There may also be cases where a definitive diagnosis is not made by the physician, therefore many possible diagnoses are included in the assessment. For any patient, there may be one clear diagnosis or multiple issues that require separate diagnoses. It includes a summary of your diagnosis of the patient’s existing condition. The next component of a SOAP note is assessment. You can also include details of previous diagnostics tests (e.g., X-rays) and lab reports. It has details of any visible symptoms such as changed skin color or any abnormalities you feel when physically examining the patient. It includes observations that can be measured such as body temperature, pulse rate, and blood pressure. This is a record of your physical examination of the patient’s condition. Any comments, concerns, or questions your patients may have are also included here. Record your patient’s chief complaint, existing symptoms, and any pain description in this section.

Notes from your verbal interaction with patients as well as what they tell you about their condition go here. This covers your patient’s detailed medical history and current symptoms. Since both use the same documentation method, there’ll be no miscommunication regarding a patient’s treatment plan or health status. They don’t have to go through the entire form to find the one tiny bit of information they require.Ī standardized SOAP note template also makes it easier to share records with other healthcare providers, if required. Each piece of information is entered into a specific field on the template, so medical providers know where exactly to find the information they need. All SOAP notes have a standardized format that is divided into four categories (which we’ll go over in the next section).īy organizing patient records in a defined template, these notes help cut down manual errors and miscommunication. Medical software tools with built-in SOAP notes templatesĪ subjective, objective, assessment, and plan (SOAP) note is a common documentation method used by healthcare providers to capture and record patient information, from the intake form and diagnosis to the treatment plan and progress notes.

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