A practice owner can approve one discharge letter template, have each clinician write a short structured summary, and let a safe AI tool turn it into a GP version and a plain-English patient version. The treating physio reads both against their summary and signs. The tool formats and simplifies; it never adds clinical content.
The clinical writing is the physio's craft; the practice owner's job is the frame around it. An owner decides three things: the template, who may use which tool with which data, and what must be checked before anything leaves the building. Get those right and the drafting step can give clinicians time back without a quiet loss of quality.
What the owner decides, and what the clinician decides
Discharge letters go wrong when nobody is sure whose decision something is. A short split keeps it clear.
| Decision | Owner | Treating clinician |
|---|---|---|
| Layout and headings of the letter | Approves once, reviews yearly | Uses as set |
| Which tools may touch patient data | Decides, with adviser | Follows |
| Who may send a letter | Sets the rule (for example, the treating clinician only) | Applies it |
| Diagnosis, outcome and recommendations | No | Decides and writes |
| Whether the patient agreed to the GP copy | Sets how it is recorded | Confirms before sending |
| Final wording of both letters | No | Reads, edits, signs |
The point is that the owner builds the guard rails and the clinician keeps the clinical voice. If you have not yet written down your wider rules on consent, records and sign-off, drafting a physical therapy policies and procedures manual with AI covers how to do it.
The approved template: one page for the GP
A GP wants the outcome and any action required, quickly. A good template puts those first and keeps everything else brief. Here is a layout an owner can approve, with a note on each part.
| Section | What goes in it | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Heading block | Patient reference, date, referrer, practice details, treating clinician | Fixed |
| Outcome in one line | Discharged with goals met, partly met or not met; number of visits and period of care | 1 to 2 lines |
| Reason for referral and presentation | As in the original referral, in one or two sentences | 2 sentences |
| What was done | Main interventions and the patient's response | 3 to 5 lines |
| Status at discharge | Key measures, comparing the start with now, as recorded | 3 to 5 lines |
| Advice given | Self-management and activity advice the patient received | 2 to 4 lines |
| Action for the GP, if any | Anything the clinician is asking the doctor to do, or "none" | 1 to 3 lines |
| When to return or be re-referred | The signs that should prompt contact | 2 lines |
| Sign-off block | Clinician name, role, registration number, date | Fixed |
The "action for the GP" box is the one to protect. It is what a busy doctor looks for, and it is the line a drafting tool is most likely to soften or drop. Make it a required field with "none" as an explicit answer.
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Buy nowThe patient copy: shorter and plainer
The patient letter is a different document, not a copy. It says what happened in everyday words, what the patient should keep doing, what to watch for and who to contact. Aim for a reading level that a tired adult can follow in two minutes: short sentences, no abbreviations, headings such as "What we did", "What to keep doing" and "When to get in touch". The simplest way to keep the clinical content aligned is to draft the patient version from the same clinician summary as the GP version, not from the GP letter. That also stops jargon sneaking across.
One shoulder discharge: summary, GP letter, patient letter
Take an illustrative clinic with five physios discharging about 25 patients a week. Each discharge used to cost the clinician around 12 minutes of letter writing (the practice's own estimate, so check yours). A clinician has just finished a course of care for a patient with a shoulder problem and fills in this short structured summary in the practice software or a plain document, with no name or date of birth.
Outcome: goals partly met. 8 visits over 7 weeks.
Referral reason: right shoulder pain with overhead reaching, 4 months.
Interventions: graded strengthening, mobility work, activity advice.
Start: could lift arm to 90 degrees, pain 6/10 on reaching.
Discharge: lifts to 150 degrees, pain 2/10 on reaching, sleeping better.
Goal not met: overhead lifting of a 5 kg object.
Advice given: continue home programme 3 times a week; avoid repeated
heavy overhead work for 4 weeks.
GP action: none requested.
Return if: pain wakes the patient most nights or strength drops.
Patient agreed to GP copy: yes, recorded on the intake form.That summary takes the clinician about three minutes. The prompt below turns it into the two letters.
You are formatting discharge letters for a physiotherapy practice
from a clinician's structured summary. Use ONLY the facts in the
summary. Do not add diagnoses, measurements, advice or opinions.
