How to add Diagrams to SOAP Notes

There are many useful diagrams/drawings contained in SW or available for download from the SW On-Line Library. However, they are set up to be inserted in the chart section "Drawings", NOT in a SOAP Note. The diagrams/drawings are actually Docuplates. In order to add a diagram/drawing to a SOAP Note, follow these steps:

First, open the Docuplate Manager (F6). Search for the drawing you want. For example, if you want a diagram of the back, search for 'back'. You may get several docuplates listed. Some of these will be of Location 'SOAP Notes', while others will be of Location 'Drawings'. To sort the list, click on the Location column header.

Now, find the drawing you want. If it is not in your local database, download it from the SW On-Line library. Select the docuplate in the list, and the drawing will be displayed in the right hand panel. At the top will be a box listing the Shortcut, Description, Keywords, and Section. Notice that the Section will be grey and there will be a box with '...' next to it. Click on the '...' and you will get an option to select the Default location for the docuplate, and Drawings will be highlighted. Change this to SOAP Notes under the Encounter section and click select. You may want to add your own shortcut so you will easily be able to find the diagram routinely. (For your example, 'botback'.) Now you can close the Docuplate manager.

Next, open your patient's chart and start a new encounter for their visit. Use F5 and enter the name of the docuplate for the drawing (botback), and the drawing will be inserted in a new tab next to the SOAPMF note you are using. If you click on that tab, you will see that in the upper right are the drawing tools to allow you to highlight or mark the location where you gave the injection. (Or if this was a pain patient, to highlight where the pain is located and mark the pain's intensity, etc.)

The problem with how this works is that the diagram can't be directly entered into the objective section of the progress note - it is created as a separate page. So, if you go to print the progress note, the diagram won't automatically print with it. To solve this, there is one final step:

Open the Document Designer (Tools -> Document Designer), and open the document design for your progress note. On the menu bar, click Edit and choose Design Properties. On the Macros tab, check the box for Include all associated Documents. Click OK, then Close the document designer being sure to SAVE the changes to the document design.

Now, when you print the Progress Note, both the SOAPMF note and the diagram will print.