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Creating customized templates

Creating customized templates

You can use our template builder to design and edit documentation for your practice. You’ll also have access to our collection of pre-built templates, which can be fully customized to fit your practice’s needs. 

Note: While customizable intake forms are available on the Starter plan, notes and other document templates can only be customized on the Essential and Plus plans.

In this guide, we'll cover:

Note: In a group practice, only Account Owners, practice managers, and clinicians with entire practice access are able to edit templates. To learn more about our team member roles, see Team member roles and access levels. Keep in mind that clinicians and practice schedulers are able to send intake forms and documents to clients.


Reviewing our template types

Note: Customers on the Starter plan can only access intake form templates from their Template library.

Your Template library page is divided into scored measures, intake forms, progress notes/session notes, diagnosis and treatment plans, and other documents. Templates within each section are organized alphabetically.

Note: New accounts created with the Psychiatry and Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing specialties will have psychiatry-related templates added by default to Settings > Documentation > Template library.

A custom template can be saved as an intake form, progress note, treatment plan, or other document. If you can’t locate a particular template, it may be saved as a different template type. To change the type of a customized template, see Naming your custom template.

Scored measures

Scored measures are specific client-facing questionnaires that can be completed through the Client Portal to self-report symptoms and progress. Clients’ answers are converted into scores, which are automatically calculated and graphed in the Measures tab of their profile.

For more information, see Getting started with measurement-based care.

Important: Scored measure templates can’t be edited.

Intake forms

Intake forms are client-facing questionnaires that you can send to clients and contacts to complete through the Client Portal. Unlike scored measures, the results for intake forms aren’t automatically scored, and are available via the Files tab of their profile.

To share a template saved as an Intake form, navigate to a client's profile and click Share.

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Select the intake form(s) you’d like to send under Questionnaires.

intakeform.simplepractice.share.png

Note: After your clients submit an intake form, they won't be able to view it in their Client Portal. If a client would like a copy of a completed intake form, you can upload it to their profile and share it with them. To learn more, see Sharing completed forms or documents with clients.

Progress notes

Progress notes are clinician-facing documents for recording information related to an appointment. Completed progress notes can be shared via the Client Portal for client and contact e-signatures.

From a client's Overview page, click + Progress Note beneath an appointment to fill out a progress note and save it.

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Note: To learn more, see Using progress and psychotherapy notes for individual appointments.

Other documents

Other documents are clinician-facing documents that aren’t related to a specific appointment. When completed, these documents can also be shared via the Client Portal for client and contact e-signatures.

From a client's Overview page, click New > Other document to choose a template and save it.

newotherdocument.simplepractice.clientoverview.png

Note: Other documents are only available on the Essential and Plus plans. For more information on using these, see Other documents.

Treatment plans

Treatment plans are clinician-facing documents for outlining a client's plan of care, with or without a diagnosis. Completed treatment plans can be shared via the Client Portal for client and contact e-signatures.

From the client’s Overview page, click New > Diagnosis and treatment plan to select a diagnosis and fill out the client’s treatment plan.

Note: For more information on using treatment plans, see Diagnosis and treatment plans.


Accessing the template builder

From your Template library, you can access the template builder to create a new custom template from scratch, or from a pre-built template.

To create a new template from scratch:

buildnewtemplate.simplepractice.templatelibrary.png

Important: Intake forms shouldn’t be used to collect client credit card information. Credit card information should only be stored within the designated online payments fields in your SimplePractice account. If your practice would like to securely collect and store client card information, see Credit Card Information form. By storing credit card information outside of these designated fields, or in any other manner, you acknowledge the risk associated with storing this data in your account.

To create a new template based on a pre-built template, we recommend duplicating the pre-built template first. You can then customize the duplicate as your new version in the template builder.

Note: Before taking these steps, add the pre-built template to your Template library. To do this, see Accessing our pre-built templates.

To duplicate a pre-built template:

  • Navigate to Settings > Documentation > Template library
  • Locate the form that you want to use as the basis for a new template
  • Select the duplicate icon

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  • Click the duplicate’s title to start customizing
    • The duplicate will be titled [NAME OF ORIGINAL FORM] Copy

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Note: For more information and a full list of the pre-built templates available in SimplePractice, see Using our pre-built templates.

Once you’ve followed the steps above, continue to the Naming your custom template section below.


Naming your custom template

Whether you're creating a new template or customizing a duplicate of an existing template, you’ll want to give it a descriptive name and save it as the correct type. 

Important: If you’re customizing a duplicate of a pre-built template, click the title at the top of the page to access its name and type.

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To give a name and save the type of your template:

  • Enter a descriptive name in the Main title field

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  • Enter a Display title, if necessary
    • If a Display title is entered for an intake form, this will be shown to clients in the Client Portal
    • For progress notes, other documents, and treatment plans, the Display title will appear on printed notes that use the template

Note: When a document with the customized template is shared with a client, its Display title will appear in their Files Overview tab. If no Display title is entered, the Main title will be used. 

  • Under Template type, choose Intake document, Progress note, Treatment plan, or Other document from the dropdown menu

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To exit these fields, click outside the grey area. After exiting, you can access the fields again by clicking the title at the top of the page.

Note: These fields can only be exited once you’ve entered a Main title and selected a Template type.


Customizing your template

In this section, we’ll cover how you can edit a note or form for your practice. This includes:

Important: When you make changes in the template builder, make sure to click Save.

