SOAP is universal; DAP, BIRP, and structured H&P support is where scribes actually differ.
Updated July 01, 2026 · Method: Share of AI scribes generating each named note format out of the box
| Format | Typical use | Share of vendors |
|---|---|---|
| SOAP | Primary care, urgent care, most outpatient specialties | 100% |
| DAP | Behavioral health, therapy progress notes | ≈55% |
| BIRP | Behavioral health / case management | ≈35% |
| H&P (structured) | Hospital admissions, consults | ≈40% |
| Discharge summary | Inpatient / post-op | ≈25% |
| Procedure note | Surgical, interventional | ≈20% |
| Specialty template pack | Women's health, peds, ortho, derm, etc. | ≈45% |
Shares are computed across the reviewed corpus and rounded to the nearest 5%.
DAP + BIRP + a genuine understanding of therapy session structure is the single most reliable way to separate general-purpose scribes from ones that will survive contact with a behavioral-health clinic. Roughly a third of the corpus can do this credibly; the rest produce a well-formatted SOAP note wearing a DAP costume.
When a mid-size group switches scribes, template fit — not accuracy — is the number-one cause of clinician revolt in the first 30 days. Vendors that ship curated specialty template packs (rather than 'you can edit a template') retain teams meaningfully longer.
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