ADMIN - Create and Manage Note Templates

Note templates give clinicians a ready-made structure for their encounter notes, such as the headings of a SOAP note. This guide shows administrators how to create, edit, retire, and import the note templates for your practice. To learn how clinicians use a template, see Start a Note from a Template.

Before you begin

You need an administrator account to create or change note templates.

Other staff, such as providers and front desk staff, can open Admin > Note templates to view the list and each template, but they cannot change them. They see the message “Read only. Practice administrators can add templates.”

How to view your note templates

1. Select Admin in the top navigation.
2. Select the Note templates tab.
3. Use the All, Active, and Inactive filter to narrow the list.

The table shows each template’s Name, Type, Category, Sensitivity, Status, and Last updated date. A dash (—) means there is no value to show. Select a template’s name to open it.

How to import the starter templates

OpenCoreEMR includes a set of starter templates you can add to your practice and then adjust. The button appears only while at least one starter template is missing from your practice.

1. Open Admin > Note templates.
2. Select Import starter templates.
3. Review the list of templates that will be added. The full set is: SOAP note, Progress note (freeform), History & physical, Consult note, Procedure note, Emergency department note, Discharge summary, Referral note, and Blank note.
4. Select the Import button to confirm. It shows how many templates will be added, for example Import 9 templates.

A summary shows how many templates were imported. If any could not be imported, select Try importing again.

Imported templates become part of your practice’s list. You can edit or retire them afterwards, like any other template.

How to create a new note template

1. Open Admin > Note templates.
2. Select New template.
3. Enter the template details:
   • Name: The name clinicians will see when they choose a template. Each template needs a different name.
   • Type: Type at least three characters of a note type, for example progress, then choose from the list.
   • Category: Defaults to Note. Change it only if your practice uses a different category.
   • Sensitivity: Normal or High. See Note sensitivity below.
4. Select Create template.

The new template opens in the template editor, ready for you to add its content.

How to write or edit a template’s content

1. Open Admin > Note templates and select the template’s name.
2. Write the template’s content in the editor on the left. Use the toolbar to format it:
   • Heading level: Choose Paragraph, Heading 1, Heading 2, or Heading 3 for the current line.
   • Bold, Italic, and Underline
   • Bullet list and Numbered list
   • Add hyperlink
3. Check the Preview panel on the right. It shows what a provider gets when applying this template, and updates as you type.
4. Select Save. A “Note template saved” message confirms the change.

Tip: You can also type shortcuts in the editor. Type ## and a space at the start of a line for a heading, or - and a space for a bullet list.

Templates hold text, headings, and lists. Headings inside a list are not available, so the heading options are disabled while your cursor is in a list item.

If you select Back to note templates or another Admin tab before saving, OpenCoreEMR asks whether to discard your changes. Select Keep editing to stay, or Discard changes to leave without saving.

How to edit a template’s details

1. Open Admin > Note templates.
2. In the template’s row, select the More actions button (…).
3. Select Edit details.
4. Change the Name, Type, Category, or Sensitivity.
5. Select Save changes.

How to retire or reactivate a template

Retire a template when clinicians should stop using it. Retired templates are kept, so you can reactivate them later.

1. Open Admin > Note templates.
2. In the template’s row, select the More actions button (…).
3. Select Retire, then confirm with Retire template.

The template’s status changes to Inactive, and clinicians can no longer start new notes from it. Notes already created from the template are not changed.

To make a retired template available again, select More actions (…) > Reactivate, then confirm with Reactivate template. Its status returns to Active.

Note sensitivity

Each template has a sensitivity of Normal or High. The sensitivity is a label copied to notes made from the template. It does not restrict who can open those notes.

When a clinician starts a note from a High template, the note shows a Sensitivity: High label once it is saved. Notes at Normal sensitivity show no label.

In the template list, the Sensitivity column shows normal or restricted. Restricted is how the list shows a High template.

Understanding what you’re looking at

Note template fields

Field	What it means
Name	The template name clinicians choose from in an encounter. Must be different from your other templates’ names. Required
Type	The kind of note the template makes, such as Provider-unspecified Progress note. Required
Category	The broader document category. Defaults to Note. Required
Sensitivity	Normal or High. A label copied to notes made from the template; it does not restrict access. Defaults to Normal. Required
Status	Active templates are offered to clinicians. Inactive (retired) templates are not
Last updated	The date the template was last changed