This article is for providers using the Oasys iOS application.
Documentation is strongly supported on iOS — you can take notes in a rich-text editor, generate and regenerate AI notes, add risk/MSE, sign and lock, get a PDF, and (if supervised) submit for review. The main gaps are template building (web-only) and the supervisor review side (web-only).
In this article:
1. Taking notes & the Edit-note hub
During an active session (video or in-person), open the Notes panel: type your own notes — they auto-save. The privacy label uses your practice's own wording — it reads “not visible to your client” or “…your patient” depending on your settings. On a couple/family session the Prep Notes tab is hidden (prep is generated per individual). Attach files — PDF / JPEG / PNG / HEIC.
Upload file offers Take Photo, Photo Library or Choose File. Take Photo isn’t offered during a video call.
💡 Where transcription goes. Transcribed speech is not appended to this notes box — it goes to the session's Transcript, which the note generator reads separately.
Editing a note. ••• → Edit note (available once a clinical note exists, blocked once signed) opens an editor hub with five parts: Generated Clinical Note, Your Original Notes, Risk Assessment, Mental Status Exam, and Clinical Context (chief complaint, diagnoses, medications) — not just the note text.
In Your Original Notes, Upload File reads a photo or PDF of handwritten notes and adds its text under a stamp with the time and file name. Nothing is saved until you save the edit.
If a save fails, the hub stays open with your text and shows the reason at the top, so tapping Save again is all it takes. Closing it with unsaved edits asks Discard your changes? first, and it can’t be closed at all while a save is still running.
On a client you share with colleagues, the diagnosis in Clinical Context is read-only. When signing needs one, the signing sheet asks you to “Select the diagnosis for this session to attest it before signing.” and choosing one from its list attests it.
2. Note formats & the rich-text editor
The note editor is a rich-text editor — headings (H1–H3), bold, italic, and bulleted/numbered lists — matching web's note toolbar. Notes are stored as markdown, so anything web produced survives an edit made on iOS. Structured formats (SOAP, DAP, BIRP, GIRP, Progress Note) come from your practice's note template — iOS renders whatever the selected template specifies rather than offering a separate format menu.
3. Customizing note templates
⛔ No template builder on iOS. You can select a template (§4) but you can't build or customize templates on iOS. Create/customize templates on the web. The More → Clinical Note Templates row (external-link icon) opens it in your signed-in web session.
4. Using Scribe (AI-generated notes)
Gated on your practice's AI-notes setting. Scribe generates the structured clinical note from your notes + the session transcript. Session Settings opens from both generation paths:
the ••• → Regenerate note menu item and
the Generate Note flow, exactly like web.
In that sheet you pick the Note Template, Therapeutic Modalities (ACT, CBT, DBT, EMDR, IFS, and 28 others), and Additional Instructions, and it also carries Risk Assessment and Mental Status Exam rows so you can update them at generation time. You can save these preferences for future sessions with this client. If that save fails, Oasys tells you the preferences weren't kept for future sessions and that the session itself was saved.
A session with no clinical note says No clinical note yet. With AI notes on it offers Generate Note, whose Add your session notes step has Upload File to read a photo or PDF of your notes into it. With AI notes off it offers Add Clinical Note, an editor that opens on your default template’s headings, and closing it with something written asks Discard this note? first. Regenerate note asks Regenerate this note? first, because the new note replaces the current one, including any edits you’ve made.
If a note can’t be generated, the session shows Generation Failed or Generation Stopped, and your saved note and original notes stay. After a recording, the processing screen says Audio saved and Your note wasn’t generated, with Review note to carry on.
⚠️ Notes on parity.
There's no note-length control on iOS because there isn't one on web — length comes from your practice's AI settings.
If your practice requires its own templates, you pick from the practice’s templates, and modalities, instructions and “save these preferences” work as usual.
In charter-school mode the “save these preferences” option is hidden entirely (and a session logged without AI is fixed to the GIRP format).
The practice-configurable custom attributes tab in the note reader isn't on iOS.
5. Session analysis
Gated on AI session insights. The note reader's Analysis tab shows: session wellbeing score (when the wellbeing score is on in your AI settings), Overview, Key topics, Clinical insights, Presenting symptoms, Action items, and Follow-up points.
