For Medical Assistants ·
What you'll accomplish
By the end of this guide, you'll have a shared Google Doc containing 15-20 professionally written, AI-polished patient communication templates — covering the most common portal messages, phone scripts, and patient instructions your team sends. Everyone on the team pulls from the same document, keeping communication consistent and reducing time spent writing from scratch.
What you'll need
Go to docs.google.com → "Blank document." Title it: "[Practice Name] — Patient Communication Templates." Click "Share" (top right) → enter your office manager's email and any MA colleagues → set to "Editor" so they can add templates too.
What you should see: A blank document shared with your team.
Create section headers for your most common communication types. Press Enter a few times, type the section name, then format it as "Heading 1" using the dropdown. Suggested sections:
📋 Portal Message Responses
📋 Appointment Reminder Scripts
📋 Lab Result Notifications
📋 Prior Authorization Updates
📋 Referral Status Updates
📋 Prescription Refill Responses
📋 Patient Education: Appointment Prep
📋 Difficult Situation Scripts
For each section, open your free chatbot (ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini) and ask for 2-3 templates. Start with the highest-volume categories.
For Portal Message Responses, use this prompt:
Write 3 patient portal message response templates for a medical assistant at a primary care practice. Cover these scenarios: 1) Patient asking about their lab results timeline, 2) Patient requesting a prescription refill, 3) Patient asking about a referral status. Use placeholder brackets like [PATIENT NAME], [PHYSICIAN NAME], [DATE]. Keep each under 75 words. Professional but friendly tone.
For Appointment Reminders, use:
Write 3 appointment reminder templates for a medical assistant: 1) Annual wellness visit, 2) Fasting blood draw (with prep instructions), 3) New patient first visit. Include date/time placeholders. Under 100 words each. Friendly and informative.
For Prescription Refill Responses, use:
Write 2 portal message templates for prescription refill situations: 1) Refill approved and sent to pharmacy, 2) Refill requires a visit before it can be renewed. Professional, brief, clear. Under 75 words each.
For each template, paste the AI-generated text into the appropriate section. Add a bold label before each template:
Template 1 — Lab Results Timeline: [paste template text]
Template 2 — Prescription Refill Request: [paste template text]
Show your physician the templates before finalizing — especially for anything clinical (lab result language, refill policies). They may want to adjust specific phrasing. Update the document based on their feedback.
At the top of the Google Doc, add a section called "How to Use This Document":
HOW TO USE: Find the template closest to your situation. Copy it (Ctrl+C), paste into your EHR portal or email, and replace all [BRACKETED PLACEHOLDERS] with actual information before sending. Do not send without replacing all placeholders.
Last reviewed: [date]. Contact [office manager name] to suggest additions.
For any scenario not covered:
Write a patient portal message template for a medical assistant to send when [describe the situation]. Use [brackets] for variable information. Under 80 words. Friendly and professional.
For a phone script:
Write a phone script template for a medical assistant calling a patient about [situation]. Include opening, key talking points, and how to close the call. Under 150 words.
For a Spanish version:
Translate this patient communication template to Spanish, keeping the same professional but warm tone: [paste English template]
For expanding the library:
We have templates for [list what you have]. What other common scenarios should we add to our patient communication template library for a [specialty] practice? List 10 ideas.