How do you write an ADIME note with a PES statement using an AI scribe?

The Hanah team · 12 September 2026

The short answer: an AI scribe can draft the whole ADIME note from a recorded consult. It fills Assessment from the diet history and your measurements, writes the nutrition diagnosis as a PES statement, lists the intervention you agreed, and sets out what you'll monitor. You then check it, and the diagnosis needs the closest reading.

Below: ADIME and the PES statement, a worked example, and what to check before you sign. It applies to any scribe. Where we describe one, it's Hanah for dietitians. We build Hanah, so read those parts with that in mind.

What is an ADIME note?

ADIME stands for Assessment, Diagnosis, Intervention, and Monitoring and Evaluation. It's a note format that follows the four steps of the Nutrition Care Process, the framework the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics describes for individualised nutrition care.

Dietitians Australia's National Competency Standards describe the same four steps and ask for accurate, timely documentation. ADIME is one way to write that down; SOAP and workplace formats are others.

What goes in each section?

Assessment. The Academy lists five kinds of data: food and nutrition-related history, biochemical data and medical tests, anthropometric measurements, nutrition-focused physical findings, and client history. In practice that means the diet history or 24-hour recall, weight, height, BMI and waist, recent bloods, medications, and the social context that shapes how the person eats.
Diagnosis. The nutrition problem you'll treat, written as a PES statement. It's a nutrition diagnosis, not a medical one.
Intervention. What you'll do about the problem: the goals and targets you agreed, the education you gave, and any coordination with the GP or other providers.
Monitoring and Evaluation. The indicators you'll use to tell whether the problem is improving, and when you'll review them.

The Academy notes the steps aren't always linear. New information halfway through a consult can send you back to reassess and rediagnose.

What is a PES statement, and how do you write a good one?

PES stands for Problem, (A)etiology, and Signs and symptoms. The Academy's nutrition diagnosis snapshot gives the format as:

[Problem] related to [aetiology] as evidenced by [signs and symptoms].

Problem. A nutrition diagnosis term. Standardised terms sit in three domains: Intake (too much or too little of a food or nutrient), Clinical (problems tied to medical or physical conditions) and Behavioural-environmental (knowledge, beliefs, environment, access to food, food safety). "Inconsistent carbohydrate intake" is a nutrition diagnosis. "Type 2 diabetes" is not.
Aetiology. The root cause, one your intervention can act on.
Signs and symptoms. The assessment data that show the problem exists, and that you can measure again to show change.

The snapshot suggests a few checks. Choose the most important and urgent problem. When two diagnoses from different domains fit equally well, prefer the Intake one. Make sure your intervention addresses the aetiology, and that the signs you name will show whether the problem resolves. If the assessment doesn't support a diagnosis yet, "no nutrition diagnosis at this time" is a legitimate entry.

What does a finished ADIME note look like?

Illustrative example only. The patient is fictional. A 54-year-old man is referred by his GP for type 2 diabetes. This is his initial consult.

Assessment

Weight 92.4 kg (measured today), reported stable over 6 months
Height 172 cm, BMI 31.2 kg/m²
Waist 108 cm
HbA1c 8.1% (65 mmol/mol), from the GP referral
Home glucose, past 2 weeks: fasting 7–9 mmol/L; 2 hours after dinner 11–13 mmol/L
Medication: metformin 1 g twice daily
24-hour recall (a typical work day): no breakfast; large full-cream flat white at 10 am; two sushi rolls at lunch; muesli bar at 3.30 pm; about 2.5 cups cooked pasta with bolognese sauce and 2 slices of garlic bread at 7.30 pm; 2 plain sweet biscuits at 9 pm
Skips breakfast on most work days; most of the day's carbohydrate is eaten at and after dinner (dietitian's estimate from the recall)
Warehouse supervisor on rotating shifts; partner cooks most dinners; walks 20 minutes, 3 days a week
Wants steadier glucose readings before his GP review in 3 months

Diagnosis

Inconsistent carbohydrate intake related to the lack of a meal routine that fits rotating shifts, as evidenced by breakfast skipped on most work days, most daily carbohydrate eaten at and after the evening meal, and glucose readings of 11–13 mmol/L two hours after dinner.