If a required field is missing, write "CLINICIAN TO COMPLETE:" and
name it.
Produce two documents:
1. A letter to the patient's GP, using the practice template headings
(Outcome, Referral and presentation, What was done, Status at
discharge, Advice given, Action for the GP, When to return),
under 250 words, professional and concise.
2. A letter to the patient in plain English at a reading age of about
12, with the headings What we did, How you are now, What to keep
doing, When to get in touch. Under 200 words. Address the
patient as [first name].
Summary:
[paste summary]The illustrative GP letter extract reads: "Outcome: discharged with goals partly met after 8 visits over 7 weeks. Status at discharge: shoulder elevation improved from 90 to 150 degrees; reaching pain reduced from 6/10 to 2/10. Goal not met: overhead lifting of a 5 kg object. Advice given: home programme three times a week; avoid repeated heavy overhead work for four weeks. Action for the GP: none requested." The patient version begins: "Hi [first name], you have finished your course of physiotherapy. Over eight visits your shoulder has moved a long way: you can now lift your arm much higher and reaching hurts a lot less."
The clinician reads both, compares against the summary line by line, fixes one phrase and signs. The phrase was in the patient letter, which closed with "your shoulder is back to normal". The summary never said that, and the overhead-lifting goal was not met. The clinician changed it to "your shoulder moves much more freely, though lifting heavy things above your head is still hard, so keep up your exercises". One sentence like that, caught before sending, is the whole reason for the comparison read. Time in this illustration: three minutes for the summary, two for the review, five in total against twelve before. Across 25 discharges a week that would come to roughly three hours (7 minutes times 25 is 175 minutes), but treat it as an estimate to test on your own practice, not a guarantee.
Choosing the tool: where patient data may go
This is the owner's most important decision. Ranked from the safest design down, the options look like this.
| Option | What to check | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Drafting built into your practice software | The vendor's data terms: where the data is held, whether it is used for training, who can see it | Usually the first choice, since data stays in one system |
| A business-plan AI workspace | Plan terms say business content is not used for training; sensible admin controls; your adviser has cleared it | Acceptable with minimal data and placeholders |
| An AI scribe with its own letter feature | Same data checks; where recordings and transcripts are stored and for how long | Acceptable if it passes the checks |
| A free personal chatbot account | Nothing is controlled by the practice | No, for any patient-related text |
ChatGPT Business and Claude Team both say on their pricing pages that business content is not used for training by default, and both start at two seats, at $20 a seat a month billed annually or $25 monthly (checked November 2026). Check the vendors' current terms and your own data-protection duties before relying on that. Even on a business plan, send the minimum: the clinician summary above, with no name, date of birth, address or reference number. Identifiers go in afterwards, in your own system. The patient data and AI confidentiality checklist gives a pre-paste routine, and the comparison of AI scribes for physical therapy shows what to ask vendors about data.
The sign-off rules to write down
Sign-off is not a glance. Write five rules into your procedure and make them visible to every clinician.
- The treating clinician signs. Not the practice manager, not a colleague, unless your procedure names a deputy for absences.
- Compare against the summary. Every figure and recommendation in either letter must match the clinician's summary and the record. A missing or invented line means the letter is not signed.
- "Action for the GP" is always filled in. With the content or with "none".
- Patient agreement to the GP copy is confirmed. The template shows where it is recorded; if it is not, the GP letter does not go.
- The sent versions are filed. Both signed letters go in the patient record, with the date and the sender.
A spot audit helps. Once a month, the owner or lead clinician takes five signed letters and compares each with its summary and the record. A single discrepancy found tells you whether the process works, and the review costs fifteen minutes. The principle is the same as in human review for AI work: a named person decides, and you check that they did.
Telling patients that AI helps draft their letters
Patients should not be surprised that AI helps draft their letters. A sentence on the intake form or privacy notice is enough: that the practice may use secure software, including AI tools, to help prepare correspondence, that the clinician reviews and signs every letter and that the patient can ask for more detail. Adapt the wording from telling patients you use AI note-taking, and have your adviser check it against the rules that apply to you.
