If you find yourself typing the same worklist entry, the same referral note, or the same letter intro over and over, Healthquest’s templating tools were built for exactly that problem. A little setup time turns repetitive documentation into a couple of clicks.
Worklist Templates
Worklists are one of the easiest places to save time, since so many clinics generate the same handful of task types day after day.
Setting up task codes: Go to Setup > Worklist Setup > Codes > Task Code, click Add Item, assign a unique one-digit code, and type the description that staff will see in the worklist dropdown. Mark it active to make it selectable, or inactive when it’s retired.
Building the template: Go to Setup > Worklist Setup > Templates and click New. Give the template a name — often the same as the description, so it’s recognizable in the worklist. Select the applicable task category and assign it to either a specific employee or a job class. Job class is usually the better choice, since the person in that role may change over time while the job itself doesn’t.
From a patient chart, generating a new worklist entry is now a matter of clicking the template — it fills in the description and recipient automatically, and you can still add notes if needed.
Referral Management Templates
Referral templates work the same way, and they help make sure referrals don’t get lost in the process.
Go to Setup > Referral Management Templates > New. Assign the template with a name, mark it as incoming or outgoing, set the status (commonly “pending”) and priority, and assign it to a specific person or job class — usually your referral coordinator. You can add default notes and even lists to which supporting documents should be attached.
A time-saving pairing: if you use the same template consistently, set it as a default under Setup > Program Setup > Referral Management. Once that’s in place, click New Ref or Save with Ref from a letter, form, or scan will automatically apply the right template — no extra selection required. Many clinics set incoming referrals (often coming in by fax and indexed to a chart) to route straight to whoever triages them, and outgoing referrals to default to the referring provider.
Letter Templates
Letter templates go a step further by pulling information directly from the chart, so providers spend less time typing and more time reviewing.
Go to Setup > Letters > Letter Template Entry and click New. Assign a name, select a provider if the template is specific to one, and choose a letter type.
From there:
- Place form fields to pull in the patient’s identifying information automatically.
- Place form fields for the receiving provider’s information — handy for referrals to a specialist.
- Pull in problem history, medications, or chart metadata like vitals directly into the letter (a current BMI auto-populated into a surgical referral, for example, saves a lookup).
- Leave the main body blank if your workflow involves pasting in notes from an AI scribe.
- Use placeholders like ?? for anything that still needs to be filled in by hand.
To use a template, click New Letter, select your template, and the letter wizard fills in the provider and type automatically. If your account doesn’t have the letter wizard turned on, you can still apply a template manually — it just takes a couple of extra clicks.
Why This Is Worth the Setup
None of these templates are complicated to build, but each one removes small, repeated typing tasks from your day. Multiply that across every worklist entry, referral, and letter your clinic generates, and it adds up to real time back for your team.
FAQ
Should I assign worklist templates to a person or a job class?
Job class is usually the better choice — it keeps working correctly even if the person in that role changes, since the job itself doesn’t disappear.
How do I make referral templates apply automatically?
Set your commonly-used template as a default under Setup > Program Setup > Referral Management. Then clicking New Ref or Save with Ref applies it without an extra selection step.
Can letter templates pull information from the chart automatically?
Yes. You can place form fields for patient and provider information, and even pull in problem history, medications, or vitals like BMI directly into the letter.
What if I don’t have the letter wizard turned on?
You can still apply a letter template manually — click New, select the letter type and provider, then click Template to find and apply it. It just takes a couple of extra clicks compared to the wizard.
Next up: Form templates, form groups, and form management — including how to clean up a forms list that’s grown out of control.