Voice to Text for Physical Therapists
Your hands belong on your patients, not on a keyboard typing notes after hours. Blurt lets you document treatment sessions, progress notes, and home exercise programs while your attention stays where it matters. Hold a button, describe what you observed, release. Text appears in your EMR, in your notes app, anywhere your cursor is. No clicking through menus. No staying late to catch up on charts. Just talk and document.
The Typing Problem
Staying late to finish documentation after patients leave
Your last patient left at 5 PM. It's now 7 PM and you're still typing notes from this afternoon's sessions. You're trying to remember what Mrs. Johnson's hip flexion was at the start of the session versus the end. Was it 85 degrees or 95? The details blur together after eight patients. Your dinner is getting cold and your family is waiting.
Writing progress notes while patients wait
Your next patient is already in the waiting room, but you haven't finished documenting the last session. You rush through the note, leaving out important details you'll never remember later. Or you keep the patient waiting while you type, feeling their frustration grow. Neither option feels right. The pressure builds all day.
Creating detailed home exercise programs from scratch
Every patient needs a customized HEP. You know exactly what exercises to prescribe, but typing out each instruction takes forever. Three sets of ten, hold for thirty seconds, perform twice daily. You've typed these same phrases hundreds of times. By the fifth HEP of the day, you're tempted to just hand them a generic printout.
Insurance authorization letters that eat your lunch break
The insurance company wants medical necessity documentation for continued treatment. You need to explain why your patient still needs PT in clinical language that satisfies their reviewers. You know exactly what to say, but typing a detailed letter takes your entire lunch break. Your sandwich sits untouched while you justify care you know the patient needs.
Remembering session details hours after treatment
By the time you sit down to document, three patients have passed through your treatment room. What specific exercises did you do with Mr. Garcia? How did he respond to the new manual therapy technique? You know you observed something important about his gait pattern, but the specifics have faded. Your notes become vague because your memory is unreliable.
How It Works
Blurt works in every app physical therapists use — WebPT, Clinicient, Net Health, Prompt, any browser-based EMR. Anywhere you can put a cursor.
Hold your hotkey
Press your chosen shortcut. A small indicator shows Blurt is listening.
Talk naturally
Describe the session, observations, or exercises. Blurt handles punctuation.
Release and done
Text appears at your cursor. No copying, no pasting, no extra steps.
Real Scenarios
Documenting treatment sessions in real-time
Your patient just finished their exercises. While they rest, hold your hotkey and speak: 'Patient performed three sets of ten bridges with yellow band resistance. Demonstrated improved hip stability compared to last session. Minimal compensatory lumbar extension noted. Will progress to red band next visit.' Thirty seconds of talking replaces five minutes of typing. Your note is done before the patient leaves the table.
Writing progress notes between patients
You have two minutes before your next patient. Hold button, speak your assessment: 'Patient has achieved four of six short-term goals. ROM improved from 110 to 135 degrees flexion. Strength increased from 3 minus to 4 out of 5. Recommend six additional visits to achieve remaining goals of independent stair climbing and return to recreational hiking.' Progress note complete. Next patient on time.
Creating home exercise programs quickly
Your patient needs a new HEP. Instead of typing each exercise, hold and speak: 'Piriformis stretch. Lie on your back with both knees bent. Cross your right ankle over your left knee. Pull your left thigh toward your chest until you feel a stretch in your right buttock. Hold thirty seconds. Repeat three times each side. Perform twice daily.' Six exercises documented in two minutes. Patient leaves with clear written instructions.
Dictating insurance authorization letters
Insurance wants continued authorization. Hold your hotkey and explain: 'Patient requires continued physical therapy to address persistent limitations in functional mobility. Despite improvements in range of motion, patient cannot safely ascend stairs or return to work duties. Discontinuation at this time would result in functional regression and increased fall risk.' Medical necessity documented in the time it takes to say it.
Recording objective measurements during evaluation
You're performing an initial evaluation and measuring ROM. As you test each movement, hold and speak: 'Right shoulder flexion 145 degrees, abduction 130 degrees, external rotation 60 degrees with pain at end range. Left shoulder within normal limits all planes.' Measurements documented immediately, accurately, while your hands stay on the goniometer.
Sending quick updates to referring physicians
The orthopedic surgeon wants an update on their post-op patient. Hold button: 'Dr. Martinez, update on patient Smith. Six weeks post ACL reconstruction. ROM progressing well at zero to 125 degrees. Gait normalized without assistive device. Beginning sport-specific agility drills next week. Will send full progress report at twelve-week mark.' Email drafted in twenty seconds.
Adding notes during manual therapy
You're performing soft tissue mobilization and notice the patient's tissue quality has changed. Without stopping treatment, you hold the button: 'Noted significant decrease in trigger point activity in upper trapezius compared to last visit. Patient reports pain reduced from seven to three out of ten during treatment.' Observation documented while your hands stay on the patient.
Why physical therapists choose Blurt over built-in dictation
| Blurt | macOS Dictation | |
|---|---|---|
| Activation | Single hotkey, instant start | Click microphone icon or use Siri |
| Speed | Text appears in under 500ms | 2-3 second delay before transcription |
| Medical terms | Handles PT vocabulary accurately | Struggles with clinical terminology |
| Reliability | Consistent accuracy across sessions | Often fails silently or mishears |
| EMR compatibility | Works in any browser-based system | Inconsistent in web applications |
Frequently Asked Questions
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