This article is for anyone who documents patient visits or keeps notes on a patient's profile — providers, front-desk staff, and admins. What you're able to do depends on your workspace role; see Prerequisites below.
Prerequisites
Note access in Prospyr is controlled by your workspace role.
Creating notes: Owner, Provider, Workspace Admin, and standard User roles can all create notes. Whoever creates a note is automatically recorded as its author.
Editing notes: Owner, Provider, and Workspace Admin roles can edit every field on a note.
Important: A locked note is read-only in the editor, no matter what your role is. Only the note's owner, its original author, the assigned provider, or a provider who signed the note can unlock it.
Clinical notes vs. Office notes
Every note in Prospyr is one of two types, and it's worth knowing the difference before you create one.
Clinical notes are for documentation related to the patient's care — assessments, treatment details, and provider documentation.
Office notes are for internal, administrative, or operational information — things like scheduling context, follow-up reminders, or staff communications.
Both types are stored in the same patient chart and use the same note editor, but they appear under separate Clinical and Office tabs.
Important: Whether a note is visible to the patient (for example, in a patient portal) is controlled separately from its Clinical/Office designation, and notes are not shared with patients automatically.
How to add a note to an appointment
Go to Schedule and click the appointment you want to document.
In the pop-up window, click the link icon next to Appointment Details to open the full appointment.
Scroll down to the Notes section.
Click + New Note.
Choose Create Blank Note to start from scratch, or Use Previous Note as Template to pull in a previous note from that patient's record as your starting point.
Type your note content directly, or add a Smart Note template using the steps below.
When you're finished, click Save.
How to insert a Smart Note template into a note
Smart Notes are reusable clinical note templates that live inside a note — they save providers from typing the same visit structure over and over. You'll need a note already open (from the steps above) before you can insert one.
With your note open, type +. This brings up a list of your saved Smart Note call phrases.
Scroll the list, or type the call phrase, to find the template you want.
Select it to insert the template into your note.
Fill in any remaining fields, then click Save.
Note: Don't have any Smart Note templates set up yet, or want to build a new one? See Creating Smart Notes.
How to insert tables, photo markups, images, and flowsheets into a note
Smart Notes aren't the only thing you can drop into a note. With your note open, type / (or click the insert button) to bring up the insert menu, which also lets you add:
Tables — for side-by-side or structured data
Photo markups — see Photo Markup and Consumable Management
Images
Flowsheets — see Using Flowsheets within Smart Notes
Select the option you need from the menu, and it will insert directly into your note at the cursor.
How to add an office (general) note to a patient's profile
Not every note needs to live on an appointment. You can also add an office or general note directly to a patient's profile.
Open the patient's profile.
Click the Notes tab.
Toggle over to Office and click + Add Note.
Click Create Blank Note to start a new note or Use Previous Note as Template to start from an existing one.
Type your note.
Click Save.
How to share (or unshare) a note with a patient
Open the note you want to share.
Click the three dots to the right of the note.
Select Share with patient.
To unshare a note, follow the same steps — but now click UnShare with patient to remove it from the patient's view.
Common issues
I don't see a "+ New Note" button, or I can't edit a note. This is almost always a permissions issue. Check your workspace role — some user roles have limited editing access, and may not be able to add or edit notes at all. Ask your workspace Owner or Admin to confirm your role if you think this is a mistake.
Nothing shows up when I type "+" in a note. This means your workspace doesn't have any Smart Note templates created yet, or none that match what you typed. Head to Creating Smart Notes to set one up.
A note won't let me edit it. The note is likely locked. Locked notes can only be unlocked by the note's owner, its original author, the assigned provider, or a provider who signed it — reach out to one of them to make changes.