Unplanned discharges, GP actions and simpler copies
A patient who stops attending without discharge
Not every course of care ends neatly. If a patient stops attending, the template needs an "unplanned discharge" variant: attendance dates, the last status recorded, the attempts made to contact them and any advice given. The clinician supplies those facts; the model formats them. The wording should say what happened ("did not attend after the fifth visit; two contact attempts made") and not guess why. An owner approves the variant once so clinicians are not improvising under time pressure.
A discharge with an action for the doctor
A clinician wants the GP to review medication because of a pattern of night pain. That sentence is clinical, and it is the clinician's own. The tool's job is to put it in the "Action for the GP" box in clear words, unchanged. A good check: the clinician reads that box first and last. If the model has softened "please review" into "you may wish to consider", they fix it. This is the single most important line in the letter.
A letter for a patient with limited reading comfort
For a patient who finds written English hard, the clinician can ask for an even simpler version: shorter sentences, a bulleted list of what to keep doing, and the phone number on its own line. The clinician checks that simplification has not changed the meaning, particularly in the advice section, where "avoid" and "reduce" mean different things. For exercise instructions that go with the letter, the method in creating home exercise programmes with AI for physio patients applies the same cautious approach.
Before and after: what a good GP letter changes
The template earns its keep when you compare it with what many clinics send now: a long, chronological account in which the point is buried. An illustrative before-and-after for the same shoulder discharge shows the difference.
| Typical long letter | Template letter |
|---|---|
| "Thank you for referring this patient, whom I first saw in the spring. At the first appointment we discussed a four-month history of discomfort..." (the outcome appears in paragraph four) | "Outcome: discharged, goals partly met, 8 visits over 7 weeks." |
| "We carried out a number of exercises and techniques and the patient seemed to respond reasonably well." | "Graded strengthening and mobility work; elevation improved from 90 to 150 degrees." |
| "It might be worth keeping an eye on things." | "Action for the GP: none requested. Return if pain wakes the patient most nights." |
The template version is shorter, gives measurements as recorded and makes the request, or its absence, unmistakable. Beyond any drafting time saved, the template brings consistency: every letter from every clinician reads the same way, so a GP learns where to look.
A one-page checklist the clinician ticks before signing
Give each clinician a printed or on-screen list that takes under a minute. The version below is filled in for the shoulder example so you can see how each tick is earned.
| Check | Ticked in the example because |
|---|---|
| Both letters use only my summary | Every number (90, 150 degrees; 6/10, 2/10; 8 visits; 7 weeks) matches |
| Outcome line is right | "Goals partly met" matches the summary, not "met" |
| Advice matches what I told the patient | Home programme three times a week; four weeks off heavy overhead work |
| Action for the GP is correct | "None requested" |
| Return advice is present in both letters | Night pain and loss of strength named in both |
| Patient agreement to GP copy recorded | Intake form, ticked |
| No identifiers in anything that went to a tool | Summary had none |
If any line cannot be ticked, the letter waits. That single rule, applied without exception, is what makes the drafting step safe.
Questions to put to a vendor before you choose a tool
Whichever route you take, ask the same questions and keep the answers on file. The owner can do this in an afternoon.
- Where is the data processed and stored, and for how long?
- Is content used to train or improve the vendor's models, and can that be switched off at account level?
- Who at the vendor can see our content, and under what circumstances?
- Can we delete a draft and the conversation, and does deletion really remove it?
- Does the vendor offer a data-processing agreement, and what does it say?
- Does the tool log who created and edited each draft?
- What happens to our data if we cancel?
Write down the date and who gave each answer. If a vendor cannot answer them, that tells you something. Your adviser or insurer may also have conditions on tools used with patient information, so ask them before you start rather than after.
Piloting with one clinician for two weeks
Do not switch the whole clinic on at once. Choose the clinician who writes the clearest summaries and ask them to use the routine for every discharge over two weeks. At the end, sit down with them and the owner and compare: how long each letter took, how many edits they made, what the model got wrong and what they would change in the template. Typical findings are small but useful: a heading that confuses, a prompt line that needs tightening, a field the summary form should require. After two weeks, adjust the template and the summary form, then bring in a second clinician, and a third. A phased start also gives you real figures for your own practice instead of someone else's.
