An AI medical scribe for vascular surgery

Vascular clinics run on measurements: walking distance, pulses at each level, ankle pressures, stenosis percentages, aneurysm diameters. A slip in any of them changes the plan. ClearPass transcribes the consultation, drafts a note that sets the findings out by side and level, and marks numbers it cannot find in the transcript.

What a vascular note has to hold

• Peripheral arterial disease: claudication distance and which muscle group, rest pain and whether it wakes the patient, tissue loss, and how symptoms have changed.
• Risk factors: smoking with pack-years and current status, diabetes control, blood pressure, lipids, kidney function, antiplatelet and statin use.
• Pulses by site on each side (femoral, popliteal, foot pulses), with Doppler signals where pulses are absent.
• Ankle-brachial index or toe pressures on each side, with the date.
• Duplex or angiographic findings: vessel, level, stenosis or occlusion, run-off.
• Carotid disease: symptoms and their timing, stenosis percentage by side.
• Aneurysm surveillance: diameter, growth since the last scan, and the threshold you are working to.
• Venous disease: symptoms, skin changes, ulcer size, reflux findings on duplex, and the clinical class you use.

Example: claudication clinic

History: Man in his sixties, cramp in the right calf after 150 metres on the flat for 8 months, settles within 2 minutes of rest. No rest pain, no ulcers. Current smoker, 30 pack-years. Type 2 diabetes. On aspirin, not on a statin.
Examination: Right femoral pulse present, right popliteal and foot pulses absent, Doppler signals monophasic. Left leg pulses all present. Feet warm, no tissue loss.
ABPI: right 0.62, left 0.95.
Duplex: Right superficial femoral artery occlusion, 8 cm, with reconstitution above the knee.
Impression: Right calf claudication due to superficial femoral artery occlusion.
Plan: Smoking cessation support. Start atorvastatin 80 mg, continue aspirin. Supervised exercise programme referral. No intervention at present. Review in 3 months with repeat ABPI.

Note structures for vascular work

There is no vascular surgery group among the guided templates, and none of the other groups covers it closely. Vascular notes work well from free text with a note structure: New patient for referrals, Follow-up for surveillance visits, Procedure for operation and endovascular notes.

A table-like layout for pulses and pressures is often clearer than prose. Use the Ask box after the draft is written, for example 'put the pulses and ABPI in a short list by side', or save headings with My own structure that include a pulses section. Detailed length keeps every measurement said.

Letters and requests

• Imaging requests with the clinical reasoning; see prior authorization for a CT scan when angiography needs approval.
• Referral letters to the family doctor about risk factor management, and to a supervised exercise programme.
• Patient instructions on walking exercise, foot care, and the warning signs that need an urgent visit.
• Letters for wound care teams with ulcer size and dressing plan.
• A letter of medical necessity for a planned procedure or compression garments where a plan requires one.

Reviewing the draft

1. Check every pulse and pressure by side. Right and left columns swapped is the most dangerous error in a vascular note.
2. Check measurements against the scan report. Diameters, stenosis percentages and lengths should match the report; the Numbers check marks figures never said.
3. Check the walking distance. It is the main symptom measure; make sure it is the patient's figure, not a rounded one.
4. Check the medicine plan. Antiplatelet, anticoagulant and statin changes should be exactly as you stated.

What ClearPass does not do

• It does not replace your judgement. Every note is an AI draft that you review and correct before it is used.
• It is not a medical device and does not make clinical decisions. It is a documentation aid.
• It does not connect to your EMR. The note is copy-ready text that pastes into any system.

Privacy

Clinical note content is not stored on ClearPass servers: it is processed to write the note, then discarded. Consultation audio is transcribed and discarded, never stored. Your note history stays in your browser, on your device, and you choose how long it is kept. Common identifiers are removed from typed and transcribed text before it reaches the AI; that is a best-effort safeguard, so leave names, ID numbers and file numbers out where you can. Processing goes through the AI providers named in our Privacy Policy, which sets out exactly what each one receives and how long it keeps it. ClearPass does not sign HIPAA business associate agreements today.

Questions

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• An AI medical scribe for general surgery
• An AI medical scribe for cardiology clinics
• Prior authorization for a CT scan
• New patient visit note template
• How to write a letter of medical necessity