Intervention

Breakfast on work days (agreed options: overnight oats, or wholegrain toast with eggs)
Carbohydrate spread across three meals and one snack; plate model at dinner, with pasta at a quarter of the plate and extra vegetables
After-dinner biscuits swapped for fruit or plain yoghurt
Education: carbohydrate foods and portions, the plate model, reading the carbohydrate line on food labels
Report to the referring GP after this first service

Monitoring and Evaluation

Breakfast frequency on work days (food diary)
Spread of carbohydrate across the day (food diary and recall)
Glucose 2 hours after dinner (patient's meter)
Weight and waist
HbA1c at the GP's 3-month review
Review in 4 weeks

Notice how the sections line up. The signs in the PES statement come straight from Assessment. The intervention targets the aetiology, which is the meal routine. Monitoring measures the same signs again.

How does an AI scribe draft each section from the consult?

A scribe works from the transcript, so each section comes from a different part of the conversation.

Assessment comes from the diet history, the recall, and anything you say aloud while measuring. In Hanah's starter ADIME template, this section asks for anthropometrics, intake and relevant history, with each figure and its units on its own line.
Diagnosis is written as a single PES statement: problem, related to aetiology, as evidenced by signs and symptoms. Hanah's shorthand preview abbreviates the links to "r/t" and "AEB".
Intervention comes from the end of the consult, where you agree changes and explain them. Hanah's template lists the targets set and the topics covered.
Monitoring and Evaluation usually comes from the closing minutes and the booking conversation. The template names each indicator, then the review interval.

Two drafting rules matter here. Hanah takes clinical facts only from the session (the transcript, plus anything you type into the visit's notes) and is told not to infer or invent. A section with no data is left out rather than filled. The template is also yours to change: rename sections, allow more than one PES statement, or bring your own Word or PDF template.

Two habits help with any scribe. Say measurements aloud as you take them ("waist, one-oh-eight"). And close with a short recap to the patient: what you've noticed, what you're changing, and when you'll check. That recap is the cleanest material the scribe will get for the Diagnosis, Intervention and Monitoring sections.

What does the dietitian still need to check?

Of the four sections, Diagnosis is where the scribe does the most interpreting, so read it hardest. Before you sign:

The problem is a nutrition diagnosis. It should be the standardised term you'd use, not a medical condition or a vague label. Hanah's template doesn't draw on the Academy's terminology set, so matching the term is up to you.
The aetiology is a root cause you can act on, not the problem restated in different words.
The signs and symptoms appear in Assessment and can be measured again.
The intervention addresses the aetiology, and Monitoring measures the signs. If either link is missing, the note doesn't hold together.
The numbers and units are right, and it's clear which were measured today and which were reported.
Anything you didn't say aloud is there. That includes a weight read off the scale, bloods from the referral, and physical findings you noticed without mentioning. Say it, type it into the visit, or add it to the note.
Nothing was added. Check for foods, supplements or advice that never came up.

Frequently asked questions

Can an AI scribe write the PES statement for me?

It can draft one from the consult. The diagnosis is still your clinical judgement, so check the draft against your assessment.

Can an ADIME note have more than one PES statement?

Yes, when there are separate problems that each need an intervention. The Academy's guidance is to start with the most important and urgent one. Hanah's starter template asks for one, and you can edit it if you routinely write more.

Is ADIME required in Australia?

Not by Dietitians Australia's competency standards, as far as we can find. They describe the Nutrition Care Process and ask for accurate, timely records, without mandating a note format. Check your employer's or health service's documentation policy.

Does the scribe calculate energy intake from a 24-hour recall?

Not in Hanah's ADIME note. The note records the estimate you state in the consult. Nutrition calculations happen in Hanah's meal plans, where each ingredient is looked up in FSANZ food composition data.

Can the same consult produce the report for a Medicare referral?

Yes, if you have a letter template. Services Australia says that under a GP chronic condition management plan, you report to the referring GP after the first and last service. The report covers assessments, treatment provided and recommendations. An ADIME note already holds most of that.

For a wider look at what to ask of any scribe, read choosing an AI scribe for dietitians, or see how Hanah works for dietitians.