VoicePrivate Healthcare
7-Day Free Trial
On-device recognition
Advanced speech recognition runs entirely on your computer for complete privacy and control.
PRIVATE DICTATION FOR CLINICIANS ON WINDOWS AND MAC
Medical dictation for Windows and Mac.
Kept private.
VoicePrivate Healthcare Edition is medical dictation software for Windows 10, Windows 11 and Mac, with 74,000+ medical terms recognized on the computer in front of you. Press the hotkey, speak the note, and no patient audio goes to a server.
$297/year · 7-day free trial · Card required
Speak freely.Recognition stays on your device.
Your thoughts never need
a server.
Works offline
Dictate anywhere, anytime. No internet connection required.
Five professional editions
General, Healthcare, Legal, Finance, and Insurance.
01 · THE LOCAL DIFFERENCE
There’s private cloud.
Then there’s no cloud.
Privacy controls can change what a cloud service keeps. VoicePrivate changes where speech recognition happens.
Cloud dictationA remote recognition service
Your voiceVendor’s serversYour text
Audio leaves your device
VoicePrivateOn-device recognition
YOUR COMPUTER
Your voiceLocal AIYour text
✓ No audio uploaded to us
Dictation stays local. Text entered into another app follows that app’s storage policies. Licensing, downloads, and updates may use the internet.Read the privacy policy ↗
02 · EFFORTLESS, BY DESIGN
Speak your mind.
Keep your workflow.
One shortcut brings your voice to the app you’re already using. No meeting bot. No new place to write.
VoicePrivate HealthcarePrivate Healthcare Transcription6,346words today27dictations119msaved vs typing
Press to record here, or use
⌘⇧Spacefrom any app
On-device speech engine ready0 audio/text bytes to our servers
Clinical documentation
Follow-up · progress note
Reviewed progress since the previous visit and discussed the patient’s questions. Confirmed the current medication list and documented the agreed follow-up. Patient understands the next steps and will contact the practice with any concerns.
Your words, ready for your review.
Interactive product demonstration. No microphone access or live speech recognition on this page.
Press
A single shortcut, wherever you work.
Speak
Dictate naturally. Recognition runs locally.
Continue
Review the text in your chosen application.
03 · LANGUAGE THAT BELONGS TO YOU
The right words.
Already at home.
Your names. Your terminology. Your way of working. Add a personal dictionary and choose an edition built around the language of your profession.
74,000+medical terms included
Medical vocabulary▱ On this device
A language all your own.
01empagliflozin✓
02tachycardia✓
03HbA1c✓
04metformin✓
＋ Add the words that matter to your work.
04 · CONSIDERING THE ALTERNATIVES?
Same ambition.
Different architecture.
Dragon Medical One provides cloud-based clinical speech recognition. VoicePrivate Healthcare keeps recognition on your own computer.
01 / CLINICAL DICTATION
Coming from Dragon Medical One?
Prefer to stay local?
Explore a local dictation workflow for Mac and Windows, with medical terminology and control over your own note.
See local dictation ↗Read the Dragon Medical One comparison ↗02 / THE ARCHITECTURE
Privacy policy,
or private by design?
Cloud controls govern how remote services handle data. VoicePrivate changes the path itself: speech recognition runs on your Mac or PC.
Compare the path ↗Compare the workflow as well as the architecture. Cloud services offer their own security controls; capabilities and integrations differ. Product details reviewed September 2026.
MEDICAL DICTATION ON WINDOWS
Medical dictation software for Windows that recognizes speech on the PC itself
VoicePrivate Healthcare Edition is medical dictation software for Windows 10 (version 1903 or later) and Windows 11, and the recognition runs on that PC instead of on a vendor server. Press Ctrl+Shift+Space, speak the note, and the text is typed into whichever Windows window holds keyboard focus. The 74,000 term medical dictionary and the speech model sit on the local disk, which is why the same dictation still works on a clinic laptop with the network switched off. VoicePrivate ships a macOS build of the Healthcare Edition too, and the Mac hotkey is Command+Shift+Space.
