From Recording to SOAP Note in 60 Seconds: How ChartHound Works

You walk into an exam room, greet the client, examine their dog, discuss findings, and recommend a treatment plan. Fifteen minutes of medicine. Then you sit down and spend another ten minutes typing it all into your PIMS. ChartHound exists to eliminate that second part. Here is exactly how it works, step by step.

The Five-Step Workflow

The entire process from recording to finished SOAP note takes under 60 seconds of processing time. Your part takes about three taps.

1.
Open the app. ChartHound runs on your iPhone, Android phone, or the web dashboard. There is also a Chrome extension. Pick whatever device you already have in your pocket or on your desk.
2.
Hit record. One tap. Set your phone on the counter, clip it to your scrub pocket, or leave the dashboard tab open on your workstation. Talk to your client and patient normally. There is nothing to dictate into, no special phrasing required. Just practice medicine.
3.
Stop recording. When the appointment is done, tap stop. The audio uploads automatically.
4.
AI processes the recording. ChartHound's AI engine applies acoustic shielding to filter clinic noise, transcribes the conversation, identifies separate patients if you saw more than one, and structures everything into properly formatted SOAP notes.
5.
Review and use your note. Your SOAP note appears in the app. Review it, make any edits, and copy it into your PIMS. Done.

What Happens Under the Hood

When you stop recording and the audio reaches our servers, several things happen in rapid sequence. Understanding this process helps explain why ChartHound produces cleaner output than generic dictation tools.

Acoustic Shielding

Veterinary exam rooms are acoustically hostile environments. Dogs bark in the lobby. Cats growl on the table. The HVAC hums. Techs call out from the treatment area. Standard speech-to-text services were trained on clean audio and fall apart in these conditions. ChartHound's acoustic shielding layer is designed specifically for clinic environments. It filters the noise patterns common in veterinary practice before the audio reaches the transcription engine, so the AI works with cleaner input from the start.

Multi-Pet Detection

A family brings in two dogs and a cat for annual wellness. You examine all three in one appointment, talking through findings as you go. Most AI scribes would mash all of that into a single note, forcing you to manually split it. ChartHound detects when you transition between patients and generates separate SOAP notes for each animal. One recording, three clean charts.

SOAP Formatting

The AI does not just transcribe your words. It categorizes what you said into the correct SOAP sections. When you tell the client "Bella has been limping for three days and not eating much," that goes into Subjective. When you say "heart rate 120, mild pain response on left stifle palpation," that goes into Objective. Assessments and plans land where they belong. The output is structured medical documentation, not a wall of text.

This Is Not Dictation Software

If you have used Dragon or another dictation tool, you know the workflow: speak carefully in a specific cadence, correct mistakes in real time, and format the note yourself. That is speech-to-text. It converts your voice to words on a screen.

ChartHound is different. You do not dictate a note. You have a normal conversation during an appointment, and the AI writes the note afterward. You talk to the client about their pet. You discuss findings with your tech. You think out loud about differentials. ChartHound listens to all of it and produces a structured, properly sectioned SOAP note from the natural flow of the visit. The difference is between performing for a microphone and just doing your job.

Where You Can Record

•
iPhone (iOS App): Native app available on the App Store. Record directly from your phone. Set it on the counter or keep it in your pocket.
•
Android (Google Play): Native app on Google Play. Same full feature set. Samsung, Pixel, whatever you carry.
•
Web Dashboard: Open app.charthound.ai on any browser. Record from your workstation microphone. Best for vets who keep a laptop or desktop in the exam room.
•
Chrome Extension: Record without leaving whatever tab you are working in. Useful if you live in your PIMS browser.

All platforms sync to the same account. Record on your phone in the exam room, review the note on your desktop in the office. Your notes, body maps, dental charts, and templates are all available everywhere.

Editing and Customization

No AI is perfect 100% of the time. ChartHound is built with the assumption that you will want to review and occasionally edit your notes before they go into the medical record.

Section-Level Editing

Every SOAP note is editable by section. Want to add a differential to the Assessment? Adjust a dosage in the Plan? You can edit any section directly in the app without reprocessing the entire note. Changes are tracked with an audit trail for compliance.