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Understanding blocks

When you customize your template, you’ll be adding and editing two types of blocks: content blocks and format blocks. Content blocks provide areas to enter responses, while format blocks allow you to add more structure to the template.

There are multiple types of content blocks:

Content block Description
Short response
  • Provides a prompt and a single-line text field to enter short responses
Long response
  • Provides a prompt and a larger text field to enter longer responses
  • Recommended for open-ended questions
Single option 
  • Provides a prompt with multiple choices for a response
  • Only one choice can be selected
  • Each response has a radio button
Multiple options
  • Provides a prompt with multiple choices for a response
  • More than one choice can be selected
  • Each response has a checkbox
Dropdown
  • Provides a prompt and multiple responses via a dropdown menu
  • Only one response can be selected
Date
  • Provides a prompt and a date picker
  • The date’s format is MM/DD/YYYY
eSignature
  • Provides a prompt and an area that adds an eSignature when clicked
  • Date, time, and relationship to client will be collected
  • Only available for intake forms

There are also multiple types of format blocks:

Format block Description
Group
  • Provides a group title to indicate that the blocks below it are part of a specified section
Heading
  • Provides a heading title to indicate that the blocks below it are part of a general section
Description
  • Provides text that doesn’t require a response
  • Recommended for providing instructions or context for the form
Divider
  • Provides a line to clearly separate content and format blocks

Adding a block

Adding a new block is the first step to customizing your template. To do this, select a content or format block from the left column.

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When you add a new block, it’ll appear under the last block of the template. To place a new block in a certain position, click and hold the option from the left column and drag it to the desired location.

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Note: For more information on moving blocks, see Moving a block

When you’re viewing a block, all other blocks will collapse and appear shorter, allowing you to focus on one block at a time.

All content blocks contain an [Insert prompt and question] field, in which you can enter your prompt or question.

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If you’re adding a Short response block, you can also click Add suggested response to enter a suggested answer. When the text field for the Short response is selected, suggested answers will appear in a dropdown menu.

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If you’re adding a Single option, Multiple options, or Dropdown block, you can add multiple response options:

  • Add the first response in the [Insert option] field
  • To add another response option, select Add option

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The Single option and Multiple options blocks also allow a text field to be attached to a response option. To do this:

  • Check Text response under the option

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  • Enter a hint text
    • We recommend adding instructions or suggestions for the text response here

When the template is viewed, the hint text will appear grey if the option is selected and the text response field is empty.

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Note: You can view how your template appears as a form by clicking Preview in the template builder. For more information, see Previewing a custom template.

If you’re adding a Group block, see Using a Group block.


Editing a block

Blocks that’ve been added to your template can be edited at any time. To do this, click the collapsed block you’d like to edit:

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From here, you can make changes as needed. To adjust the type of block you’re editing, select the dropdown menu at the top of the block to make your choice.

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Moving a block

When customizing a template, you can rearrange the order of its blocks at any time. To move a block:

  • Click and hold the 6 dots on the top of the block you’d like to move

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  • Drag the 6 dots up or down to where you'd like to move it

Using a Group block

You can use a Group when you’d like to put certain prompts or responses into a specific section. 

Once you’ve added a Group block, you can drag content blocks to the dark grey area under the Group block to make them part of the group.

grouparea.simplepractice.templatebuilder.png

Note: Other format blocks can’t be added to a group.

Blocks under a group will be outlined in dark grey.

blocksinarea.simplepractice.templatebuilder.png

To remove a block from a group, drag it away from the group’s other blocks. 

Important: If you delete the Group block or adjust its type, the blocks within the group will also need to be deleted. You can recreate these blocks as needed.

When your template is viewed as a form, prompts under the group will appear in a smaller font.

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Note: Like the Group block, the Heading block can be used to indicate that the following blocks are part of a section. However, blocks under the Heading won’t be considered as part of a group, and prompts underneath won’t appear in a smaller font.


Requiring, duplicating, and deleting a block

To indicate that a content block is required to submit a form with the template, toggle Required on.

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When a block is required, the prompt or question will appear with a red asterisk to indicate to the client that it’s mandatory to answer.

Note: If a question isn't required, you or the client will be able to leave it blank. Any questions without an answer won't appear on a completed form or document.

To duplicate a block, click the duplicate icon.

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To delete a block, click the trash can icon.

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Note: Deleting a block can't be undone. If a block was deleted, you can recreate it as needed.


Previewing a custom template

Important: When you’re customizing your template, click Save before previewing your template. If you’re creating a new template from scratch, you’ll have to click Save for the Preview button to appear.

You can preview how a template appears as a form before you use it. To do this from the template builder, click Preview.

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You can also preview your templates from the Template library. To do this:

  • Navigate to Settings > Documentation > Template library
  • Click the eye icon next to the template

preview.simplepractice.templatelibrary.png


Printing or saving a custom template

Deleted templates can’t be recovered. Before deleting a custom template, you can print or save a copy of the form for your records.

To print or save a copy:

  • Navigate to Settings > Documentation > Template library
  • Click the eye icon next to the template

preview.simplepractice.templatelibrary.png

  • As you’re previewing the template, click Print in the top right corner

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  • You can choose to print or save as a PDF

Below, you can see what each document type will look like when exported or printed:

  • Intake forms

questionnairetemplate.simplepractice.questionnaire.png

  • Other documents

otherdocumentexample.simplepractice.otherdocument.png

  • Progress Notes

progressnoteexample.simplepractice.progressnote.png

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