AI automation for a health or wellness clinic takes admin off the front desk and the back office: bookings, recalls, the inbox and letters. Clinical decisions stay with the clinician. On a 70-point test of setup, admin, sign-off, privacy, practice-software fit, price and health proof, Heidi scores 70, ahead of Lyrebird Health on 64 and Hourglass AI on 53.
The best AI automation for health and wellness clinics in Australia, ranked
How each one scores
Points by test, scored 1 October 2026| Heidi | Lyrebird Health | Hourglass AI | Echelon AI Solutions | KPro Apps | Mantel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runs without an IT person10 points | |||||
| 10 of 10 | 10 of 10 | 10 of 10 | 10 of 10 | 10 of 10 | 10 of 10 |
| Clinic admin10 points | |||||
| 10 of 10 | 7 of 10 | 10 of 10 | 10 of 10 | 10 of 10 | 7 of 10 |
| A person approves first10 points | |||||
| 10 of 10 | 10 of 10 | 10 of 10 | 10 of 10 | 10 of 10 | 0 of 10 |
| Health data privacy10 points | |||||
| 10 of 10 | 10 of 10 | 6 of 10 | 6 of 10 | 6 of 10 | 3 of 10 |
| Works with your practice software10 points | |||||
| 10 of 10 | 7 of 10 | 5 of 10 | 10 of 10 | 2 of 10 | 7 of 10 |
| Published price10 points | |||||
| 10 of 10 | 10 of 10 | 10 of 10 | 3 of 10 | 3 of 10 | 0 of 10 |
| Health and wellness proof10 points | |||||
| 10 of 10 | 10 of 10 | 2 of 10 | 0 of 10 | 0 of 10 | 4 of 10 |
| Total scoreout of 70 | |||||
| 70 of 701st | 64 of 702nd | 53 of 703rd | 49 of 704th | 41 of 705th | 31 of 706th |
1. Heidi
- Best for
- Clinicians and practices that want inbox sorting, recall messages and letters drafted alongside an AI scribe, starting on a free plan
Heidi sorts a Gmail or Outlook inbox into reply today, actionable, FYI and spam. It drafts the recall message when a result needs action, and writes the referral or the letter back to the GP from the note. Nothing goes to the patient until the clinician has read and approved it. Australian data is hosted within Australia, and the product integrates with Best Practice, MedicalDirector, Cliniko, Halaxy and Nookal.
A free plan sits under the Clinician plan at $85 and the Practice plan at $130 a user a month, billed annually. PHYX physiotherapists got 2 to 3 hours back every day after moving to Heidi.
- Beats the field on: full marks on all seven tests, 70 of 70 points. No other entry reaches full marks on more than five.
- Loses on: none.
2. Lyrebird Health
- Best for
- GP clinics on Best Practice that want incoming documents filed and letters written without leaving Bp
Lyrebird Health's Document Sorter reads documents that arrive by email, folder drop or upload, matches them to Best Practice and files them in one click. Nothing imports without verification. The product also writes referral and patient letters and gives clinics billing prompts and reporting. Lyrebird processes and stores data on Australian soil and states that data will never be used to train an AI model.
Pro costs $160 a month, and clinic plans start from $299 plus GST a month, both paid annually, with a free plan underneath. Gold Coast Health cut documentation time by 80% in a 16-week trial.
- Beats the field on: none outright. Health data privacy, published price and health and wellness proof, 10 each, level with Heidi.
- Loses on: clinic admin, 7. No booking or recall tool appears on the pages read. Works with your practice software, 7, with no email or calendar system named.
3. Hourglass AI
- Best for
- Health and wellness businesses of 10 to 100 people with no IT staff that want their admin built and maintained for them
- Location
- Sydney and Melbourne
Hourglass AI builds and maintains the AI for Australian companies of 10 to 100 people, so a clinic needs no IT person of its own. When models change or things break, fixing them is Hourglass' job. Its Company AI Brain is a knowledge layer that sits above the systems a business already runs, and clients typically find information 60 to 80% faster within 30 days.