| Operating system | Windows 10 version 1903 or later, or Windows 11. VoicePrivate also has a macOS build. |
|---|---|
| Install | Standard .exe installer. A user install needs no admin rights. Windows 11 includes WebView2. Microsoft says the vast majority of Windows 10 devices already have it, but a small number do not. The VoicePrivate installer downloads and installs WebView2 if it is missing. |
| Memory | 8 GB minimum. 16 GB is the comfortable figure for on-device transcription while an EHR is open. |
| Disk | About 500 MB for the app and the base model. Extra models are optional. |
| Microphone | Any microphone Windows already recognizes, including USB headsets, built-in laptop mics, and external audio interfaces. |
| Hotkey | Ctrl+Shift+Space on Windows, Command+Shift+Space on Mac. |
| Clinical vocabulary | 74,000+ medical terms in the Healthcare Edition dictionary, plus your own custom words. |
| Network | None needed to transcribe. Licensing, downloads, and updates use the internet. |
| Price | $34.99 per month or $297 per year, same price on Windows and Mac. |
Where VoicePrivate on Windows is not the fit
VoicePrivate Healthcare Edition is dictation software, so it does the part where you speak a note and it appears as text. It does not sit in the room recording a conversation and it does not draft a note from a patient encounter. If your practice wants an ambient scribe that listens to the visit, VoicePrivate is the wrong shape of tool. If you want the note you already compose in your head to reach the chart without a server in the path, it fits.
For general Windows dictation outside clinical work, VoicePrivate's Windows voice to text page covers the General Edition and the Win+H comparison in more depth. On Apple hardware, start with VoicePrivate's medical dictation for Mac page, and see the Healthcare Edition feature breakdown for the audit log, text shortcuts, and file import.
WINDOWS OPTIONS, SIDE BY SIDE
VoicePrivate, Dragon Medical One, and Windows Voice Typing on a clinical PC
All three of these are medical dictation options on Windows, and the difference that matters is where the audio is recognized. VoicePrivate Healthcare Edition recognizes it on your PC. Dragon Medical One and Windows Voice Typing both send it out. Platform details were checked on 12 September 2026 against product documentation. Dragon pricing came from the named Nuance reseller cited underneath. For the on-device field beyond these three, including RadMyk for radiology and Dragon Professional, VoicePrivate compares Dragon Medical One alternatives that run on-device with sourced prices.
| What you are choosing | VoicePrivate Healthcare Edition | Dragon Medical One | Windows Voice Typing (Win+H) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runs on | Windows 10 version 1903 or later, Windows 11, and macOS | Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server. Microsoft's requirements page lists no macOS client. | Built into Windows 10 and Windows 11 |
| Where speech is recognized | On your PC, by a local model | On Nuance and Microsoft cloud infrastructure | Azure Speech services, per Microsoft's own documentation |
| Works with the network off | Yes, transcription is local | No, it is a cloud speech service | No. Microsoft states you need to be connected to the internet. |
| Clinical vocabulary | 74,000+ medical terms built in | Medical vocabularies and EHR voice commands | General dictation only |
| Price | $34.99 per month or $297 per year | $99 per provider per month on the one year term, $89 on two years, $79 on three | Included with Windows |
| Setup fee | None | $525 per user onboarding fee quoted by resellers | None |
| Best when | You want clinical vocabulary and the audio never leaves the machine | Your organization already runs Nuance and wants deep EHR voice control | You are writing general text, not patient notes |
Sources checked 12 September 2026: Dragon Medical One system requirements, Microsoft Learn (updated 25 June 2026), for supported operating systems. Dragon Medical One subscription and onboarding pricing from Voice Automated, a Nuance reseller. Microsoft support documentation for voice typing, for the internet requirement and Azure Speech services. Named vendors appear as market context. VoicePrivate pricing is the live price on VoicePrivate's own healthcare pricing page. For the full Dragon Medical One cost picture, including reseller quotes and term length, read VoicePrivate's Dragon Medical One cost guide. If you run a solo or 2 to 5 provider office, VoicePrivate's Dragon Medical buying guide for small practices covers what replaced Practice Edition and what each seat costs. To see who actually sells you the seat, VoicePrivate explains how the Dragon Medical One distributor and reseller channel works, from eDist to the certified reseller. For the ambient product Microsoft is moving those customers toward, read the Dragon Copilot pricing breakdown.
