The patient is a 34-year-old male who comes to the clinic with complaints of redness and itchiness in both eyes..

To prepare:

Review this week’s Learning Resources, including the Focused SOAP Note Template.

Select a patient who you saw at your practicum site during the last 3 weeks. With this patient in mind, consider the following:

Subjective: What details did the patient provide regarding his or her personal and medical history?

Objective: What observations did you make during the physical assessment? Include pertinent positive and negative physical exam findings. Describe whether the patient presented with any morbidities and psychosocial issues.

Assessment: What were your differential diagnoses? Provide a minimum of three possible diagnoses. List them from highest priority to lowest priority and include their ICD-10 code for the diagnosis. What was your primary diagnosis and why?

Plan: What was your plan for diagnostics and primary diagnosis? What was your plan for treatment and management? Include pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatments, alternative therapies, and follow-up parameters, as well as a rationale for this treatment and management plan.

Reflection notes: What was your “aha” moment? What would you do differently in a similar patient evaluation?

Patient Information:

Initials, Age, Sex, Race

S.

CC (chief complaint): A brief statement identifying why the patient is here, stated in the patient’s own words (for instance “headache,” not “bad headache for 3 days”). 

HPI: This is the symptom analysis section of your note. Thorough documentation in this section is essential for patient care, coding, and billing analysis. Paint a picture of what is wrong with the patient. Use LOCATES Mnemonic to complete your HPI. You need to start EVERY HPI with age, race, and gender (e.g., 34-year-old AA male). You must include the seven attributes of each principal symptom in paragraph form not a list. If the CC was “headache,” the LOCATES for the HPI might look like the following example:

Location: Head

Onset: 3 days ago

Character: Pounding, pressure around the eyes and temples

Associated signs and symptoms: Nausea, vomiting, photophobia, phonophobia

Timing: After being on the computer all day at work

Exacerbating/relieving factors: Light bothers eyes; Aleve makes it tolerable but not completely better

Severity: 7/10 pain scale

Current Medications: Include dosage, frequency, length of time used, and reason for use; also include OTC or homeopathic products.

Allergies: Include medication, food, and environmental allergies separately. Include a QUESTION of what the allergy is (e.g., angioedema, anaphylaxis, etc.). This will help determine a true reaction vs. intolerance.

PMHx: Include immunization status (note date of last tetanus for all adults), past major illnesses and surgeries. Depending on the CC, more info is sometimes needed.
 

Soc & Substance Hx: Include occupation and major hobbies, family status, tobacco, and alcohol use (previous and current use), any other pertinent data. Always add some health promo question here – such as whether they use seat belts all the time or whether they have working smoke detectors in the house, living environment, text/cell phone use while driving, and support system.

Fam Hx: Identify illnesses with possible genetic predisposition, and contagious or chronic illnesses. Reason for death of any deceased first-degree relatives should be included. Include parents, grandparents, siblings, and children. Include grandchildren if pertinent.

Surgical Hx: Prior surgical procedures.

Mental Hx: Diagnosis and treatment. Current concerns: (Anxiety and/or depression).History of self-harm practices and/or suicidal or homicidal ideation.

Violence Hx: Concern or issues about safety (personal, home, community, sexual (current & historical)

Reproductive Hx: Menstrual history (date of LMP), pregnant (yes or no), nursing/lactating (yes or no), contraceptive use (method used), types of intercourse:oral, anal, vaginal, other, any sexual concerns

ROS: Cover all body systems that may help you include or rule out a differential diagnosis You should list each system as follows: General: Head: EENT: etc. You should list these in bullet format and document the systems in order from head to toe.

Example of Complete ROS:

GENERAL: No weight loss, fever, chills, weakness, or fatigue.

HEENT: Eyes: No visual loss, blurred vision, double vision, or yellow sclerae. Ears, Nose, Throat: No hearing loss, sneezing, congestion, runny nose, or sore throat.

SKIN: No rash or itching.

CARDIOVASCULAR: No chest pain, chest pressure, or chest discomfort. No palpitations or edema.

RESPIRATORY: No shortness of breath, cough, or sputum.

GASTROINTESTINAL: No anorexia, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. No abdominal pain or blood.

GENITOURINARY: Burning on urination. Pregnancy. Last menstrual period (MM/DD/YYYY).

NEUROLOGICAL: No headache, dizziness, syncope, paralysis, ataxia, numbness, or tingling in the extremities. No change in bowel or bladder control.

MUSCULOSKELETAL: No muscle, back pain, joint pain, or stiffness.

HEMATOLOGIC: No anemia, bleeding, or bruising.

LYMPHATICS: No enlarged nodes. No history of splenectomy.

PSYCHIATRIC: No history of depression or anxiety.

ENDOCRINOLOGIC: No reports of sweating, cold, or heat intolerance. No polyuria or polydipsia.

REPRODUCTIVE: Not pregnant and no recent pregnancy. No reports of vaginal or penile discharge. Not sexually active.

ALLERGIES: No history of asthma, hives, eczema, or rhinitis.

O.

Physical exam: From head to toe, include what you see, hear, and feel when doing your physical exam. You only need to examine the systems that are pertinent to the CC, HPI, and History. Do not use “WNL” or “normal.” You must describe what you see. Always document in head to toe format (i.e.) General: Head: EENT: etc. 

Diagnostic results: Include any labs, X-rays, or other diagnostics that are needed to develop the differential diagnoses (support with evidence and guidelines)

A.

Differential Diagnoses: You must have at least three differentials with supporting evidence. Explain what rules each differential in or out and justify your primary diagnosis selection. Include pertinent positives and pertinent negatives for the specific patient case.

P. 

Includes documentation of diagnostic studies that will be obtained, referrals to other health care providers, therapeutic interventions, education, disposition of the patient, and any planned follow-up visits. Each diagnosis or condition documented in the assessment should be addressed in the plan. The details of the plan should follow an orderly manner. 

Also included in this section is the reflection. Reflect on this case and discuss whether or not you agree with your preceptor’s treatment of the patient and why or why not. What did you learn from this case? What would you do differently?

Also include in your reflection, a discussion related to health promotion and disease prevention taking into consideration patient factors (such as age, ethnic group, etc.), PMH, and other risk factors (e.g., socioeconomic, cultural background, etc.).