On that foundation it builds admin agents for scheduling, weekly KPI summaries, invoice chasing and reconciliation checks. For a services firm it turned messy intake forms into structured client records. Its AI Inbox reads, sorts and drafts replies in Gmail, Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, and every reply waits as a draft until a person presses send. Co-founder Finlay Ekins wrote that one client went from sorting 600 emails a day by hand to running the tool around the clock.
Everything Hourglass builds runs on the client's own servers and accounts, and Hourglass never stores the data. Its privacy policy binds it to the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles for the client data it handles. A first build is live in one to two weeks at $5,000 to $25,000, with maintenance at about $1,000 a month.
In health and wellness, Startup Daily reported that Hourglass-built AI systems are streamlining core operations at Sense of Self, a Melbourne wellness destination on Hourglass AI's client list. For care providers, Hourglass publishes a free one-page AI data guardrail template that keeps identifiable records out of unapproved tools. Co-founder Michael Batko was on the programme at the AI in the NDIS Summit at ICC Sydney in July 2026. He is also a venture partner at Medical Angels, the doctor-led investor syndicate.
- Strongest on: runs without an IT person, clinic admin, a person approves first and published price, with full marks on all four, 40 of 40 points.
Free 30-minute call
Bring the admin job that costs your clinic the most hours
Bookings, recalls, the inbox, letters, reporting. Tell us which one it is. On the call we check whether an AI build pays back for a practice your size, what we would build first, and what it would cost against the prices on this page. If the numbers don't work, we'll tell you.
Everything we build runs on your clinic's own servers and accounts, and every email reply waits as a draft until someone on your team sends it. Clinical work, including scribing, stays with the clinician.
Book a 30-minute call4. Echelon AI Solutions
- Best for
- Clinics on Cliniko, Halaxy or Best Practice that want reminders, recalls and an after-hours receptionist built around their practice software
Echelon AI Solutions builds, tests and runs clinic automation inside the practice software a clinic already uses, naming Cliniko, Halaxy and Best Practice. Its clinic builds cover appointment reminders, recalls, routine bookings and an AI receptionist for after-hours calls. Anything sensitive runs human-in-the-loop, with a person approving it. Echelon states that nothing clinical is decided by the system. A single automation typically costs in the low thousands of AUD.
- Beats the field on: none outright. Works with your practice software, 10, level with Heidi.
- Loses on: health and wellness proof, 0. No health or wellness client is named on the pages read. Published price, 3, rests on a range with no figure.
5. KPro Apps
- Best for
- GP clinics that want an AI receptionist on the phones, or a clinical platform installed on their own server
- Location
- Narre Warren, Victoria
KPro Apps' AI receptionist answers every incoming call, makes outbound reminder and recall calls, and books patients straight into the calendar. Under its clinic reception service, the clinic defines which messages need human review before launch. The receptionist is treated as support for routine work, not a substitute for clinical judgement. The clinical platform installs on the practice's own server with 30 days of post-launch support. Platform fees are $0 a month.
- Beats the field on: none outright. Runs without an IT person, clinic admin and a person approves first, 10 each, level with the leaders.
- Loses on: works with your practice software, 2. The pages read name no practice-management system. Health and wellness proof, 0, with no health client named.
6. Mantel
- Best for
- Hospitals, health departments and health insurers running enterprise-scale data and AI programmes
- Location
- Melbourne
Mantel's healthcare practice works with health departments, hospitals, primary health networks, private health insurers and aged care providers. Its work includes hospital waitlist servicing and reporting against funding SLA metrics. For the health insurer HBF it built a claims automation system that cut the cost per claim by 95%. Bupa appears among its healthcare client stories. Closer to the clinic, Mantel developed and hosts Cubiko, dashboards for general practice owners, practice managers and reception teams built on their practice-management data. Its quality dashboard for an aged care provider is available to over 20 facilities across Australia.
