ℹ️ This comprehensive guide covers all available customization options including AI model selection, language settings, clinic-wide rules, personal preferences, and training examples to ensure your SOAP notes meet the highest professional standards while saving valuable time.
How to Access QuickSOAP Settings
To access QuickSOAP Settings in your Digitail account:
Navigate to any Patient profile, Flowboard or My Dashboard
Click the QuickSOAP button to open the QuickSOAP drawer
Look for the Settings icon (⚙️) in the top-right corner of the QuickSOAP drawer
Click the Settings icon to open the Settings modal
If you don't see the QuickSOAP feature in your account, please contact support to activate Tails AI Dictation for Quick SOAPs as it may require activation for your clinic.
📌 Permission Note: Some settings like Clinic Rules require administrator permissions. If you see a "View Only" badge on certain sections, contact your practice administrator to update your User Role and Permissions.
Highlights of QuickSOAP Settings
QuickSOAP Settings are organized into three main sections, each designed to customize different aspects of your AI-powered documentation experience.
Language & Voice Configuration
Optimize your voice recognition setup:
Language Selection: Choose between English (recommended for maximum medical accuracy), Multilingual Auto-detection( detects at the same time any of: English, Spanish, French, German, Hindi, Russian, Portuguese, Japanese, Italian, Dutch) or multiple other languages.
Microphone Testing: Verify proper microphone access and functionality.
Rules & Preferences Management
Create comprehensive documentation standards:
Clinic Rules (Special Permission Required)
Apply to all team members in your practice
Ensure clinic-wide consistency and compliance
Examples: Pain assessment protocols, body condition scoring requirements, drug dosage documentation
Personal Rules
Apply only to your individual SOAP notes
Customize documentation to match your personal style
Examples: Specific examination techniques, preferred terminology, detailed findings format
Additional Instructions
Case-specific guidance for individual consultations
Template-based options for common documentation styles
Temporary modifications without changing permanent rules
Preview SOAP Generation
Test your settings with real examples:
Multiple Test Cases: Annual exams, emergency visits, quality of life consultations, puppy checks
Real-time Generation: Watch SOAP notes populate in real-time
Rule Verification: Confirm your clinic and personal rules are properly applied
Best Practices for QuickSOAP Customization
Read more about setting up effective rules for each section.
Clinic Rules Best Practices
Start with essential compliance requirements
Use specific, actionable language (e.g., "Always document BCS on scale 1-9")
Focus on standardization across all team members
Include legal and insurance documentation requirements
Personal Rules Best Practices
Complement (don't contradict) clinic rules
Add your individual documentation style preferences
Include specialized terminology you commonly use
Specify formatting preferences for different examination types
Writing Effective Rules
✅ Good Example: "Always document body condition score (BCS) on a scale of 1-9 in the physical examination section"
❌ Poor Example: "Document body condition"
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Microphone Problems
Check browser permissions in your browser settings
Test different browsers if issues persist
Verify microphone hardware with other applications
Rules Not Applied
Confirm QuickSOAP Advanced is selected for Rules & Preferences
Save settings after making changes
Test with Preview section to verify rule application
Inconsistent Results
Review and refine rules for clarity and specificity
Use Preview section to test different scenarios
Adjust Additional Instructions for case-specific needs
Poor Transcription Quality
Check language settings match your dictation language
Verify microphone setup and audio quality
Speak clearly using proper veterinary terminology
Quick Reference: Settings Hierarchy
Understanding how rules work together ensures optimal SOAP note generation.
Rule Priority Order (Highest to Lowest)
🚨 Clinic Rules (Priority 1 - HIGHEST)
Applied to ALL team members
Non-negotiable standards
Override conflicting information
🩺 Personal Rules (Priority 2 - MEDIUM)
Applied to your individual notes
Complement clinic rules
Add personal documentation style
📋 Additional Instructions (Priority 3 - CASE-SPECIFIC)
Temporary instructions for specific cases
Applied to individual consultations
Perfect for special requirements
Example in Practice:
Clinic rule: "Always document body condition score (BCS 1-9)"
Personal rule: "Include pain assessment using Colorado State University Pain Scale"
Additional instruction: "Focus on respiratory findings for this coughing Patient"
Result: Your SOAP note includes BCS documentation, pain assessment, and detailed respiratory findings - all working together for comprehensive documentation.
Remember to regularly test your settings using the Preview SOAP Generation section and adjust based on real-world results. Take advantage of these powerful customization features to make Tails AI Dictation for Quick SOAPs version 1.5 work perfectly for your veterinary practice!
