Note templates

A note template is a reusable scaffold for your clinical notes. It sets the structure and standard wording the scribe fills in as you speak during an appointment, so every note comes out consistent and complete without you typing it from scratch.

What a template does

A template is a piece of text made of three kinds of building blocks. Anything you write that isn't one of these is reproduced word for word in the finished note.

• Placeholders — text in square brackets, like [Patient Name]. These mark a spot to be filled in.
• Placeholders with a default value — add a value after a double colon, like [Tooth::14]. The default is used unless something replaces it.
• Generators — an instruction in angle brackets, like <Generate a greeting>. This tells Rebrief what to write at that position, rather than printing the instruction itself.

Anything outside brackets is verbatim text and appears exactly as written.

Tip: Use the Preview button while building a template to see how the body reads before you save it.

Default templates vs. your clinic's templates

The Templates page shows two kinds of templates:

• Default templates — built-in standard templates that come with Rebrief, marked with a Default badge. They're shared and read-only: you can open and read one, but it shows a Read only label and can't be edited.
• Your clinic's templates — templates your practice has created. These are fully editable by your team.

You can search by name, filter by when a template was created (last 7, 30, or 90 days, or all time), and sort newest first, oldest first, or alphabetically.

Creating and editing templates

To make a new one, choose New Template on the Templates page, enter a descriptive title, write the body using verbatim text, placeholders, and generators, then choose Save Edits.

To change an existing template, open one of your clinic's templates from the list, make your edits, and choose Save Edits. Default templates open in read-only mode, so there's nothing to save on those.

How a template is applied to a note

During an appointment, the notepad has a Template selector at the top. Use it to pick which template structures this note.

• When you have both kinds, the dropdown groups your choices into Your clinic's templates and Standard templates. With only one kind, it shows a single flat list.
• If you don't pick one, the note stays Unclassified — no template applied.
• Whatever you choose sets the scaffold the scribe fills in as you talk.

Note: Choosing a template shapes how the note is structured and filled — it doesn't lock the note. You can still edit the note text directly at any time.