During the pilot, the owner reads every letter. That is a few extra minutes per discharge and the cheapest quality control available. After the pilot, move to the monthly spot audit described above.
Skipped summaries, drifting advice and unsigned drafts
- The summary is skipped. A clinician pastes full notes to save time and the model picks out the wrong details. Fix: the template workflow starts from the structured summary only, enforced in the software form if possible.
- A recommendation drifts. "Avoid heavy overhead work for four weeks" becomes "avoid heavy lifting". Fix: the comparison read and the monthly spot audit.
- Identifiers leak. A name pasted into a chat. Fix: the template summary has no identifier fields at all, and staff are told what to do and who to tell if it happens.
- Letters sit unsent. Drafts pile up unsigned and discharge letters arrive weeks late. Fix: one named owner checks the unsigned list weekly, and the target is set in the procedure, for example within five working days.
Time per letter, days to send and audit discrepancies
Track three things for eight weeks: time per discharge from the clinician's side, days between discharge and letter sent, and the number of discrepancies found in the spot audit. If time falls, the delay falls and discrepancies stay at or near zero, keep going. If discrepancies appear, tighten the sign-off before you widen use. A practice that lets quality slip to save minutes has lost the point.
Agreeing the template, the tool rules and the audit routine in one sitting is the kind of job my AI implementation consultation covers.
Questions practice owners ask about discharge letters
Should the clinician or the AI write the clinical content?
The clinician. They supply a short structured summary of what was done, what changed and what happens next. AI turns that into the approved letter layout and a plain-English patient copy. Nothing clinical is added by the tool, and the clinician reads and signs the final letters.
Can I paste the treatment notes into a chat tool?
Not into a general consumer chatbot. Use your practice software's own drafting feature if it has one, or a business-plan tool whose terms say content is not used for training and that your adviser has cleared. Even then, pass the minimum: a short clinician summary with identifiers added afterwards.
Does the patient need to agree to the GP letter?
Sharing information with a patient's doctor is normally governed by your professional standards, the patient's agreement and the law where you practise. Record the patient's choice at the start of care, and check your own rules. Your template should have a field showing that agreement was recorded.
How long should the letter be?
One page for the GP, and a shorter, plainer page for the patient. Doctors read these between appointments, so lead with the outcome and any action needed from them. If a letter runs to two pages, the summary behind it is probably too long.
How do I stop the tool changing the clinical meaning?
Tell it to use only the supplied facts, flag missing fields instead of filling them and keep the clinician's wording for diagnoses and recommendations. Then require a comparison read: the clinician checks each statement in the letter against their own summary before signing.
Further reads
- Physical Therapy Patient Retention: AI Messages Between Visits — Patient messaging that sits alongside discharge correspondence.
- Is an AI Scribe Worth It for a Small Private Clinic? — Whether an AI scribe pays for itself in a small private clinic.
- Patient Reviews and AI Replies: Staying Within Confidentiality — Another place patient confidentiality limits what AI may see.
- Physiotherapy Clinic Software Compared: Which Has Built-In AI? — Check whether your clinic software drafts letters itself.
- How Small Law Firms Use AI to Draft Letters and Routine Documents — Another regulated service drafting routine letters with sign-off.
- Marketing a Physio Clinic With AI: Posts, Tips, and Newsletters — Keep marketing copy separate from clinical correspondence.
- AI Tools for Physiotherapy Clinics: What Each One Actually Does — Where letter drafting sits among other clinic AI tools.
- How Physiotherapists Use AI to Write Treatment Notes Faster — The clinician-side view of writing notes faster with AI.
- AI Tools and AI Development: The Complete 2026 Guide — the AI hub, including every tutorial in the AI-for-business series.
Sources: ChatGPT Business pricing page (openai.com) and Claude pricing page (claude.com), both checked 4 November 2026, for seat prices, two-seat minimums and no training on business content by default. Professional standards and consent rules for sharing patient information differ and change, so verify yours.