Adding progress notes for group appointments

If you hold a group appointment, you can add a progress note for the whole group, as well as for each individual client.

Important: Group appointments are only available on the Plus plan. To learn more about group appointments in SimplePractice, see Setting up group appointments.

In this guide, we’ll cover:

• Viewing the appointment page for a group appointment
• Adding progress notes for a group appointment
• Editing, printing, downloading, or deleting progress notes for group appointments
• Attaching files to a group appointment
• Signing progress notes for a group appointment
• Sharing group progress notes with clients for e-signature

Note: For more information on progress notes, see Adding progress notes for individual appointments.

Viewing the appointment page for a group appointment

To view the appointment page for a group appointment:

1. Navigate to the Overview page of a client included in a group appointment
2. Select the Group Appointment in question

On the group appointment page, you’ll see areas to add a group note and individual notes for each client. The number of participants and the appointment’s clinician will appear at the top of the page.

You’ll also be able to view the attendance status of each client under the Individual notes section. Each symbol indicates the following:

• Green checkmark: Show
• Yellow X: Canceled or Clinician canceled
• Red X: Late Canceled or No show

Under the Appointment Info tab, you’ll be able to view and edit the appointment’s details.

Note: To learn more about navigating the appointment page and the Appointment Info tab, see Navigating the appointment page.

If you select the Participants tab, you’ll see a list of all the clients in the group.

Tip: Hover over each symbol under a client to view their contact information. If you have permission to contact them in their client profile, you can view the client’s phone number and email address.

Adding progress notes for a group appointment

To add a group note for all clients, choose a template from the dropdown menu under Group note, then enter the note’s text. You can click Save at any time.

Note: A group note will appear in each client’s chart.

To add a separate progress note for a certain client, select a template under Individual notes. This template will apply to all individual notes.

After selecting a template, click Add note next to the client’s name.

A text box will then appear for the client. You can enter the note’s content and click Save to record the client’s individual note.

Note: If you select a new template after saving at least one individual note, all individual notes previously entered for the appointment will need to be deleted. You can choose Keep current template to navigate back to the page or click Change template to delete the notes.

There isn't a way to Load last note, view documentation history, track treatment progress, or add psychotherapy notes for group appointments at this time.

If a group appointment is missing progress notes, you’ll receive a notification about this. For more information on notifications, see Using practice notifications.

Editing, printing, downloading, or deleting progress notes for group appointments

Important: Locked notes can’t be edited or deleted. To make changes, see Unlocking a locked progress note. If you unlock progress notes for a group appointment, all group and individual notes will need to be unlocked.

To edit a group or individual note, click Edit next to the note. If you’d like to delete a progress note, click the trash can icon.

To print or download a progress note:

1. Click More on the top of the appointment page
2. Choose Print or Download

3. Select which clients you’d like to print or download progress notes for
4. Click Continue to print/download

Note: All clients will be selected by default.

When downloaded or printed, a client’s progress notes for a group appointment will include their group note and individual note.

Attaching files to a group appointment

As with individual appointments, you can attach a file to a group appointment and share it with your clients.

To attach a file to an appointment and share it with client(s):

1. Click the paper clip icon

2. Click Upload and choose the file you'd like to attach
3. Make sure to check the box for each client that should be associated with the file

4. Once you’ve chosen the clients, click Complete upload

Note: All clients will be checked by default.

Signing progress notes for a group appointment

Once you’ve completed your progress notes for a group appointment, you can sign all notes at once by clicking Sign at the top of the page.

Note: There isn’t a way to only sign certain progress notes for a group appointment.

Select Sign and lock in the next window to sign and lock your progress notes. 

If a client that’s marked as Show for the appointment is missing an individual note, you’ll see a warning about this when you click Sign:

Note: If you click Yes, continue to sign, you won’t be able to add an individual progress note for a client unless you unlock the progress notes. Clients that don’t have individual progress notes after signing will appear at the bottom of the Individual notes section.

Sharing group progress notes with clients for e-signature

After signing and locking progress notes for a group appointment, you can share them with each client for their e-signature.

Note: Both the group note and the client’s individual note are included when you share progress notes with a client from a group appointment. There isn’t a way to only send the group note or individual note.

To do this:

1. Click Share at the top of the Appointment page

2. Choose which client to share progress notes with
3. Select Share notes

4. Click Continue to Email and follow the prompts to send the email to the client
   • This email will contain a link to the Client Portal, where they’ll be able to access their individual and group progress notes

Tip: If you’d like to send progress notes to multiple clients, follow the above steps for each client.

You can also share signed progress notes for a group appointment by selecting Share at the top right of the client’s Overview page. These notes will appear with Group appointment in the title, along with the date of service.