--- title: Build a custom intake template in 15 minutes | Nextvisit description: "Build a Nextvisit intake template: editor path, variable tokens, required sections, and when to split into a second template." url: "http://localhost:3000/guides/build-custom-intake-template" type: static generatedAt: "2026-09-04T06:57:01.664Z" --- Guide # Build a custom intake template in 15 minutes Build a Nextvisit intake template: editor path, variable tokens, required sections, and when to split into a second template. Guide / For All providers / 4 min / Published February 19, 2026 / Updated April 12, 2026 A psychiatrist’s intake does not read like a therapist’s, which does not read like an NP’s medication-management intake. Default templates are a starting point. The same pattern works for any visit type. The template editor is at `/apps/custom-prompts`. Editing an existing template is at `/apps/custom-prompts/[id]/edit`. ## Step 1: bring a real intake note Open a recent intake you wrote yourself, ideally one you would be happy to receive from a colleague. Anonymize it. Strip the PHI. Keep the structure, section headings, prose patterns, and level of detail. The editor mirrors the example you give it. A polished real note in, a polished template out. If you do not have a recent intake that meets the bar, write one against a hypothetical patient with real clinical detail. Ten minutes on the example is the difference between a template you keep and one you replace next month. ## Step 2: open the template editor Go to `/apps/custom-prompts` and click New Template. Name it so it is obvious in six months. “Intake (psychiatry, adult)” beats “intake_v3.” Two areas matter: the prompt body (what you want the note to look like) and the variable token list (what AriaMD substitutes at runtime). ## Step 3: paste the example, then describe the structure Start the prompt body with one or two sentences on visit type and audience: > Adult outpatient psychiatry intake, 60 minutes. Generate the note in the structure below, in the voice of the treating psychiatrist, using clinical vocabulary appropriate to outpatient adult psychiatry. Paste the anonymized example below it. Above the example, write “Use the following note as the structural and stylistic reference.” The prompt sets intent. The example sets shape. Together they beat either one alone. ## Step 4: insert variable tokens Replace demographic and visit-context fields with tokens. Available at the time of writing: - `[patient_name]` - `[dob]` - `[age]` - `[gender]` - `[profession]` - `[provider_name]` - `[duration]` A header like “Jane Doe, 34F, occupation: librarian, seen by Dr. Smith on 4/12/2026” becomes “[patient_name], [age][gender], occupation: [profession], seen by [provider_name].” AriaMD substitutes the real values at runtime. Do not over-tokenize. Tokens are for fields that come from the patient record. Everything else is generated from the encounter audio and your prompt. ## Step 5: structural levers worth setting explicitly Spell these out in the prompt: - MSE format. “Render the mental status exam as a single paragraph in prose, not as a bullet list” or the reverse. - Diagnosis style. “Render diagnoses with ICD-10 codes in parentheses after the diagnostic name. Order primary first.” - Assessment voice. “Write the assessment in clinical reasoning prose that ties findings to the diagnosis and the plan. Avoid bulleted differential lists unless the case calls for it.” - Plan structure. “Organize the plan by domain: medications, psychotherapy, monitoring, follow-up, safety. Use short bullet items under each domain.” - Length. “Total note length should target 1.5 to 2.5 pages of clinical content for a standard 60-minute intake. Trim sections where the patient had little to report.” Those five sentences remove most day-one structural editing. ## Step 6: handle the things every intake needs State the sections that always belong in an outpatient psychiatric intake: > Always include sections for: chief complaint, history of present illness, psychiatric history, medical history, family psychiatric history, social history, substance use history, current medications, allergies, mental status examination, suicide risk assessment with C-SSRS reference, diagnosis, and plan. If the visit did not produce data for a section, mark it explicitly (e.g., “Family psychiatric history: deferred this visit, will obtain at follow-up”) rather than omitting the section. A marked deferral is more defensible than a missing section. A reviewer can see the field was considered. ## Step 7: save, run, and edit one real visit Save the template. On your next intake, select it as the note format. Record as usual. Read the draft as you would a colleague’s note and edit what does not match how you chart. The first generated note is rarely perfect. The second is closer. By the third intake, the remaining edits are usually patient-specific content, not structure. ## Step 8: come back and tune After three to five intakes, open the template again. Compare what you wrote in the prompt to what you signed. Recurring edits are the next prompt update. Common second-round refinements: - Adjusting a section that was consistently too long or too short. - Tightening assessment voice if the prose is more textbook than clinical. - Adding a sentence for a specific population (e.g., “When the patient endorses substance use, generate a brief substance-use review even if not part of the chief complaint”). - Removing a section that was not actually used. Two rounds of tuning is typical. After that the template stabilizes. ## When to make a second template instead of forcing one Do not make one template do adult outpatient, geriatric, child and adolescent, and addiction medicine. If two visit types have different structures, make two templates and pick at the start of the encounter. Templates are cheap. Bad notes are not. A reasonable starting set for a psychiatric practice: adult intake, adult med-management follow-up, child/adolescent intake, child/adolescent follow-up. A therapist might run: intake, DAP follow-up, BIRP follow-up, treatment-plan review. An NP/PA in addiction medicine might run: MAT intake, MAT follow-up, naltrexone visit, buprenorphine induction. The template runs on every visit you assign it to. Aria captures the audio, applies the prompt, substitutes the tokens, and produces the draft. The same prompt body can also drive AI Tasks. See it on your workflow ## Twenty minutes, one mock visit. You leave with a note in your template. We run a mock session live, draft the note, and walk through what the downstream claim would look like. No slides. No sales deck. [Book a demo](https://nextvisit.cal.com/ryan/demo) [Talk to sales](mailto:hello@nextvisit.ai) Live in 2 weeks or less BAA signed by default