Templates are predesigned notes or outlines that allow you to pull text, patient information, or MacPractice data into a Note. Unlike Categories and Parts, which are holding areas for information, Templates are the actual predesigned Note. Some example templates are available in the Shared Templates library. Many offices will create templates for documents such as new patient welcome letters, collection letters, referral letters, consent forms, pre-procedure instruction sheets, and more.

Creating a Template

To create a template, select the Templates node in the sidebar of the Notes ability and click the green plus button in the upper left corner of the MacPractice window. The new template's initial contents (pull fields or text) and margins are set in the Default Template record.

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Template with examples of pull fields in the <<>> brackets

Within the body of the new template, text can be entered and pull fields can be dragged from the pull field palette. Since templates are not associated with a specific patient, when a pull field is added it will be displayed as a placeholder. In the image to the right, you can see an example of a template that includes a number of pull fields for office and patient demographic information, as well as the provider's title, name, and suffix. This template is based on the New Patient Welcome letter that is available in the Shared Template library.

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The blue-highlighted icon in the lower left is the Merge Fields button.

You can use the Merge Fields button in the lower left hand corner of MacPractice to access the Pull Field palette, which contains several Pull Fields that you can drag and drop into a Template. Pull fields "pull" in information from the patient's account into the template to provide patient-specific information.

For information on adding headers, changing the font, or other formatting questions, please click here. For information on adding an image to a note or template, click here.

Editing a Template

Once a template has been saved the Locked checkbox will be checked. This is to prevent inadvertent changes to the template. To edit a template, simply select it from the Template node and uncheck the Locked checkbox. Then you can modify the template content as necessary.

Creating a Custom Form Using Notes

1. Create a note template as outlined above. Within the template, blanks can be added to create easily navigable fields in the form. To add a placeholder line, place the cursor where you wish to add a custom word or phrase, and press the Shift and underscore ( _ ) keys to create the line (keep pressing the underscore key until you have achieved the desired length). Displayed below is a Registration Documents template (available in the Shared Templates library) with blanks where an office can enter the specific fees charged for each service. This is just an example - custom templates can be created for a multitude of functions and purposes.
   
   

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2. Create a patient note from the template. The underscore lines can be navigated to by using the Shift + Tab keyboard shortcut to move directly to the next placeholder, allowing a user to enter information and customize the note for your selected patient. Repeat until the form is filled out. In the example below, the same template as above is visible, but two of the blanks have been filled out. The third blank is highlighted and ready for data entry.
   
   

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3. When done entering information, save the changes by selecting the Edit menu and choosing Save Record, or using the Command-S keyboard shortcut.

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Shared Note Templates

The Shared Templates node of the Notes ability contains a library of templates created by other MacPractice users that can be downloaded and added to an office's database.

Downloading Templates

To download a template in the Notes Ability, select the Shared Templates node in the sidebar. Select a specialty from the Select Specialties list and click Apply (most templates are filed under General Use). This will bring up all Note Templates that have been created for this particular specialty. Highlight a template to download from the list and click the Download button.

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When the download is complete an alert will display, indicating the template has been placed in the Downloads node.

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Uploading Templates

When a note template is uploaded to the shared template servers, it can be shared with other MacPractice clients. To upload a Note Template, select the template in the sidebar, navigate to the Notes menu, and choose Export Template.

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The Save window will open - enter a title and select a save location, then click Save.

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With the file created, go back to the Notes menu and click Upload Notes Template to Server. Select the exported template and click Open.

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This will upload this Note Template to MacPractice's central server allowing this Note Template to be used by other MacPractice clients. When the upload is complete you will see an alert indicating either:

• Upload Successful, or

• Error, this form has already been uploaded

If the template does not upload contact MacPractice Support for assistance. Once a template has been uploaded it will be reviewed by MacPractice before being made publicly available.

Exporting Templates

You may choose to export a template that you've created for other reasons, such as sharing with another office or saving a copy if you were using a test database. To export a template go to the Menu Bar > Export > Note Template.

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A window will appear where you may select the templates to export. If you export several as a bundle, they will also be imported together. 

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Note Template Groups

Note Template Groups can be utilized to organize templates. Note Template Groups are entirely user-defined, but it may be useful to group templates of similar types, such as "Collection Letters", "Referral Letters" and so on.

Creating a Note Template Group

To create a Note Template Group, select the Note Template Group node in the sidebar and click the green plus button to create a new record. Enter a Title for the Note Template Group, and save your changes by navigating to the Edit menu and selecting Save Record, or by using the Command-S keyboard shortcut.

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The order in which the Note Template Group nodes appear in the sidebar can be changed by editing the Notes Template Order number. If the same number is assigned to multiple groups, the first group to be assigned the number will be listed first, followed by the second group, and so on. 

Using Note Template Groups

There are two ways to add a template to a node:

• You can add a new template directly to a group by selecting the group node title in the sidebar and clicking the plus button. Enter the template content as you would if it were created under the Template node.

• To move existing templates between groups, simply select the template and drag it to the appropriate group.