---
{"title": "How to write patient progress updates for physical therapists", "description": "Steps, tools and checks for physical therapists writing patient progress updates, from gathering the notes to a filed record.", "url": "https://xpdaily.com/how-to-write-patient-progress-updates-for-physical-therapists/", "date": "2026-10-24"}
---
Steps, tools and checks for physical therapists writing patient progress updates, from gathering the notes to a filed record.

Collect the session notes for the period, the measurements you repeat and the goals set at the start. Then write the update in a fixed order: what changed, what was measured, what was done in the sessions, what the patient reports and what comes next. Read it back against the notes before it goes into the record.

| Option | How it helps you write the update | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Paper and a printed form | You fill in the headings the clinic uses by hand and file the page with the notes | not published |
| A word processor with a saved template | You type the update into a page you reuse each period, so the order stays the same | not published |
| QuickDictate | Types what you say into whichever window is in use, such as an editor, a chat box or a web form [^1] | Free for personal and other noncommercial use, with no subscription or account, and cloud providers bill you separately [^1]; commercial use needs a separate licence [^1] |

## What you need before you start

Writing an update goes faster when everything it has to mention is already in front of you.

- **The period it covers.** Know the first and last session date, because the update speaks only for that stretch of care.
- **Your session notes.** The update reports what the notes say. Anything that is not in the notes should stay out of the update.
- **The measurement you repeat.** Pick the measure the update will report and have the earlier result beside the new one, so the change can be described.
- **The goals set at the start.** The update has to say where the patient stands against those goals, in the patient's own terms.
- **The format the clinic or payer asks for.** Some want short headings, some want a paragraph. Check the required version before starting.
- **A place to write and keep it.** A document, a template or the record system works. What matters is that the finished update is stored where the clinic expects to find it.
- **A quiet block of time.** Writing between patients leads to gaps and to sentences the notes cannot support.

Set that block after the last session in the period rather than in the middle of a treatment day.

## Step by step

These steps work with any tool, including a pen and a printed form.

1. **Open the notes for the period.** Put the session notes in date order before writing a line, so nothing from the period is missed.
2. **Set the header.** Patient name, the dates the update covers, the date it was written and the clinician writing it.
3. **List the measurements with their dates.** Each result goes down with the measure used and the day it was taken, so the reader knows what was compared with what.
4. **Place the earlier result beside the new one.** A number on its own says little. The change since the last update is what the reader looks for.
5. **Describe the change in function.** Say what the patient can now do that they could not do before, and what still stops them, in words a patient would use.
6. **Say what was done in the sessions.** Keep to the treatment given and how the patient responded to it.
7. **Record what the patient reports.** Pain, confidence, the home program and any change at home belong here, shown as the patient's own account.
8. **State the plan for the next period.** What will be worked on, how often it will be reviewed and what will be measured again.
9. **Flag what needs a decision.** A referral, a change in visit frequency or a question for another clinician goes at the end, in plain words.
10. **Read it back against the notes.** Strike any sentence the notes cannot support, then sign it and store it where the clinic expects.

Keep the same order every period. A reader who meets the same sections each time can find the change without hunting for it.

Write the update in one sitting, close to the last session it covers, rather than in pieces across the week. If a detail is missing, mark it and go back to the note rather than filling the gap from memory.

## Tools that can do it

You do not need software built for clinical notes for this. Here are options to consider.

**Paper and a printed form.** A printed page with the headings the clinic uses, filled in by hand and filed with the notes. Nothing is published here about price or limits, because it depends on what the clinic already holds.

**A word processor with a saved template.** One page with the headings already typed and reused each period, so the order stays the same. Facts about specific word processor apps are not provided here, so check their own pages for limits and cost.

