API directory · Cloud clinical speech services
AWS HealthScribe / Transcribe Medical API
Two distinct services in one AWS account: Transcribe Medical for clinical transcription and HealthScribe for encounter summarisation with clinical insights. Prices and quotas are published.
Short answer
What does the AWS HealthScribe / Transcribe Medical API give a developer?
Two distinct services in one AWS account: Transcribe Medical for clinical transcription and HealthScribe for encounter summarisation with clinical insights. Prices and quotas are published.
Base URL: https://transcribe.<region>.amazonaws.com
Auth: AWS SigV4 request signing with IAM credentials
Cite as: AWS HealthScribe / Transcribe Medical API listing, Compare Healthcare API, last reviewed 2026-09-01.
Endpoints
Copied from the vendor's own reference. Where a path is described rather than published, the description is what the vendor states.
| Method | Endpoint | Mode | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| POST | StartMedicalTranscriptionJob | Batch | Batch clinical transcription of uploaded audio into your own S3 bucket. |
| POST | StartMedicalStreamTranscription | Streaming | Real-time clinical transcription over HTTP/2 or WebSocket. |
| POST | StartMedicalScribeJob | Batch | HealthScribe: transcript plus structured clinical insights and summarised note sections. |
| POST | StartMedicalScribeStream | Streaming | Streaming medical scribe session for live encounters. |
Published rate limits
Numbers the vendor states publicly. Anything unpublished should be made contractual before you plan capacity.
| Concurrency | Per-account, per-region Service Quotas — adjustable by support request; check the Service Quotas console for current defaults |
|---|---|
| Queueing | Job queueing lets you submit beyond the concurrent-job quota |
Published pricing
List prices as published on the vendor's own pricing page at the verification date. Follow the source link before you quote these to anyone.
| Transcribe Medical | $0.075/min (batch and streaming), per-second billing |
|---|---|
| HealthScribe | $0.001667/sec — $0.10/min, $6.00/hour; 15-second minimum per request |
| Free tier | Transcribe Medical: 60 minutes/month free for 12 months |
Data handling and compliance
The three answers a health-system security review will ask you for, as published.
| BAA | Both services are HIPAA-eligible under the AWS Business Associate Addendum |
|---|---|
| Retention | Output lands in your own S3 buckets under your own lifecycle policy |
| Training on PHI | Governed by AWS service terms — confirm the AI services opt-out policy for your account |
How to integrate the AWS HealthScribe / Transcribe Medical API
An ordered path based on the public documentation, written for an engineering team scoping the work.
- 01
Choose the service
Transcribe Medical returns a clinical transcript; HealthScribe returns transcript plus summarised sections and insights. They are priced and shaped differently.
- 02
Set up IAM and S3
Create a least-privilege role and dedicated buckets with encryption and lifecycle rules before the first job.
- 03
Confirm HIPAA eligibility
Accept the AWS BAA on the account and restrict PHI workloads to HIPAA-eligible services and regions.
- 04
Run one job
Start a medical transcription job on real consented audio and inspect the output JSON, not the console preview.
- 05
Assemble the note
Map insights or sections into your template model; template adherence and clinician review remain yours.
- 06
Raise quotas early
Model peak concurrent encounters and file a quota increase well before go-live.
What the documentation does not warn you about
The judgement an endpoint list cannot give you.
Best-in-class if your infrastructure and compliance story already live in AWS. You still own note assembly, template adherence, review UX and chart write-back — and two similar services with different prices is a genuine architecture decision, not a detail.
Primary sources for this listing
Every fact above traces to one of these pages. If one has changed, tell us and the listing is re-verified.
- Transcribe Medical developer guide https://docs.aws.amazon.com/transcribe/latest/dg/transcribe-medical.html
- HealthScribe documentation https://docs.aws.amazon.com/transcribe/latest/dg/health-scribe.html
- HealthScribe pricing https://aws.amazon.com/healthscribe/pricing/
- Transcribe pricing https://aws.amazon.com/transcribe/pricing/
- HIPAA-eligible services https://aws.amazon.com/compliance/hipaa-eligible-services-reference/
Evidence & sources
Standards the integration steps above assume. Vendor-specific evidence is the primary source list on this page.
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services · Regulation · Tier A — primary documentation
Supports: The contractual clauses a documentation vendor's BAA must contain.
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services · Regulation · Tier A — primary documentation
Supports: Administrative, physical and technical safeguards a vendor handling recorded encounter audio must implement.
HL7 International · Standard · Tier A — primary documentation
Supports: Resource definitions (DocumentReference, Composition, Encounter, Condition, MedicationRequest) that clinical documentation output must map onto.
Source tiers are defined on the methodology page. Outbound links are unaffiliated and carry no commercial relationship.
Frequently asked questions
- Does AWS HealthScribe / Transcribe Medical have a public API?
- Two distinct services in one AWS account: Transcribe Medical for clinical transcription and HealthScribe for encounter summarisation with clinical insights. Prices and quotas are published.
- How do you authenticate with the AWS HealthScribe / Transcribe Medical API?
- AWS SigV4 request signing with IAM credentials
- What are the AWS HealthScribe / Transcribe Medical API rate limits?
- Concurrency: Per-account, per-region Service Quotas — adjustable by support request; check the Service Quotas console for current defaults. Queueing: Job queueing lets you submit beyond the concurrent-job quota
- How much does the AWS HealthScribe / Transcribe Medical API cost?
- Transcribe Medical: $0.075/min (batch and streaming), per-second billing. HealthScribe: $0.001667/sec — $0.10/min, $6.00/hour; 15-second minimum per request. Free tier: Transcribe Medical: 60 minutes/month free for 12 months
- Can you evaluate AWS HealthScribe / Transcribe Medical without a sales conversation?
- Yes — any AWS account, no sales contact for on-demand usage