DICTATION OR AMBIENT SCRIBE
Dictation software or an ambient AI scribe? VoicePrivate is the dictation half
Medical dictation software turns the note you speak into text. An ambient AI scribe records the visit and drafts the note for you. VoicePrivate Healthcare Edition is the first kind, and it runs on your Windows PC or Mac with nothing uploaded. Ambient scribes are the second kind, and most of them send the encounter audio to a vendor for processing. Freed, one of the widely used ambient scribes, lists $39 per month for 40 notes, $79 per month for unlimited notes, and $104 per month billed annually for its top tier, checked 12 September 2026.
Choose dictation when you already know what the note says and you want it typed without a server in the path, when your facility restricts network traffic, or when recording the patient conversation raises a consent problem. Choose an ambient scribe when the drafting itself is the work you want handed off and your practice is comfortable with the encounter audio leaving the room. The two are not competing on accuracy, they are competing on what you are willing to send away.
VoicePrivate's cloud versus local medical scribe comparison works through that trade in detail, and the complete guide to medical dictation software covers accuracy, workflow, and what to test before you buy. If you are weighing Microsoft's ambient product, VoicePrivate's Dragon Copilot and DAX pricing breakdown lists what a seat costs, and the AI medical scribe cost guide explains how scribes work end to end. If you are new to the vocabulary, start with VoicePrivate's explainer on what a medical dictation is and how it becomes a signed note, including whether doctors still use transcriptionists. To see exactly what an ambient scribe records in the exam room, read VoicePrivate's guide to ambient AI capture, consent and cost.
QUESTIONS CLINICIANS ASK
Medical dictation on Windows, answered
What is the best medical dictation software for Windows?
It depends on where you are willing to let patient audio go. VoicePrivate Healthcare Edition fits clinicians who want recognition to stay on the Windows PC: it runs on Windows 10 version 1903 or later and Windows 11, includes 74,000+ medical terms, and needs no connection to transcribe. Dragon Medical One is the established Windows option if you want deep EHR voice commands and your organization accepts cloud processing at $99 per provider per month. Windows Voice Typing is free, but Microsoft states you need to be connected to the internet and that it is powered by Azure Speech services.
What is the best dictation program for PC?
For general writing on a PC, Windows Voice Typing is already installed and costs nothing. For clinical work on a PC, VoicePrivate Healthcare Edition adds a 74,000 term medical dictionary, keeps the audio on the machine, and types into the EHR window you already have open. The practical split is free and cloud based, or paid and local.
What dictation software is HIPAA compliant?
HIPAA compliance is a property of your practice's whole setup, not a badge a dictation vendor hands you. A cloud dictation service receives, processes and transmits protected health information on your behalf, which makes it a business associate and puts a signed Business Associate Agreement on your list. VoicePrivate takes the other route: audio and transcript stay on your Windows PC or Mac, so no third party receives the protected health information at all. Confirm your own obligations with your compliance counsel.
VoicePrivate's healthcare architecture page shows each step of that path, from microphone to local database.
What is the best free dictation software for medical professionals?
On Windows the free routes are Voice Typing, opened with the Windows key and H, and the Dictate button in Word. Microsoft states that voice typing needs an internet connection and runs on Azure Speech services, and that Word dictation is for Microsoft 365 subscribers and sends your speech utterances to Microsoft. Neither is built for clinical vocabulary. VoicePrivate Healthcare Edition has no free tier: it is $34.99 per month or $297 per year, and individual plans include a 7-day free trial with a card required and $0 due today.
Does VoicePrivate work inside Epic, Cerner or a browser based EHR on Windows?
VoicePrivate types into whichever Windows application holds keyboard focus, so the note lands in the EHR text box already open in front of you, desktop client or browser portal. Nothing is installed on the EHR side and there is no plugin for IT to approve. What VoicePrivate does not do is write structured fields back into the chart the way an ambient scribe integration does.
BY SPECIALTY
Medical dictation software for Windows and Mac, by specialty
The 74,000 term dictionary in VoicePrivate Healthcare Edition is the same on Windows and Mac, and these pages cover how the dictation fits each specialty's documentation: the report structure, the vocabulary that trips up general speech engines, and where the notes get written.
