Why Share Templates?
Sharing templates with your team ensures everyone uses consistent documentation formats. This improves quality, makes notes easier to review, and maintains standards across your practice.
Team Consistency
When everyone uses the same templates, notes look consistent across your practice, making coverage and chart review easier.
Sharing Options
Templates can be shared at different levels depending on who should have access.
Private (Default)
Only you can see and use the template. This is the default for all new custom templates.
Team
Share with all members of your team. Team members can use the template but cannot edit it unless given permission.
Organization
Share across your entire organization (all teams). Useful for organization-wide documentation standards.
How to Share a Template
Sharing a template is straightforward:
- Go to Template Library
- Find the custom template you want to share
- Click the ⋯ menu next to the template
- Select "Share"
- Choose the sharing scope (Team or Organization)
- Click "Share Template"
Permissions Required
Accessing Shared Templates
Shared templates appear in your Template Library alongside built-in and personal templates.
Finding Shared Templates
In the Template Library, you can filter by template source:
- All Templates: Shows everything you have access to
- Built-in: PatientNotes default templates
- My Templates: Templates you created
- Team: Templates shared with your team
- Organization: Organization-wide templates
Shared templates display a badge indicating who shared them and at what level.
Using Shared Templates
Using a shared template works exactly like using any other template:
- Select it when generating a note
- Add it to your favorites for quick access
- Set it as your default if preferred
Template Permissions
When sharing templates, you control what recipients can do with them.
| Permission | Description |
|---|---|
| Use | Can select the template for note generation (default) |
| Duplicate | Can make a personal copy to modify (default) |
| Edit | Can modify the shared template (must be granted) |
| Share | Can share with additional people (must be granted) |
Granting Edit Permission
To allow team members to edit a shared template:
- Open the template's sharing settings
- Find the "Permissions" section
- Toggle "Allow editing" on
- Save changes
Be Careful with Edit Access
Template Updates
When a shared template is updated, everyone using it sees the changes automatically for future note generations.
Update Notifications
Team members receive a notification when shared templates they use are updated. This keeps everyone aware of documentation changes.
Version History
Shared templates maintain version history. If an update causes issues, template owners can:
- View previous versions
- Compare changes between versions
- Restore a previous version if needed
Sharing Best Practices
Test before sharing—make sure your template generates good output before rolling it out to the team.
Use clear names—name templates descriptively so team members know when to use them.
Communicate changes—let your team know when you update a shared template and what changed.
Limit edit access—having one person manage template updates prevents confusion and conflicting changes.
Gather feedback—ask team members how templates are working and iterate based on input.
Unsharing a Template
To stop sharing a template:
- Go to Template Library
- Find the shared template
- Click the ⋯ menu and select "Sharing Settings"
- Change the sharing scope to "Private"
- Confirm the change
Effect on Team Members
Next Steps
Learn more about team management and collaboration features in PatientNotes.