It's likely every SLP has been reminded of the "if it wasn't documented, it didn't happen" philosophy when writing the subjective section of a SOAP note. When documenting a teletherapy speech session, the virtual environment has a few unique considerations that could impact The "S" in a Teletherapy SOAP Note.
Pearson Clinical's telepractice implementation follows a "Five Theme Framework" (Eichstadt, Castilleja, Jakubowitz, & Wallace, 2013), which I've found helpful in organizing my thoughts for the "S" section in SOAP notes as well as teletherapy evaluation observations. While some of these questions may be similar to those that you mentally hash through in a in-person setting, there is definitely a tele-twist!
AUDIO/VISUAL Environment
Was troubleshooting required?
Was sound quality established and maintained, intermittent, delayed, or compromised?
Was video established and maintained, intermittent, delayed or compromised?
Were there background noises (i.e., pet, siblings) or visual distractions (i.e., objects on desk, snacks, toys, TV, video games)?
CLINICIAN Factors
How familiar were you with digital materials presented?
How familiar were you with your platform?
Did you collaborate with a learning coach?
Have you already established a virtual rapport with your student or client?
STUDENT/CLIENT Factors
Did your student attend to the screen?
Did they actively interact on screen and participate in tasks?
Did your student just wake up in the morning or from a nap?
How familiar and comfortable with technology is your student?
How competent with technology is your student?
MATERIALS
What type of digital or non-digital task was most engaging?
How did your student respond - via microphone or chat box?
MISCELLANEOUS
Did you make any recommendations?
Did you discuss home environment implementation?
Were they early, on-time, late, or having "connection difficulties"?
Did they disconnect early or get "kicked out"?
These questions can be helpful to ask while filling out your "S" section, but they certainly don't make report writing quicker. Are your SOAP notes taking WAYYY too much time? Are you looking for a clean, boring, black & white template that will get the documentation completed as efficiently as possible? Look no further...
Fillable Text Boxes
Drop down boxes for quick, frequently used verbiage
Customizable Drop down boxes (ability to freely type)
Automatic font re-sizing to fit your boxes
Auto-population of PHI and IEP goals in entire document
Digital signatures
All included in my Boring, Black and White SOAP Note Template for Teletherapy! This template is exactly what you've needed to reduce your documentation time.
RESOURCES
-Angela C. Hancock, MSP, CCC-SLP
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