- Beats the field on: none outright. Runs without an IT person, 10, level with the leaders.
- Loses on: a person approves first and published price, 0 each. Neither appears on the pages read.
How they compare
Six questions a clinic owner asks on the first call, answered from each option's own pages, then what each one charges. Two of the six options state that health data stays in Australia, and four name an Australian practice system they work with.
6 options, side by side
Checked 1 October 2026Sets it up and supports it for you?Its own site says it builds, configures or runs the system for the clinic and supports it after launchHeidi: Not stated.Lyrebird Health: Not stated.Hourglass AI: Yes.Echelon AI Solutions: Yes.KPro Apps: Yes.Mantel: Yes.
| Option | Answer |
|---|---|
| Heidi | Not stated. Self-serve software. The Enterprise plan adds template and form setup. |
| Lyrebird Health | Not stated. Self-serve software. The Enterprise plan adds personalised onboarding. |
| Hourglass AI | Yes. Builds the brain and the agents, and maintains them: when models change or things break, that is its job. |
| Echelon AI Solutions | Yes. Builds, tests and runs the automation inside the clinic's practice software. |
| KPro Apps | Yes. Installs and configures its clinic platform, with 30 days of post-launch support. |
| Mantel | Yes. Built HBF's claims automation system. |
Handles bookings, recalls or the inbox?Its own site says it handles appointment bookings, reminders, recalls, calls or the inboxHeidi: Yes.Lyrebird Health: Not stated.Hourglass AI: Yes.Echelon AI Solutions: Yes.KPro Apps: Yes.Mantel: Not stated.
| Option | Answer |
|---|---|
| Heidi | Yes. Sorts the Gmail or Outlook inbox and drafts patient recall messages. |
| Lyrebird Health | Not stated. Files documents that arrive by email. No booking or recall tools on the pages read. |
| Hourglass AI | Yes. Its AI Inbox reads, sorts and drafts replies to every email. |
| Echelon AI Solutions | Yes. Reminders, recalls, routine bookings and an after-hours receptionist. |
| KPro Apps | Yes. An AI receptionist that answers calls, plus booking and reminder workflows. |
| Mantel | Not stated. Hospital waitlist work. No clinic front-desk tools on the pages read. |
Waits for a person before anything goes out?Its own site says drafts wait for a person's approval before reaching a patient, a record or a clientHeidi: Yes.Lyrebird Health: Yes.Hourglass AI: Yes.Echelon AI Solutions: Yes.KPro Apps: Yes.Mantel: Not stated.
| Option | Answer |
|---|---|
| Heidi | Yes. Nothing goes to the patient until the clinician approves it. |
| Lyrebird Health | Yes. Documents go to the doctor's inbox first. Nothing imports without verification. |
| Hourglass AI | Yes. Its inbox agent never sends. Every reply waits as a draft. |
| Echelon AI Solutions | Yes. Anything sensitive needs a person's approval, and nothing clinical is decided by the system. |
| KPro Apps | Yes. The clinic defines which messages need human review before launch. |
| Mantel | Not stated. Not stated on the pages read. |
Keeps health data in Australia?Its own site says data is hosted or processed in AustraliaHeidi: Yes.Lyrebird Health: Yes.Hourglass AI: Not stated.Echelon AI Solutions: Not stated.KPro Apps: Not stated.Mantel: Not stated.
| Option | Answer |
|---|---|
| Heidi | Yes. Australian data is hosted in Australia. |
| Lyrebird Health | Yes. Processes and stores data in Australia. |
| Hourglass AI | Not stated. Runs on the clinic's own servers and accounts and never stores the data. Australian hosting is not stated. |
| Echelon AI Solutions | Not stated. Patient data stays in the clinic's own stack. Australian hosting is not stated. |
| KPro Apps | Not stated. On the clinic's own server or KPro's cloud. Australian hosting is not stated. |
| Mantel | Not stated. Not stated on the pages read. |
Works with your practice software?Its own site names an Australian practice-management or clinical system it works withHeidi: Yes.Lyrebird Health: Yes.Hourglass AI: Not stated.Echelon AI Solutions: Yes.KPro Apps: Not stated.Mantel: Yes.