Template Builder

Every veterinarian has preferences. Some want vitals in a specific order. Some use particular abbreviations. Some clinics have a standard format they want every doctor to follow. ChartHound's template builder lets you create custom SOAP templates that guide how the AI structures your output. Build it once, and every note follows your format.

Beyond SOAP Notes

Recording and transcription is the core, but ChartHound includes several features that extend the platform beyond basic note generation.

Body Maps: Interactive anatomical maps for 7 species — canine, feline, equine, avian, lagomorph, bovine, and porcine. Drop pins on the silhouette to mark findings. Pins persist with the patient record.

Dental Charts: Digital dental charting with per-patient tabs. Mark findings tooth by tooth. No more paper dental charts that get lost in the file.

Lab Result Parsing: Upload a lab report PDF or image and the AI extracts structured results. Abnormal values are flagged automatically.

Pet Parent Portal: Generate a shareable link or send an SMS with an AI-simplified version of the SOAP note written in plain language the pet owner can understand. No medical jargon, no confusion.

Rounding Mode: Built for ER and urgent care. Pause one patient's recording, handle an emergency, then resume where you left off. No incomplete notes, no starting over.

Kennel Mode: Multi-patient boarding documentation. Track multiple patients in a session without switching contexts.

Who It Is Built For

ChartHound works for any veterinarian who writes SOAP notes, but it was designed with specific practice types in mind:

Solo practitioners: You are already doing everything. Charting should not take your evening too. ChartHound gives you those hours back.
Small clinics (2-5 DVMs): Clinic management features with roles, permissions, and audit trails. Everyone's notes in one place.
ER and urgent care vets: Rounding Mode was built specifically for interrupted, high-volume shifts. Pause, switch, resume.
Relief vets: You work at a different clinic every week. ChartHound travels with you — it is on your phone, not tied to a clinic's system.
Multi-doctor clinic groups: Enterprise features include recording handoff (tech starts, doctor continues), clinic-wide templates, and centralized billing.

Getting Started

Setup takes less than five minutes. Create an account, download the app or open the web dashboard, and record your first appointment. There is no hardware to install, no IT department to involve, no training sessions to schedule.

Plans start at $60/month for the Basic plan. Unlimited and Enterprise tiers are available for higher-volume practices and clinic groups. All plans include a free trial so you can test it with real appointments before committing.

View all plans and pricing

Frequently Asked Questions

Does it work offline?

Recording works offline on the mobile apps. The audio is stored locally and uploads automatically when your device reconnects to the internet. You need a connection for the AI processing step, but you will not lose a recording if the clinic Wi-Fi drops mid-appointment.

How accurate is the transcription?

Accuracy depends on audio quality, background noise, and how clearly you speak. With ChartHound's acoustic shielding, most users find the notes require minimal editing. The AI handles veterinary terminology, drug names, and breed-specific language well. That said, always review your notes before they go into the medical record. ChartHound is a tool to accelerate your documentation, not replace your clinical judgment.

Can I use it with my current PIMS?

Yes. ChartHound uses a copy-paste workflow that works with any PIMS — Avimark, Cornerstone, ezyVet, Pulse, Vetspire, or any other system. Your finished SOAP note is text. Copy it from ChartHound, paste it into your PIMS. It works everywhere with zero integration setup, which is especially valuable for relief vets who work across multiple clinics.

Is my data secure?

ChartHound is built with SOC 2 compliance standards. All data is encrypted in transit and at rest. Audit logging tracks who accessed what and when. We take data security seriously because we know veterinary records contain sensitive client and patient information.

How is this different from ChatGPT or other general AI tools?

General AI tools can summarize text, but they do not record audio, filter clinic noise, detect multiple patients, format proper SOAP notes, or provide body maps, dental charts, and lab parsing. ChartHound is purpose-built for veterinary documentation. It is not a chatbot you paste a transcript into — it is an end-to-end platform that handles everything from recording to structured output.

What if I see exotic species?

SOAP note transcription works for any species — the AI understands veterinary terminology across the board. Body maps are currently available for seven species: canine, feline, equine, avian, lagomorph, bovine, and porcine. Additional species maps are on the roadmap.