal Representative Signature: _______________________ Date: ____/____/______
Printed Name & Relationship (if representative): ________________________________________2. 15-Second Exam-Room Verbal Consent Script & EHR Smart-Phrase
Even when a patient has signed an annual written intake authorization, clinicians should confirm verbal permission at the start of the visit—especially when sensitive topics arise or when a family member accompanies the patient:
- Clinician Verbal Script: “So I can give you my full attention today instead of typing, I’d like to use Freed, a HIPAA-compliant AI assistant that drafts my clinical note from our conversation. It deletes the audio right after the visit and I review the entire note myself. Is it alright with you if I turn that on?”
- EHR Attestation Smart-Phrase (
.freedconsent): “The patient (and accompanying parties present) was informed of the use of the HIPAA-compliant Freed AI ambient documentation assistant (transient audio processing with immediate audio deletion) and provided affirmative verbal consent prior to encounter capture. This note was personally reviewed, edited, and verified for clinical accuracy by the undersigned clinician.”
Operational Best Practices for Freed AI Clinical Governance
- Pause Capture During Non-Conversational Sensitive Physical Exams: If the patient requests a private discussion off-scribe or during sensitive portions of an examination where verbal transcription adds no documentation value, use the pause/stop control in the Freed web, iOS, or Chrome extension interface.
- Verify Medication Dosages, Laterality, and Negations Before Signing: Before clicking Copy Note or pushing sections via the Freed EHR Chrome extension, verify all numerical medication dosages, anatomical laterality (left vs. right), and pertinent negatives in the HPI and Assessment & Plan.
- Configure Note Auto-Deletion Policies: Once the finalized clinical note has been transferred and signed inside the primary EHR, configure Freed workspace retention rules to purge historical draft notes so the EHR remains the single authoritative system of record.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Freed AI HIPAA-compliant?
Yes. Freed AI is HIPAA-compliant, executes a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with covered entities, holds SOC 2 Type II security attestation, encrypts data in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest (AES-256), and permanently deletes encounter audio immediately after generating the clinical note transcript.
Does Freed AI store recordings of patient conversations?
No. Freed AI processes encounter audio transiently in real time to transcribe and structure the clinical note, and immediately deletes the audio stream once the text note is generated. Neither the clinician nor Freed AI retains a playable audio recording of the visit.
Do I need written or verbal patient consent to use Freed AI?
In all-party (two-party) recording consent states—such as California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Washington—explicit consent from all participants in the room is legally required before recording. Combining a signed written consent form in your new-patient intake packet with a brief 15-second verbal confirmation and EHR smart-phrase attestation at the start of the visit satisfies both state wiretapping statutes and medical malpractice risk-management standards.