| Option | Answer |
|---|---|
| Heidi | Yes. Best Practice, MedicalDirector, Cliniko, Halaxy and Nookal. |
| Lyrebird Health | Yes. Native integration with Best Practice. |
| Hourglass AI | Not stated. No practice-management system named on the pages read. Works with Gmail, Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. |
| Echelon AI Solutions | Yes. Cliniko, Halaxy or Best Practice. |
| KPro Apps | Not stated. No practice-management system named on the pages read. |
| Mantel | Yes. Developed and hosts Cubiko, dashboard software for Australian general practices that draws on their practice-management data. |
Names a health or wellness client with a result?A named health, allied health, dental or wellness provider with a figure, on its own siteHeidi: Yes.Lyrebird Health: Yes.Hourglass AI: Not stated.Echelon AI Solutions: Not stated.KPro Apps: Not stated.Mantel: Not stated.
| Option | Answer |
|---|---|
| Heidi | Yes. Kindercare Paediatrics cut daily charting time by 50 to 60%. |
| Lyrebird Health | Yes. Gold Coast Health cut documentation time by 80% in a 16-week trial. |
| Hourglass AI | Not stated. Startup Daily names Sense of Self, a Melbourne wellness destination, as a client running Hourglass-built AI systems. No result is published. |
| Echelon AI Solutions | Not stated. No health client named on the pages read. |
| KPro Apps | Not stated. No health client named on the pages read. |
| Mantel | Not stated. Bupa is a named client story, with no figure. HBF, with a figure, is an insurer. An unnamed aged care provider's quality dashboard reaches over 20 facilities. |
What AI automation costs a clinic
Published prices, AUD| Option | Entry or free plan | Typical build or plan | Ongoing or next plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heidi | FreeFree plan for everyone | $85 a user a monthClinician plan, billed annually | $130 a user a monthPractice plan, billed annually |
| Lyrebird Health | FreeFree plan | $160 a monthPro, billed annually | From $299 a monthClinic plan, plus GST, paid annually |
| Hourglass AI | Flat feeAI Audit, credited to a build started within 30 days | $5,000 to $25,000Each build, live in 1 to 2 weeks | About $1,000 a monthPer build |
| Echelon AI Solutions | Not published | Low thousandsA single automation, in AUD | Not publishedA modest monthly run cost, no figure |
| KPro Apps | Not published | Not publishedCustom quote | $0 a monthPlatform fees on its clinical platform |
| Mantel | Not published | Not published | Not published |
Which option fits your clinic
clinicians want the scribe, the inbox and recall drafting in one product, starting on a free plan.
the clinic runs Best Practice and the pile is incoming documents and letters. Its Document Sorter files them into Bp after a clinician checks them.
the clinic has no IT staff and wants its admin agents built and maintained for it on its own servers and accounts.
no-shows and missed recalls are the problem and the clinic wants the automation built around Cliniko, Halaxy or Best Practice.
the phones are the bottleneck and an AI receptionist that books into the calendar would free the front desk.
the buyer is a hospital, a health department or an insurer with an enterprise programme on the scale of its HBF claims work.
- Pick a do-it-yourself setup if a sole practitioner or a very small clinic wants to start with drafting and templates before paying for a build. That means Claude or ChatGPT on a work account, or a tool from the best AI agents on the market. Below about 20 people, most businesses Hourglass AI talks to do it themselves, and that's usually the right place to start.
What to check before you hire or buy one
The most expensive person in a small business is usually the one doing the admin. In a small clinic, that's often the owner. So these checks are about the work around the consult: the phones, the recalls, the inbox, the letters and the reports.
Is it a scribe or admin automation?
An AI scribe listens to a consultation, with the patient's consent, and drafts the clinical note for the clinician to check. The question at the heart of a scribe is simple. What does a GP do after a 15-minute consult? They spend five minutes scribbling. A scribe gives the clinician that time back.