🧾 QuickSOAP templates & How to use
Everything above configures how Tails writes all of your SOAP notes.
QuickSOAP also works with your own SOAP templates.
This section covers both halves: setting up your template (done once, by an administrator) and using it in a consultation (done by the vet, every visit).
Check these 5 minute videos that explain how QuickSOAP Dynamic Fields work, or read the help center article below.
QuickSOAP - How to use as a vet tech and veterinarian
How the new interface works day to day.
QuickSOAP - How to adapt your templates for QuickSOAP
How to adapt QuickSOAP to your documentation needs.
✅ Before you start
Your clinic is on the new record page (SOAP Templates 2.0)
You have template creation permission to edit templates.
Part 1 - Set up your record template
Done once per template, by an administrator. Fields you mark here apply to everyone in the clinic who uses that template.
💡 You may not need to change anything. The six fields QuickSOAP always filled - Summary, Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan and General Recommendations - are already marked in your existing templates, and vital signs are completed whenever the Vitals section is part of your QuickSOAP profile, which it is by default. A clinic that changes nothing keeps exactly the behaviour it had before.
Beyond those, we automatically generate default AI instructions for each field you activate. Turning one on takes a single click and no writing at all.
Step 1 - Open the template
Go to Administration → SOAP Templates and open the template you want to configure.
Step 2 - Add the fields you need
If the field you want is not already in the template, click Add from Library.
Custom tab - fields your own clinic created.
Digitail tab - Digitail's standard clinical fields. The Custom tab opens first, so if you are searching for a standard field such as Body Condition Score and finding nothing, switch tabs.
Step 3 - Turn a field on
Click the settings cog wheel icon for the field you want Tails to complete.
Switch on Use in QuickSOAP. The tooltip reads Allow QuickSOAP to auto-complete this field.
If an AI instruction is already filled in and you don't want to change it, click Update.
Save the template. Clicking Update only updates the field; the change applies once the template is saved.
Every field you switch on gets a lime green Tails tag beside its label, so you can see at a glance what is covered. If the switch is off, Tails skips the field entirely and produces no suggestion for it.
⚠️ If a template has no fields marked for QuickSOAP, you are told inside QuickSOAP. When you open QuickSOAP on a record that uses that template, it shows None of this template's fields are set up for QuickSOAP. instead of generating, with a shortcut to edit the template.
Step 4 - Write or edit the Tails Instructions
Tails Instructions tells Tails what belongs in this field. The tooltip reads Give Tails instructions on what should be auto-completed in this field.
The field settings show a preview of the current Tails Instructions. Click Edit to open the [field name] - Tails AI window, where you write or change them. When you are done, click Update, then save the template.
Write the instructions yourself, or click Personalize with Tails in that window and let Tails draft instructions and formatting.
Personalize with Tails
It builds the draft from what it already knows about the field: the section and sub-section it sits in, the field type, the label, the internal description, the placeholder and the default value.
For dropdowns and multi-selects, Tails can only pick from the options you configured for that field. It can never enter a value that is not on your list, so you don't need to repeat your options in the instructions.
Review the draft and give Tails feedback. Tails applies your changes and explains what it changed.
💡 Tails Formatting only appears on free-text fields. Dropdowns, multi-selects and numeric fields are already constrained by their options or their type, so there is nothing to format. This is expected, not a fault.
Step 5 - Optional: describe the template's purpose
Each template also has one instruction that applies to the whole generation rather than a single field.
In the template editor's main sidebar, open Template settings and use the AI instructions field. The tooltip reads Describe the purpose of this template to guide AI-generated content.
Use it to say what the template is for - for example, telling Tails that a refill template should produce prescription-only content. Revert to default restores the Digitail default if there was an AI instruction pre-set.
🚫 What Tails cannot complete
Some items can never be auto-completed, and the Use in QuickSOAP switch does not appear on them at all:
The coded Diagnosis picker. Tails writes the free-text Diagnosis and Presumptive Diagnosis fields, but it cannot select from your clinic's coded diagnosis list. You still choose the coded diagnosis yourself.
Date fields, including the record date.
Widgets - Dental Chart, Body Maps, the Vitals widget, Anesthesia, Medications, Tasks, Services & Products, Treatment Plans, Payment, Forms, Certificates and Follow-ups (some of them have their own AI experiences).
One exception worth knowing: weight, temperature, pulse and respiratory rate are generated whenever the Vitals section is selected in your QuickSOAP profile, whether or not anyone switched them on. Both the Vet and Tech profiles include Vitals by default.
