Dictation

Nabla Dictation is a lightweight, real-time speech-to-text tool enabling clinicians to dictate directly at the cursor—anywhere on their computer. It works seamlessly within any EHR and other apps like email, Teams, document editing etc. Nabla Dictation is available on PC and Mac. If you would like access to it, please contact us.

Once installed on the desktop, Nabla Dictation appears as a floating bar that you can move around your screen with drag and drop:

We recommend setting up a hotkey to activate and stop dictation under Menu “…” > Settings.

You can use your smartphone as a microphone with Nabla Dictation. It is typically useful with desktop computers that don't have a good hardware microphone or external mic. Download the app here:

• Android App

• iOS App

Nabla Dictation works with most hardware microphones. Nuance PowerMics II, III and IV. If your Mic buttons don't work as expected, please reach out to Nabla (see contact below).

You have the option to open a “scratchpad” window if you start dictating while the cursor isn't active in a text field. That feature is in beta, and off by default. You can turn it on under “…” > Settings > General

When this optional setting is on, if you start dictating while your cursor isn't in a text field, you will see a window appear on top of the floating bar. While you don't put your cursor in a text field, your voice will be transcribed directly in the scratchpad window.

If you click in a text field while the scratchpad is open, Nabla will continue transcription where ever the cursor is placed. Before closing the scratchpad, make sure you copy its content to port it over to its desired destination. Once the scratchpad window is closed, it's content is lost.

• Mixed – Punctuation is added automatically, but you can also dictate punctuation explicitly.

• Explicit – All punctuation must be dictated.

• Dictated punctuation marks: . , ! ? - : ; " [ ] ( ) — [see full list here]

• New line – Moves to a new line

• New paragraph – Starts a new paragraph

• New dash – Creates a bullet point (\n-)

• Note: “?” must be explicitly dictated (they are rare in clinical notes)

• Say: "New line, number one" → Produces:
  1.

• Common editing commands:
  "delete word", "scratch that", "erase that", "remove that"

• Next field – Moves to the next input field

• Say: "new section [name]"
  Example: "new section plan" → Outputs:
  \nAssessment and Plan:\n

Works with section names:
Allergies, Appointments, Assessment, Assessment and plan, Cardiovascular risks, Chief complaint, Current medications, Diet appointments, Diet chief complaint, Diet habits, Diet lifestyle, Diet medical history, Diet objectives, Diet vitals, Family history, History of present illness, Imaging results, Immunizations, Lab results, Mental health exam, Mental health history, Past medical history, Past obstetric history, Past surgical history, Physical exam, Plan, Prescription, Psychology history of complaint, Soap assessment, Soap assessment and plan, Soap diagnostic tests ordered, Soap objective, Soap physical exam, Soap plan, Soap subjective, Social history, Symptoms, Vitals, Well child care, Clinical history, Past medications, Gaps in care, Member focused care plan, Referrals, Results, Call summary, Patient goals, Goals, Medical procedures performed, HPI, Review of systems, Subjective, Objective.

Words that aren't spelled properly by Nabla Dictation can be added in your custom dictionary. This feature is shared with your Nabla Ambient account, so that you don't need to configure these words twice.

Under “…” > Settings > Custom Dictionary.

See the help page about your Nabla personal dictionary.

You can trigger auto text with Nabla Dictation using the “dot phrases” feature. These are shared with our Ambient product and can currently be configured under Menu “…” > Settings > Dot Phrases.

Note: Unlike Ambient, Dictation dot phrases are static—they don't adapt to context. They're more like vocal text templates.

You have the option to configure custom commands (sometimes named “step-by-step macros”) to automate workflows with a sequence of actions, triggered with your voice.

• Text entry

• Keystrokes / shortcuts

• Wait time (sometimes necessary when interacting with your EHR)

To configure a custom command: Menu “…” > Settings > Custom Commands.

When configuring a custom command, first give it a name and an associate voice trigger.

Make sure you configure each step of your automated action exactly how you would do it manually with your keyboard, including wait times.

Navigation in Epic

• Next field – Moves to the next input field (Epic [***] wildcards)

Using Epic SmartPhrases with Nabla

You can easily use your Epic SmartPhrases with Nabla by setting them up as dot phrases. Here’s how:

1. Create a new dot phrase in Nabla Dictation.

2. Set a voice trigger for it (e.g. “Insert lab results”).

3. In the Content field, enter your Epic SmartPhrase (e.g. .labresults).

When you use Nabla Dictation and say the configured voice trigger, Nabla will automatically insert your Epic SmartPhrase and simulate the Enter key to activate it in Epic—no need to create a multi-step command.

You can share feedback about Nabla Dictation or transcription errors under “…” > Settings > Share feedback. This will allow us to retrieve valuable insight from you on how to improve this tool or which words are typically mistranscribed.

When you share feedback, Nabla Dictation can attach the last 2 minutes (never more) of audio used to dictate. This is optional and can be turned off for any feedback you share. Any audio that is being share is automatically de-identified before being stored on the Nabla side.