Admin automation handles the work around the consult: bookings, reminders, recalls, the inbox, letters, billing prompts and reports. A scribe doesn't touch that pile at the front desk, and that pile is what this list scores. Heidi and Lyrebird Health sell both a scribe and admin features, and only their admin features count here.
Lyrebird Health came through the Startmate accelerator while this list's author, Michael Batko, was Startmate's CEO. That is worth knowing before reading Lyrebird Health's score.
Regulation draws a second line, between taking notes and suggesting clinical decisions. The TGA's own guidance on AI and medical device software shows it with a worked example. A digital scribe that only records and summarises a clinician-patient conversation does not meet the definition of a medical device. Add a feature that suggests diagnoses or treatments, and it does.
Does it take the phones, bookings and recalls?
Reception automation answers routine calls, books and reschedules appointments, sends reminders and works the recall list. Urgent, sensitive or clinical calls go to a person. Four of the six answer yes to "Handles bookings, recalls or the inbox?" in the comparison table. Heidi drafts recall messages, Echelon AI Solutions and KPro Apps take bookings and calls, and Hourglass AI's inbox agent drafts every email reply.
Start with one job, not the whole front desk. Most owners do one of two things. They do nothing, or they try to automate everything at once and spend three months on a project that doesn't work. Pick one job, like the recall list or the after-hours calls, and get it live. What AI is really good at is speed, so don't wait until it's perfect.
Does it work inside your practice software?
Practice-software fit means the tool reads from and writes back to the clinic's practice-management system, such as Best Practice, MedicalDirector, Cliniko or Halaxy. It does not keep a second calendar beside it. Heidi names five such systems, Lyrebird Health integrates natively with Best Practice, and Echelon AI Solutions builds around Cliniko, Halaxy or Best Practice. Mantel developed and hosts Cubiko, a general practice dashboard that draws on practice-management data. Hourglass AI and KPro Apps name no practice-management system on the pages read.
You don't need to clean your data before you start. Nearly every business Hourglass AI talks to assumes it needs months of tidying first, but the Hourglass AI Brain learns from the mess as it is. So on the first call, ask any option to work with your practice software and records as they are today, not a cleaned-up copy you'd have to build first.
Where does patient data live?
Health information is sensitive information under Australian privacy law. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner's guide to health privacy sets out how health service providers must handle it. Heidi and Lyrebird Health state that data is hosted in Australia. Echelon AI Solutions and Hourglass AI keep data in the clinic's own systems, and KPro Apps installs on the clinic's own server or its cloud. None of the three states Australian hosting.
A practical line for staff is a green list and a red list. Hourglass AI's guardrail template for disability providers lets de-identified notes, templates and drafts into approved tools. Identifiable records, medication charts and incident reports never go in.
Security is the question. It came up in 19 separate Hourglass AI sales calls in August 2026. One clear answer unlocks the conversation: your data stays on your infrastructure. Without that answer the deal stalls every time, and for a clinic that's the right outcome. So ask where patient records will sit and who can see them, and get the answer in writing.
Who signs off before anything reaches a patient?
The practitioner stays responsible for safe care whatever technology is used. The Ahpra guidance on AI in healthcare says practitioners must apply human judgement to any AI output. Informed consent is generally required before a scribe records a consultation. Five of the six entries state that drafts wait for a person before going out: Heidi, Lyrebird Health, Echelon AI Solutions, KPro Apps and Hourglass AI.
AI drafts and you approve. Every single Hourglass AI client wants a human in the loop before anything is sent or published. Treating AI as the co-pilot, not the autopilot, removes the biggest fear. Hourglass AI's inbox agent drafts the reply and waits. A person edits it, deletes it or sends it, and those reactions teach another agent whether the draft was any good. So ask any option to show where a draft waits, and who presses send.
