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Download treatment plan template in Microsoft Word format.
Document Patient Care with a Treatment Plan Template
Are you a mental health professional in need of a working example of a treatment plan? Have you considered borrowing a treatment plan template from the Internet, one which is already pre-formatted with the appropriate fields you require? When treating a patient in either a hospital or outpatient setting, a treatment plan will be necessary to document the various therapies, procedures, tests and medications used to treat the underlying condition(s) of which the patient complains. In this article we will briefly describe what a treatment plan is, followed by some topics and fields that should always be included in a treatment plan template.
What Is a Treatment Plan?
Treatment plans are used by a variety of health care providers, including doctors, nurses, and dentists, but they are especially important to the mental healthcare provider. In mental health, the treatment plan is a document that spells out the progression of therapy and other strategies that will be used in the treatment of a patient. The specific format for these documents varies depending on the doctor and/or hospital administering the treatment, the requirements of the insurance company or the facility hosting the services, and the severity of the patient’s condition. Treatment plans can range from very formal-looking documents to simple handwritten notes depending on the situation.
Although treatment plans are designed to predict and outline the appropriate treatment strategy for a particular patient, there will undoubtedly be occasions when treatment goals and strategies will change. Consequently, most doctors prefer working with a treatment plan template—one which they can alter as the treatment plan progresses based on the current needs of the patient.
Treatment Plan Template: What Should Be Included
As mentioned above, the specific format of a treatment plan will vary depending on various circumstances, but as a general rule, it is typically a four-part document that will include each of the following areas:
• Presenting Illness or Problem. In this section the mental health professional will typically list the main issues and symptoms the patient is dealing with, including the issue that prompted him/her to seek mental health services. This should be very specific, because often this document will need to be shown to the patient’s insurance company as proof that treatment is needed.
• Goals of Therapy. The “goals of therapy” will generally be provided by the patient unless that patient is quite debilitated. This section is where the doctor will briefly list the short and long term goals of the patient—goals which will be obtained as the result of treatment.
• Methods. The “Methods” section should contain a list of the various treatment strategies, including things such as therapy and medication, which will be used to reach the desired goals listed above.
• Timeframe. In this section the doctor will generally list the various time frames in which each of the short and long-term goals will be achieved. These time components can be listed in terms of days, sessions, etc.
A proper treatment plan template, besides containing the sections listed above, should also allow space in which the patient can fully participate in creating the plan. Once created, the patient and provider will sign the document and it will immediately go into effect as the treatment template that both doctor and patient will follow to reach the desired goals.