Writing effective section prompts
A section is a specific part of your clinical document that groups related information together. For example, a document might contain sections such as History of Present Illness, Medications, Allergies, Assessment, or Plan.
With custom sections, you can create your own section for information that is important to your workflow. You define what information the AI should capture in that section by writing a prompt.
Notice
Example:
Section: Medication Adherence
Prompt: Include current medications, missed doses, reasons for missed doses, and reported difficulties following the medication plan.
The section title tells you and the reader what the section is about. The section prompt tells the AI what information to include in that section.
What is a section prompt?
A section prompt tells the AI what information to include or exclude in your custom section.
A good prompt clearly describes the information you want captured and, when useful, what should be left out.
How to write a good section prompt
Include what belongs in the section
Be specific about the information you want to capture.
Example:
Best practice:Include: Current medications, including medication name, dose, frequency, and any reported changes.
Provides clear guidance about the information you expect to be written within the section.
Poor practice: Include: Medications.
Provides ambiguous instruction and lacks clear detail.
Exclude information that should not be written in the section
Exclude information that should not be written in the sectionUse Exclude when information could be confused with another section or should not appear in this section.
Example:
Include: Current symptoms, their duration, and severity.
Exclude: Diagnoses, treatment plans, and examination findings.
Keep your prompt focused
Describe what information should appear, rather than how it should be written.
Best practice:
Include: Previous diagnoses, surgeries, hospital admissions, and significant past illnesses.
Poor practice:
Write a clear and concise summary of the patient's medical history.
Be specific
The more clearly you describe the information you want, the easier it is for the AI to produce the section you expect.
More specific:
Include previous surgeries, hospital admissions, chronic conditions, and significant past illnesses.
Less specific:
Include relevant history.
Use Include and Exclude together when helpful
You don't always need both. Use Include to define what belongs in the section, and add Exclude when you need to clarify boundaries.
Example:
Include: Family history of significant medical conditions and hereditary risks.
Exclude: The patient's own diagnoses and current symptoms.
Before saving your prompt
Ask yourself:
Have I clearly described what I want to capture?
Have I included the most important details?
Could any information be confused with another section?
If so, have I added an Exclude instruction?
Am I describing what to include, rather than how it should be written?
Good vs. unclear prompts
Less clear | More effective |
|---|---|
Symptoms | Include the patient's main symptoms, duration, severity, and factors that improve or worsen them. |
Medications | Include current medications, dose, frequency, adherence and reported side effects. |
History | Include relevant past medical history related to the current complaint. |
Tips for writing prompts
Be specific about the information you want.
Focus on one purpose per section.
Use clear, direct instructions.
Avoid asking the section to cover information that belongs elsewhere.
Avoid asking the AI to make assumptions or infer information that was not documented.
Avoid unnecessary instructions or repetition.
What to avoid
Very broad instructions: "Write everything about the patient."
Contradictory instructions.
Asking for information that is not available in the dictation.
Asking the AI to diagnose, interpret, or infer information unless this is explicitly intended and supported by your workflow.
Character limit
Your prompt can contain up to 5,000 characters. A character counter will show how much you have entered. You can continue beyond this limit, but keeping prompts concise is recommended for better results.
Example: complete custom section
Section: Medications & Allergies
Include:
Include current medications, dose, frequency, adherence, relevant side effects, allergies and adverse drug reactions.
Exclude:
Do not include treatment recommendations or medication changes unless explicitly discussed during the consultation.