✅ Best practices for setting up fields
Start from the defaults. Switch on a field that already has an instruction written, generate once, and see what it produces before writing anything yourself.
Personalize with Tails: Use Tails to personalize your instructions.
Keep clinic-wide standards in Clinic Rules. A field instruction cannot override one, so a standard written at field level will lose every time the two disagree.
Mark as many or as few fields as you need. Every field you switch on is another decision the vet makes at review time.
Part 2 - Use it in a consultation
Done by the vet, on every visit.
Step 1 - Select a template on the record
Your template is what tells QuickSOAP which fields to complete, so it has to be applied to the record before you generate anything. If no template is applied to the record, QuickSOAP works with its default prompts and instructions.
Open the patient record.
Find the Template selector at the top of the record. If nothing has been applied yet it reads Select template.
Choose the template for this visit.
The record takes a snapshot of the template at the moment you apply it. The fields QuickSOAP can complete are the ones in the template as it was then, which is why changing a template later does not alter records that already exist.
💡 If you see an "Outdated" badge beside the template name, the template has been updated since it was applied to this record. Reapply the template to pick up the latest version, including any newly marked QuickSOAP fields.
Step 2 - Add your input sources
Click Start QuickSOAP (or Continue QuickSOAP if this record already has a QuickSOAP in progress). The QuickSOAP sidebar opens. Combine as many sources as you like in a single generation:
Record in the app - click Start New Recording, then Finish Recording when the consultation is done. You can add more than one recording. Before you record anything this area reads No recordings yet. Get started now.
Add files - click Add/Browse Files to open the Add/Use Files window, which has two tabs: General & Record Files for files already attached to the patient or the record, and Upload from Computer, where you drag files onto Drag and drop files here or click the box to browse from your device.
Import from your phone or smartwatch - click Import from Tails VIP to bring in recordings captured in the Tails VIP app.
Type findings directly - use the Type additional findings or observations here... box for anything you did not say out loud.
Additional Instructions - open Additional Instructions to add guidance for this case or pick one of the ready-made templates. Tick Save instructions for next time to keep them for your next QuickSOAP.
Supported file types: PDF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, GIF and WEBP for documents and images, and MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG, MP4 and WEBM for audio. This includes documents and images, not only audio, so bloodwork and imaging can go straight in. Documents and images can be up to 20 MB each, and audio files up to 150 MB each.
Step 3 - Choose a profile and generate the suggestions
Next to the generate button, choose a profile: All Sections, Vet, Tech, or a profile you created with Add New Profile. QuickSOAP generates only the sections in the selected profile. Vitals are generated when the Vitals section is selected in the profile, and both Vet and Tech include Vitals by default.
Click Generate AI Suggestions. Tails transcribes your inputs, then completes every field in your template that has been marked for QuickSOAP.
Regenerate AI Suggestions runs another pass. Note that regenerating clears the current set of suggestions and your approve and discard choices before it starts. Anything you already approved stays in the record.
After generating, QuickSOAP asks How was the QuickSOAP experience for you? Choose Helpful or Not helpful. Not helpful opens a box where you can tell us what to improve.
Step 4 - Review and sync
Suggestions appear as cards grouped by your template's own sections, with a counter at the top showing how many notes were generated, for example 5 notes generated. Each card shows the field label, its sub-section where relevant, and the suggested value.
Approving is what writes the value into the record. There is no separate sync step.
Edit before approving. You can change a text suggestion or any vital value directly on its card before you approve it.
One field at a time - click the check icon Approve Note or the cross icon Discard Note on a card. Cards you have dealt with move to the bottom of their section, so what is still open stays at the top.
A whole section - use Approve [Section] Notes or Discard [Section] Notes inside that section. They act on that section only. Once you have resolved some cards the buttons become Approve [Section] Notes (n) and Discard [Section] Notes (n) for whatever is still pending. These appear only while more than one suggestion in the section is open - with one left, use the card's own icons.
Everything at once - Approve All and Discard All in the sidebar footer resolve every remaining suggestion. Once some are resolved they become Approve (n) and Discard (n).
💡 Vital signs arrive as one grouped Vitals card. If you dictated a unit that differs from your clinic's preferred unit, Tails converts it and shows a note on the card, for example Weight was converted from lb to kg. or Temperature was converted from °F to °C.
Step 5 - Know what approving does
This is not the same for every field type, and it is worth a glance before using Approve [Section] Notes or Approve All.