Radiology dictationReport templates and high volume reading list workflow
Ophthalmology dictationOCT reports, procedures, and clinic volume
Orthopedic dictationFracture classification and operative notes
Surgery dictationTime sensitive operative reports
Pathology dictationGrossing bench and sign out
Neurology dictationComplex assessments and sensitive data
Anesthesiology dictationPerioperative documentation without cloud exposure
Private AI medical scribeWhat on-device changes about scribing
Dictation is not only for the chart. Neurology practices comparing texting, phone automation and intake platforms can use VoicePrivate's neurology patient communications software guide to see which jobs those platforms cover and which letters and portal replies the neurologist still writes.
WHAT CLINICIANS KEEP REPEATING
The documentation trap.
Every clinician knows it.
We read what clinicians actually post. The same exhaustion and the same privacy dread keep coming up.
Pajama time is stealing the evening.
Hours of unpaid charting at home every night just to catch up.
Charting takes longer than the visit.
More minutes in the EHR than with the patient in front of you.
Documentation is the number one driver of burnout.
It is not the patients. It is the endless clicking and typing afterward.
Ambient AI scribes ship audio to the cloud.
The whole encounter recorded and sent to a third-party server.
Patients never truly consented to AI recording.
All-party consent laws make cloud scribes a real legal risk.
No control once the recording leaves.
You cannot tell if recordings are deleted or used to train a model.
Dragon Medical is brutally expensive.
A high monthly seat plus a steep implementation fee, for a cloud workflow.
AI scribes hallucinate things never said.
Invented detail inside a legal medical record is terrifying.
Cloud scribes die when the internet hiccups.
A dropped connection mid-visit and that audio is simply gone.
Source: recurring themes across r/medicine, r/Residency, r/nursing, r/therapists, r/psychotherapy, and r/FamilyMedicine. Compiled 2026-06-04 from indexed thread titles and snippets. Direct Reddit fetches were blocked. No quotes were fabricated.
05 · ONE PRINCIPLE. FIVE EDITIONS.
Private by nature.
Specific to your world.
Choose the language of your work. Local processing comes with every edition.
General
Ideas, emails, and everything in between.
$84 / year
Healthcare
For notes that deserve your full confidence.
$297 / year
Legal
For the work you hold in confidence.
$247 / year
Finance
For the details behind every client relationship.
$197 / year
Insurance
For a complete record of the work you do.
$197 / year
YOUR NEXT WORD STARTS HERE
Your attention belongs with your patients.
Progress notes. Referrals. Care plans.
Unlimited dictation. Local processing.
A subscription that fits your work.
✓7-day free trialFull edition. Card required. $0 due today.
VoicePrivate Healthcare$297/year
$297 billed annually after your 7-day trial. Renews yearly.
$297$34.99Unlimited on-device dictation
Mac and Windows
Personal dictionary and text shortcuts
Local history and custom vocabulary
Card required. $0 today. Billing starts after 7 days unless cancelled.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN
A few good questions.
How much does medical dictation software cost?
Dragon Medical One is sold through resellers at $99 per provider per month on the one year term, plus a one time onboarding fee of $525 per user, both checked on 12 September 2026. Ambient AI scribes are priced separately again: Freed lists $39, $79 and $104 per month. VoicePrivate Healthcare Edition is $34.99 per month or $297 per year, and the speech recognition runs on your own Windows PC or Mac.
Do I need a BAA to use dictation software?
Cloud dictation tools process patient audio on their servers, so they require a Business Associate Agreement. VoicePrivate processes all audio entirely on your device: no patient audio or transcription text is transmitted to any server, so you are not relying on a third-party BAA to protect patient data. Consult your compliance team to confirm fit for your specific workflow.
What is the best Dragon Medical One alternative for Mac?
Microsoft's Dragon Medical One system requirements page lists Windows 10, Windows 11 and Windows Server only, with no macOS client, so Mac users reach it through Parallels or a Citrix desktop. VoicePrivate Healthcare Edition ships a native macOS build and a Windows build, both with 74,000+ medical terms and on-device processing.
Does it work offline in clinics with restricted networks?
Yes. All transcription runs locally on your device, so VoicePrivate works with no internet connection at all, including in facilities where connectivity is restricted or prohibited.