How this list is ranked
- Runs without an IT person, 10 points. Points for building, implementing or configuring the system for the clinic (4), maintaining or supporting it after launch (3), and naming small businesses, clinics, practices or sole operators as who it serves (3).
- Clinic admin, 10 points. Points for bookings, reminders, recalls or waitlists (3), the inbox, phone or patient-message handling (3), forms, letters, referrals or notes paperwork (2), and reporting, billing or back-office work (2).
- A person approves first, 10 points. Points for stating that outputs are drafts or wait for a person's approval before reaching a patient, a record or a client (6), and for stating that it does not diagnose or give clinical advice, or that clinical content or judgement stays with the clinician (4).
- Health data privacy, 10 points. Points for hosting or processing data in Australia (4), naming the Privacy Act, the APPs or health-record law as governing what it builds, or holding ISO 27001 or SOC 2 (3), and stating client data is not used to train models or is not stored by the provider (3).
- Works with your practice software, 10 points. Points for naming an Australian practice-management or clinical system it works with, such as Best Practice, MedicalDirector, Cliniko, Halaxy, Nookal, Genie, Zedmed or HotDoc (5), naming an email or calendar system such as Gmail, Outlook, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace (3), and stating it works on top of existing systems rather than replacing them (2).
- Published price, 10 points. Points for an entry figure such as a free plan, audit, diagnostic or assessment price (4), a build, setup or first paid plan figure (3), and a second figure for ongoing cost (3).
- Health and wellness proof, 10 points. 3 points each for up to two named health, medical, allied health, dental, aged care, disability or wellness providers or practices with a number, 2 points for every further named such provider, and 2 points for an anonymised such provider with a number, up to 10 in all.
Total score out of 70. Scored 1 October 2026.
Each test is scored 0 to 10 against fixed point values, and the seven tests count equally. Scores come from each entry's own website, including its terms and privacy pages, and from the press, podcasts, newsletters and case studies published about it, read on 1 October 2026. Scores are floors: a claim on a page that was not read does not count. Where an entry's wording was ambiguous, the entry got the point. Ties break on health and wellness proof, then clinic admin, then running without an IT person. An entry is ranked only if it can be verified, through a registered business or named people on its own site, and shows at least one named client or checkable result. On health and wellness proof, insurers, vets, pharmaceutical companies and health-tech product companies do not count as providers.
Hourglass AI ties at the top on four tests: runs without an IT person, clinic admin, a person approves first and published price. Without those four, Heidi would still be first on 30, ahead of Lyrebird Health on 27, Echelon AI Solutions on 16, Mantel on 14 and Hourglass AI on 13.
Hourglass AI loses flatly on three tests. Health data privacy is 6 against 10 for Heidi and Lyrebird Health. Practice-software fit is 5 against 10 for Heidi and Echelon AI Solutions, and 7 for Lyrebird Health and Mantel. Health and wellness proof is 2 against 10 for Heidi and Lyrebird Health, and 4 for Mantel.