6. Signing, locking & the PDF
Sign & Lock (if not supervised) → the confirmation sheet tells you exactly what signing does. If your practice has “delete transcripts on sign” turned on, the raw transcript is permanently deleted at signing (not just hidden) — the sheet says which applies to you. You can later Unlock Note (requires a typed reason; records an amendment), edit, and Sign & Lock again.
💡 PDF. Once a note exists, ••• → View PDF opens a preview you can share or save. It isn't gated on signing. (Available to the clinician who rendered the session.)
Note status lifecycle: No note yet → Needs Review (unsigned) → Signed & Locked (solo). Under supervision: Needs Review → Pending Approval → Approved (or Needs Revision → Resubmitted). A note released without review reads Released, and its header says Released without supervisor review. Other states: Processing…, Unlocked.
On a signed couple or family session, the appointment’s Documentation card names who signed the note: Signed by: and their name.
Signing or submitting a couple or family note asks you to “Choose diagnoses for this session.” When there is none to choose, it says to add one on the Clinical tab on the web first. A colleague’s note says Written by and their name, and that only they can edit or sign it.
7. Dictation & transcription
Dictation.
iOS uses your keyboard's built-in mic rather than an in-app record button.
Tap the mic on your keyboard and speak into any notes field.
This is a deliberate difference from web, which keeps its own Dictate button.
During a live video or in-person session the microphone is held by the session recording, so keyboard dictation may be unavailable until capture is paused or finished.
⚠️ Transcript visibility. The Transcript tab only appears for the clinician who ran the session. If you're reading a colleague's session through a shared chart (care team, practice authority, or supervision), the transcript isn't sent to your device at all — no tab appears, even before the note is signed. The Transcript tab also has a Copy action; the copied text stays on this device and expires after five minutes.
8. Supervision (submit side)
⚠️ Partial on iOS — supervisee only. If you require supervision, you'll see Sign & Submit for Review (optionally choosing a supervisor) instead of Sign & Lock. If your supervisor returns the note, you'll see Resubmit for Review, and the note is listed on Home and under Sent back in the Action Inbox. When your practice allows it, you can also Unlock Note on your own signed note and sign it again with Sign & Submit for Review. If no supervisor is available, the sheet says to ask your practice admin to assign one.
⛔ There is no supervisor review queue on iOS — supervisors review on the web. See “Supervision.”
9. Risk assessment & Mental Status Exam
You can record these in three places:
The log-a-session Clinical Assessment section.
The Session Settings sheet when generating or regenerating a note.
The Edit note hub.
Details of risk assessment & mental status exam:
Risk Assessment covers Homicide, Self-harm, Suicide, Violent behavior (+ Other);
Mental Status Exam covers Attention, Orientation, Appearance, Behavior, Speech, Affect, Mood, Thought process, Thought content, Judgement, Memory (+ Other).
In both, picking Other adds a Details field. Saving or generating with those answers asks you to fill it in first. In Risk Assessment, picking None clears a category's other choices.
The note reader shows them in a Risk & MSE tab (collapsing to “No current risk indicators” / “All within normal limits” when clear).
Frequently asked questions
Are sessions recorded?
No. Transcription is available only until the note is signed (and may be permanently deleted at signing if your practice enables that).Can I generate or regenerate an AI note on iOS?
Yes (if enabled). Session Settings opens from both the Generate Note flow and ••• → Regenerate note, and lets you set template, modalities, instructions, and risk/MSE.Can I get a PDF of a note on iOS?
Yes — ••• → View PDF, then share or save it. Available to the clinician who rendered the session; it isn't gated on signing.Why can't I see the transcript on my colleague's session?
Transcripts are only sent to the clinician who ran the session. Shared-chart access gives you the note, analysis, and risk/MSE, but never the raw transcript.Where's the in-app dictate button?
There isn't one — use your keyboard's mic instead. It won't work while a session recording is holding the microphone.Can I build my own note template on my phone?
No — template building is web-only. You can select a template on iOS.Can I review my supervisee's notes on iOS?
No — the supervisor review side is web-only. iOS supports the supervisee submit/resubmit side only.Which note format will my note use?
It comes from your practice's note template (SOAP, DAP, BIRP, GIRP, or Progress Note). The iOS editor is rich text (headings, bold, italic, lists) stored as markdown — it renders whatever the template specifies.On a couple or family session, why is some information hidden?
To protect each person's privacy, the wellbeing score, Prep Notes, clinical context, and original therapist notes are suppressed on couple/family (treatment-unit) sessions.