**QuickDictate.** QuickDictate is made by the team that publishes this site. It is a Windows program that types what you say into whichever window you are using, such as an editor, a chat box or a web form, so an update can be spoken into the program that already holds the note [^1] [^1]. A key is held while talking, or pressed once to start and once to stop, and both keys can be changed [^1]. Words and phrases that matter, such as patient names and clinical terms, can be listed and sent to the provider to help it recognise them, and a replacement table fixes spellings such as "Chat GPT" to "ChatGPT" [^1]. Saying "scratch that" throws away the text just dictated instead of inserting it [^1]. Profiles can change the provider, language, vocabulary and formatting depending on which app is in focus [^1], and the last 50 dictations can be browsed and filtered in the settings, where they survive a restart or an update [^1].

Dictation runs on ElevenLabs, Deepgram, OpenAI, AssemblyAI, DashScope or Google, the speech services that turn what you say into text, and that provider bills you directly for what it handles [^1]. With five of those providers, words appear while you are still talking [^1]. Choose Local in the settings and install a speech model such as Whisper Large v3 Turbo, and dictation then needs no internet connection or API key [^1]. QuickDictate itself is free for personal and other noncommercial use, with no subscription or account, and the cloud providers bill you separately for their service [^1]. Commercial use needs a separate licence: from v0.9.0 it is source-available under PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0, and releases up to v0.8.0 were MIT [^1]. It runs only on 64-bit Windows 10 and 11 [^1] and comes as an .exe file on GitHub with a built-in updater [^1].

## Common mistakes to avoid

**Writing from memory.** The update reports what the notes say. A detail remembered but never written down is hard to stand behind if someone else reads the record.

**Reporting a number with nothing to compare it with.** Give the earlier result in the same sentence, so the change is visible without a search.

**Copying the last update and changing the dates.** It reads well and says nothing new, and it can claim progress that never happened.

**Leaving the plan out.** A reader who cannot see what comes next cannot tell whether the care is on track.

**Using clinic shorthand with the patient or the payer.** Spell out abbreviations the first time and keep the wording plain.

**Filing without reading it back.** If the update was dictated, check every name, number and side of the body in the typed text before it goes into the record.

## Frequently asked questions

### What should a physical therapy progress update include?

Start with the period covered, then the measurements taken and how they compare with the last update. Describe what the patient can now do in daily function. Say what was done in the sessions and how the patient responded. Finish with the plan for the next period and anything that needs a decision, such as a referral or a change in visit frequency.

### Can QuickDictate be used for patient progress updates?

QuickDictate is a Windows program that types what you say into whichever window you are using, such as an editor, a chat box or a web form, so an update can be spoken into the document or record that already holds the note [^1] [^1]. The words land as text, which still needs reading back against the notes before it is filed. It runs only on 64-bit Windows 10 and 11 [^1].

### Does QuickDictate work without an internet connection?

Choose Local in the settings and install a speech model such as Whisper Large v3 Turbo, and dictation then needs no internet connection or API key [^1]. The speech model has to be installed before that works. The program itself runs only on 64-bit Windows 10 and 11 [^1], so a clinic machine should be checked against that first. Cloud providers can still be used when a connection is available [^1].

### Can QuickDictate recognise physical therapy terms and patient names?

Words and phrases can be listed and sent to the provider to help it recognise them, and a replacement table fixes spellings such as "Chat GPT" to "ChatGPT" [^1]. Profiles can change the provider, language, vocabulary and formatting depending on which app is in focus [^1]. Saying "scratch that" discards the text just dictated instead of inserting it [^1].

### Is QuickDictate free for a physical therapy clinic?

QuickDictate is free for personal and other noncommercial use, with no subscription or account [^1]. Commercial use needs a separate licence: from v0.9.0 it is source-available under PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0, and releases up to v0.8.0 were MIT [^1]. A clinic that bills for its work should check which of those applies to its use before relying on the free terms. Cloud providers bill separately for their service [^1].

QuickDictate is free for personal and other noncommercial use, with no subscription or account. Cloud providers bill you separately for their service. [^1] - [Visit QuickDictate](/go/start)

## Sources

[^1]: QuickDictate's own description of itself (the product of this site's publisher) (/go/start)