A NextGen practice already has a sensible first question: what ambient documentation option is available for the NextGen product we license? NextGen’s June 2024 announcement describes NextGen Ambient Assist for NextGen Enterprise clients and NextGen Office Ambient Assist for small practices. It says generated documentation is delivered for clinician review, editing, and approval.
That first-party description gives you a baseline. A separate scribe should be compared against the actual NextGen option in your agreement, not against a generic description or a feature someone remembers from a demo.
Patient Square does not claim a NextGen integration. It does not promise to file a note into NextGen, write back to the chart, or sync in both directions. If a practice keeps NextGen or another existing EHR as its system of record, Patient Square remains alongside it and the practice must validate the record-transfer process.
Key takeaways
- Ask NextGen which ambient product is available for your licensed product and configuration.
- Confirm current scope, price, implementation, support, and record placement in writing.
- Patient Square makes no NextGen connector or automatic-filing claim.
- EHR-ready export (PDF · HL7 · FHIR) does not guarantee import into a receiving EHR.
- Test both routes with the same visits and require clinician approval of every draft.
Establish the NextGen baseline
Use your account documentation and a current vendor demonstration. Product names alone are not enough because availability, packaging, configuration, and contract terms can change.
Ask NextGen to show the complete workflow for your environment:
- Which NextGen product and version is required?
- Where does the clinician start and stop capture?
- Where does the generated draft appear?
- What must the clinician review, edit, and approve?
- Which note sections and visit types are supported?
- What happens when the draft is incomplete or assigned to the wrong encounter?
- Which implementation, training, and support work is included?
- What is the total price, contract term, renewal rule, and exit process?
NextGen’s public announcement supports the existence of the Enterprise and Office offerings and the clinician review step. It does not answer every practice-specific question above. Get those answers in the proposal or order form.
Define the separate-scribe route accurately
AI Medical Scribe by Patient Square produces a structured SOAP note, ICD-10 suggestions, and a prescription draft for clinician review. The draft is normally ready about two minutes after the visit. The clinician remains responsible for correcting and approving the clinical record, suggested codes, and prescription details. The prescription draft is not sent to a pharmacy.
A practice can use Patient Square EHR from the Copilot tier in Practice Copilot or keep its existing EHR alongside Patient Square. “Alongside” is the important word here. It does not mean Patient Square is installed in NextGen or that it can place a note in a NextGen chart.
Patient Square’s public portability claim is EHR-ready export (PDF · HL7 · FHIR). Confirm whether your receiving system accepts the format, version, resource or message, identifiers, and clinical fields you intend to use. An export option is not proof of a successful import.
Compare the two workflows on the same cases
Use representative, consented visits. A useful set includes a routine follow-up, a medication change, a complex assessment and plan, and the note template your clinicians find hardest.
Score what happens after the conversation:
| Measure | What to record |
|---|---|
| Completeness | Material facts omitted from the history, assessment, or plan |
| Accuracy | Statements that require correction before approval |
| Review time | Minutes from draft availability to clinician approval |
| Record path | Exact steps required to place the final note in the correct chart |
| Medication safety | Errors in drug, dose, route, frequency, or instructions |
| Coding review | Suggested codes accepted, changed, or rejected by the clinician |
| Recovery | Steps required when capture, matching, export, or placement fails |
Do not award points for a claim the practice has not observed. Record the specific test, product version, date, and result so the team can repeat it.
Compare commercial terms without guessing
NextGen can provide the current price and scope for the option tied to your account. Ask for the charge unit, commitment, included implementation, training, support, taxes, renewal terms, and cancellation or data-export rights.
Patient Square publishes its current US plans. Assist is a $79 per-clinician monthly equivalent on annual billing or $99 month to month. Copilot is $119 on the same annual-billing basis or $149 month to month. Autopilot is $199 on the annual-billing basis or $249 month to month. Each price is per clinician. The pricing page is the current source.
These figures are not comparable until you align scope. A native EHR feature and a separate clinical platform may include different products, services, and operational work. Put each quote into the same worksheet.
Review privacy and failure handling
Ask both vendors where audio and notes are processed, what is retained, who can access records, which logs exist, and how deletion works. Have the practice’s security or privacy lead review the actual contracts.
Patient Square says visit audio is processed in memory and discarded when the note is drafted. It says notes are encrypted in transit and at rest, a BAA is available to US customers, and visits can be exported or deleted. Confirm the current details on the security page.
Also test a failure. Stop a capture early, use an ambiguous patient identifier in a non-production environment, and create a draft with a material correction. The team should know who notices, who fixes it, and where the final approval is recorded.
Make the decision from your own workflow
The NextGen option may be the right route when it satisfies your clinical needs inside the product and contract you already use. A separate scribe may fit when its output, commercial terms, and alongside workflow pass your practice’s tests. Neither conclusion should be assumed from the vendor name.
If you want to evaluate the Patient Square route, Start your 7-day free trial. Test with an approved workflow, keep the existing EHR boundary explicit, and let the results decide.