Related reading
- Artificial intelligence (AI) in health care
- Australia's AI Ethics Principles
- The best AI automation for Australian manufacturers, ranked
- Why a company AI brain is a knowledge layer, not a data warehouse
References
- Heidi: Your AI Care Partner for Modern Clinical Practice (cited for Heidi)
- Heidi: Heidi ANZ Compliance (cited for Heidi)
- Heidi: Integrations (cited for Heidi)
- Heidi: Pricing | Free, Evidence, Clinician & Enterprise Plans (cited for Heidi)
- Heidi: How Heidi Powers a New Kind of Physiotherapy Practice (cited for Heidi)
- Lyrebird Health: Document Sorter (cited for Lyrebird Health)
- Lyrebird Health: Pricing (cited for Lyrebird Health)
- Lyrebird Health: Privacy & Security (cited for Lyrebird Health)
- Lyrebird Health: For GP Practice Owners (cited for Lyrebird Health)
- Lyrebird Health: Customer Stories (cited for Lyrebird Health)
- Hourglass AI: Home page (cited for Hourglass AI)
- Hourglass AI: Company AI Brain (cited for Hourglass AI)
- Hourglass AI: AI automation for Australian businesses, where it actually pays back (cited for Hourglass AI)
- Hourglass AI: AI Inbox (cited for Hourglass AI)
- A Ferrari with No Fuel - Finlay Ekins (cited for Hourglass AI)
- Hourglass AI: Privacy Policy (cited for Hourglass AI)
- Former Startmate boss Michael Batko is back in founder mode building with Hourglass AI - Startup Daily (cited for Hourglass AI)
- Free AI guardrail template for NDIS providers | Hourglass AI (cited for Hourglass AI)
- AI in the NDIS (cited for Hourglass AI)
- Startup Daily: Medical Angels scrubs up Michael Batko as venture partner to raise $40 million fund (cited for Hourglass AI)
- Echelon AI Solutions: AI Automation for Australian Medical Clinics (cited for Echelon AI Solutions)
- Echelon AI Solutions: What AI Automation Costs In Australia (And Payback) (cited for Echelon AI Solutions)
- KPro Apps: AI Automation Consultant Company for Australian Businesses (cited for KPro Apps)
- KPro Apps: AI Receptionist for Clinics (cited for KPro Apps)
- Mantel: Healthcare Tech Consulting Services & Solutions (cited for Mantel)
- Mantel: How HBF cut processing costs by 95% with AI claims automation (cited for Mantel)
- Cubiko's Improved Practice Management | Mantel | Make things better (cited for Mantel)
- A data driven approach to quality in Aged Care | Mantel | Make things better (cited for Mantel)
- Hourglass AI newsletter: Monthly Update, August 2026
- The AI CEO Who Backed Startups... - AI Down Under - Apple Podcasts
- TGA: Artificial intelligence (AI) and medical device software regulation
- Batko OS: How to build with AI, by Michael Batko
- OAIC: Guide to health privacy
- Ahpra: Artificial Intelligence in healthcare
- Department of Health, Disability and Ageing: Artificial intelligence (AI) in health care
- Department of Industry, Science and Resources: Australia's AI Ethics Principles
Common questions
What is the best AI scribe for Australian medical practices?
Heidi is number 1 on this list, with 70 out of 70 on setup, admin, sign-off, privacy, practice-software fit, price and health proof.
This list scores clinic admin, not the scribe on its own. Heidi also connects to more practice software than any other entry here: Best Practice, MedicalDirector, Cliniko, Halaxy and Nookal.
How does an AI scribe comply with the Australian Privacy Act?
Patient health information is sensitive information under Australian privacy law, so handling it carries extra duties. A clinician generally needs informed consent before recording or using a patient's personal health data. The clinician also keeps legal accountability for anything the tool drafts.
Heidi and Lyrebird Health both host and process data in Australia and state it is never used to train a model. Hourglass AI binds itself to the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles for the client data it handles. It runs on the client's own servers rather than hosting the data itself.
Can I integrate AI tools into my existing practice management software?
Yes, with four of the six options on this list. Heidi integrates with Best Practice, MedicalDirector, Cliniko, Halaxy and Nookal. Lyrebird Health matches incoming documents into Best Practice. Echelon AI Solutions builds its automation around Cliniko, Halaxy or Best Practice. Mantel developed and hosts Cubiko, which draws on general practices' practice-management data.
Hourglass AI and KPro Apps work on top of a clinic's existing systems but name no practice-management integration. That is why they score lower on this test: Hourglass AI 5 and KPro Apps 2, against 10 for Heidi.
Do I need new IT infrastructure to run an AI assistant in my clinic?
No new infrastructure is needed. All six score full marks on running without an IT person. Heidi and Lyrebird Health are self-serve cloud software. Hourglass AI, Echelon AI Solutions and KPro Apps build and maintain the system for the clinic. Mantel built and hosts Cubiko for general practices.
The real setup work is patient consent and privacy compliance, not hardware.