Field | What approving does |
Any free-text or notes field, including the six SOAP sections | Adds the text below what is already there, separated by a blank line. Nothing already written is changed or lost. |
Dropdown, radio button, multi-select, checkbox, short text | Replaces whatever was in the field. |
Visit Types and Additional Vets | Adds to what is already selected. Nothing is removed. |
Responsible Vet | Replaces the current one. |
Weight, temperature, pulse, respiratory rate | Recorded as a new vitals measurement, in your clinic's units. |
So the only places you can lose an existing entry are the structured fields and the responsible vet, and only if you approve the suggestion for that field. We never permanently modify something without your approval.
Step 6 - Or review inside the record
Every suggestion also appears in the record itself, so you do not have to work out of the sidebar.
Click any suggestion card to jump straight to that field inside the record.
Every field with a pending suggestion has its own Approve Note (check) and Discard Note (cross) icons next to its label, so you can approve or discard without going back to the sidebar.
On a dropdown, radio button, multi-select, checkbox, Visit Type or vet field, the suggested value replaces the control while it is open, with a Revert to [previous value] chip beneath it. Clicking the chip discards the suggestion and puts the old value back.
On a text or notes field, the suggestion appears as a purple Generated by Tails: bubble below the field. Click the bubble to approve it. The field is locked while a suggestion is open.
Step 7 - Clearing up
Clear (the bin icon) in the sidebar footer starts the QuickSOAP over. Before anything is removed, it asks you to confirm: Approved notes and recordings will remain in this SOAP record. All other inputs and unapproved notes will be discarded. Continue?
What Clear does:
Keeps every note you already approved. Those values are already in the record and are not affected.
Keeps your recordings with the record. They no longer appear in the QuickSOAP sidebar, but if your template includes the Transcription and Audio Files widget, you can still play them and read their transcriptions there.
Discards everything else in this QuickSOAP, including your typed findings and any suggestions you have not approved.
Clear is not available while suggestions are being generated. If a recording is still uploading, you see A recording is still uploading. Please wait until it finishes before syncing or clearing the Quick SOAP. Wait for the upload to finish, then click Clear again.
If you want to discard the suggestions and generate again with new information, add your new input and click Regenerate AI Suggestions.
🛠 Troubleshooting
My field instruction is being ignored.
Check whether a Clinic Rule, Personal Rule or Template Instruction speaks to the same field. Field instructions are the lowest-priority layer and yield to all three by design. If that is not what you want, move the instruction up a level - put it in Clinic Rules if it should apply to everyone.
I updated a template but an existing record did not change.
Records take a snapshot of their template when it is applied, so template edits apply from the next record onwards. On a record that is still open you will see an Outdated badge beside the template name - reapply the template there to pull in the latest version.
Approving a suggestion replaced what I had typed.
Free-text and notes fields add the new text below what is already there, so nothing is lost there. Dropdowns, radio buttons, multi-selects, checkboxes and short text fields are replaced, and so is the Responsible Vet. See the table in Part 2, Step 5 above.
There is no Tails Formatting box on my field.
Expected. Formatting only appears on free-text fields - everything else is already constrained by its options or its type.
I cannot find a standard field in the template editor.
Check the Digitail tab rather than Custom, search by the field's full name rather than an abbreviation, and check Add Group - some fields are only available as part of a group. A field already in the template is also hidden from the list.
QuickSOAP says it was generated from another QuickSOAP version.
You may see This QuickSOAP was generated from another QuickSOAP version. To continue working on this, open the original record page or regenerate the changes here. The suggestions were created by the other version of QuickSOAP. Click Switch SOAP Version to continue in the version that created them, or click Regenerate AI Suggestions to create new suggestions here.
Can Tails set the Visit Type?
Yes. It selects from your clinic's own configured Visit Types, preferring the most specific match, and can select more than one. If nothing matches confidently it leaves the field empty. Approving adds them without removing any already there.
Can Tails select a coded diagnosis?
Not today. Tails writes the free-text Diagnosis and Presumptive Diagnosis fields, but the coded diagnosis picker must be selected manually.
Does this change how I record?
No. Recording, transcription, Clinic Rules, Personal Rules all work exactly as before. There is still one QuickSOAP draft per record.
Interested in trying Tails AI?
If you want to learn more about Tails AI, including pricing and implementation details, we're here to help!
Contact us through:
Live Chat: Use the chat feature in your Digitail account
Email: Send us a message at tails@digitail.io