Most AI tools start from scratch every time you use them. You brief them on who the patient is, what you're working on, what happened last session. Then you get something generic back.

Ask AI works differently. Before you type a single word, it's already read your patient's previous progress notes.

Here's what that actually means in practice.

Where it lives

Ask AI is a chat interface built into the right-hand panel of any progress note in splose. It looks like a standard AI chat — you type a prompt, it responds. The difference is what it already knows.

Open any client's progress note, click the AI panel on the right, and you'll see the Ask AI tab. That's where you type.

What practitioners use it for

Writing the progress note

This is the primary use. You type a prompt, AI produces a draft using today's session context plus the patient's previous notes. You review, edit, and finalise.

The prompt that works across most disciplines:

"I'm a [physiotherapist / OT / speech pathologist / counsellor]. This is a [initial / follow-up] session. Patient has [brief description of condition or presenting concern]. Refer to the last 3 progress notes and write a [SOAP / DAP / narrative] note."

That's it. Adjust the discipline, session type, and note format for your context. The more specific you are about what happened today, the better the output — but even a rough prompt produces something you can edit rather than something you have to write from scratch.

Catching up before a patient walks in

If you haven't seen a patient in a while, or you're jumping between back-to-back appointments and need to get up to speed fast:

"Summarise the last 4 progress notes for this patient. Include what we were working on, any goal progression, and what was planned for next session."

A 30-second read rather than scrolling through old notes. More useful, faster.

Refining a specific section

If AI produces a note that's mostly right but one section is off, you don't have to start again. Highlight that section in the note — it gets added automatically as context in the AI panel — then ask AI to rework just that part.

"The assessment section you wrote doesn't capture the clinical reasoning clearly enough. Rewrite it with more specific reference to the functional limitations observed today."

This is one of the most useful parts of the workflow: instead of regenerating the whole note, you're making a targeted adjustment to the one thing that needs work.

Tips for better output

Specify a date range. Don't just say "refer to previous progress notes" — that could mean 3 years of history. Tell it how far back you want it to look.

"Refer to the last 3 months of progress notes"
 "Use the last 3 sessions for context"

Too much context can actually make the output less accurate. AI doesn't know what to prioritise when it's given years of notes and one prompt. A specific date range helps it focus.

Tell it what to do with the history. Don't just tell AI to read the notes — tell it what you want it to do with them.

"Review the last 3 progress notes to understand the patient's treatment progression, then use that as context to write today's note."

That's the difference between AI skimming the history and actually using it.

Add content rules. If you prefer dot points over paragraphs, say so. If you want the patient referred to by first name, say so. If you always write in Australian English, say so — AI will switch back unprompted if you don't.

"Write in dot point format. Refer to the patient by first name. Australian English only."

Save these rules as part of a saved prompt in your AI settings so you don't have to type them every time.

Include a final check step. If AI consistently makes the same mistake — gets a date wrong, uses overly clinical language when you prefer plain English, writes in third person when you prefer first — add a review step at the end of your prompt:

"Final check: make sure all information is from the current session transcript. Australian English. Patient referred to by first name only."

It catches common errors before they reach the note.

What Ask AI can't do

It can't replace your clinical judgement. Everything it produces is a draft. It doesn't know what it doesn't know — if the session transcript was brief, or if you didn't tell it what today covered, it will fill gaps with reasonable assumptions that may not be accurate.

Always review before finalising. Not because AI is unreliable — but because you're the clinician and the note is yours.

Getting started

Open any client's progress note → AI panel on the right → Ask AI tab → type this:

"I'm a [your discipline]. Write a [SOAP / DAP / narrative] note for a [initial / follow-up] session. Patient has [brief description]. Use the last 3 progress notes for context."

That's the starting point. Build from there.