Purpose
SummarizeAI gives you a clear, structured overview of a patient's medical history without scrolling through years of records. It analyzes notes, vitals, medications, lab work, and visit records to generate an organized summary in seconds. This helps teams prepare for appointments, understand long term history, and make informed decisions quickly.
What is SummarizeAI
SummarizeAI automatically compiles a patient's history into five organized, read-only sections. The summary is generated entirely from the information already stored in Shepherd.
Where to Find SummarizeAI
You can access SummarizeAI in two places:
Patient Profile page in the Patient History Summary section
Active SOAP notes at the top of the S, O, A, and P tabs
How to Generate a Summary
Open a patient profile or start a SOAP (button available on top of S, O, A, and P tabs)
Click the blue SummarizeAI button
Wait for the summary to generate. This usually takes 10 seconds to 2 minutes depending on the size of the patient record.
Review the summary. It remains visible until the underlying patient data changes.
During generation you will see:
A Summarizing patient history message in the Patient History Summary section
A progress indicator in the lower right corner of your screen
You can navigate away. The summary will be ready when you return.
What the Summary Includes
Each summary contains five sections. All sections can be expanded or collapsed.
Clinical Summary
Patient signalment
Alerts
History of major/chronic problems
Vaccination status
Medications and preventatives
Behavior and lifestyle summary
Visit Recap
Visits listed by date with the most recent first
Each visit includes SOAP details
Selecting a visit name takes you to the SOAP
Medications and Supplements
Organized into four categories:
Prescriptions
Preventatives
Treatments
OTC and supplements
Lab Work (coming soon)
Recent results with dates
Indicators for high or low values
Links to full lab reports
Behavior and Lifestyle
Behavioral notes
Lifestyle details
Diet information
When a Summary Becomes Outdated
If any part of the patient record changes, a notification appears letting you know that new data is available and when the summary was last generated.
Select the prompt if you want an updated version. Summaries do not refresh automatically so that you control when new processing occurs.
Frequently Asked Questions
General
Who can use SummarizeAI?
Anyone with access to patient profiles or SOAP notes can use SummarizeAI. No special permissions are required.
Does it work with migrated patient records?
Yes. SummarizeAI reads imported records as long as the information exists in the patient history.
Using SummarizeAI
Can I navigate away during generation?
Yes. The summary will appear when you return to the patient's page.
Why do some summaries take longer?
Large medical histories require more processing time. Typical generation ranges from 10 seconds to 2 minutes.
Can I edit the summary?
No. Summaries are read-only. Update the patient record and regenerate if something needs to change.
What if the summary looks incorrect?
Report it through in-app chat support. It may be incorrect source data, an interpretation issue, or a system bug.
Can I print or export summaries?
Not at this time. Let us know through in-app chat support if this would be helpful.
Do summaries update automatically?
No. You choose when to regenerate.
What happens if I regenerate multiple times?
Each regeneration creates a new summary. Previous versions are not stored.
Troubleshooting
The SummarizeAI button is missing! What do I do?
Refresh your browser. If it does not appear, contact support. Your practice may not have this feature enabled.
The summary is stuck for more than 3 minutes
Refresh and try again. If it continues, contact support with the patient ID.
Nothing happens when I select SummarizeAI
Refresh your browser. If the issue persists, contact support with details.
A section shows No information available but data exists
Share the example with support so it can be reviewed.