This guide shows you how to create reusable protocol templates in Practice Better and customize health plans for your clients. Protocol templates let you efficiently combine food, supplement, and lifestyle recommendations into comprehensive care plans that you can adapt for individual client needs.
Practice Better's protocol feature empowers you to design structured wellness plans that guide your clients through specific health goals. Whether you're addressing digestive health, stress management, or nutritional support, protocols provide a clear roadmap for client success.
In this article:
- Creating a Protocol Template
- Adding Recommendations to a Protocol Template
- Saving Your Protocol Template
- Managing Your Protocol Templates
- Creating a Protocol For a Client From a Protocol Template
- Connecting Protocols to Programs and Packages
Creating a Protocol Template
Go to My Practice > Protocol Templates and click the Fast Action button to begin building your template.
Select Create new from the options.
📍 Note: If you've connected your Fullscript account, you'll see an additional option to Create from Fullscript template, allowing you to import templates directly from your Fullscript library. This option appears only when you have templates saved in your connected Fullscript account.
Defining Your Protocol Details
Complete the foundational information that helps both you and your clients understand the protocol's purpose:
- Enter the Protocol name that clearly identifies the treatment approach.
- Add a Focus area to categorize the protocol's primary health objective.
- Set the Duration to indicate how long clients should follow these recommendations.
- Write a description in the Protocol notes explaining how this protocol will benefit the client and what outcomes to expect.
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Attach files like supplemental PDFs, images, or Word documents.
- Consider adding a Disclaimer to your protocol if needed. This optional field lets you include important legal or safety information relevant to your recommendations. Learn more about [Disclaimers].
🪄 Practice Better's AI Dictation feature is available within these text fields, enabling you to capture accurate information quickly through voice input rather than typing everything manually.
You can also insert images and videos directly into your protocol's description or notes using the rich text editor. This works beautifully for including visual guides, infographics, or branded imagery that enhances your protocol's professional appearance.
Adding Recommendations to a Protocol Template
Once you've established your protocol foundation, it's time to build the actual recommendations your clients will follow. Scroll down or click the Fast Action button to access the different recommendation types you can include.
After adding recommendations, you can adjust their sequence using the up and down arrows on each recommendation. This lets you organize recommendations in the order that makes most sense for your client's journey.
Add Saved Recommendations
This option provides quick access to recommendations you've created and saved previously, streamlining your workflow when you frequently use similar guidance across multiple clients.
Saved recommendations are simply recommendations you originally created inside a protocol and chose to save for reuse, building a personal library of your most commonly prescribed supplements, foods, or lifestyle practices.
Add Food Recommendation
Food recommendations allow you to specify dietary changes by categorizing foods your client should include, exclude, or reduce. This creates clear nutritional guidance tailored to their health goals.
Add Recipes and Nutrition Plans
For practitioners who have integrated That Clean Life with their Practice Better account, you'll find the option to add recipes, meal plans, collections, and templates directly within your protocol.
📍 Note: Clients need access to the Food & Mood journal to view nutrient details from nutrition plans. You can grant journal access through your client management settings.
⚠️ Important: If your That Clean Life subscription lapses, embedded meal plans and recipes in protocols will display a placeholder message if clients attempt to access them. Relinking your integration restores all embedded content immediately, ensuring your clients can continue accessing their nutrition plans without any data loss.
Allowing Your Client to Export Their Recipes and Nutrition Plans
When clients download their protocol, That Clean Life resources won't be included in the standard download. However, if you're subscribed to That Clean Life's Plus Plan, you'll see an Allow exports option when adding these resources.
Enabling this option adds an Export button to the embedded content when clients view their protocol. Clients can customize their export preferences, and the file will be emailed to the address associated with their Practice Better account.
💡 Tip: If you're not on That Clean Life's Plus Plan, you can still share resources by enabling the Sharing option directly in That Clean Life, then pasting the generated share link into the text content section of your protocol template.
If embedded That Clean Life resources aren't displaying properly for your client, try creating a fresh protocol, embedding the nutrition resource again, and sharing the new protocol with your client. This often resolves display issues related to cached content.
Add Supplement Recommendation
Supplement recommendations allow you to specify exactly which products you want clients to incorporate into their wellness routine.
You have multiple options for adding supplements:
- Search Practice Better's built-in supplement database.
- Add custom supplements not found in the database.
- Connect through the Fullscript Integration to recommend specific products.
- Use integrations with other supplement dispensaries, including Wholescripts and Natural Dispensary.
Enter the supplement name in the search bar, then click Select next to your preferred product.
If you disconnect your Fullscript account after creating protocols with Fullscript supplements, published client protocols won't be impacted. Your clients retain access to the supplement recommendations you've already shared with them.
Specifying Dosing and Timing
When adding a supplement from an integrated catalogue, you may be prompted to adopt the recommended dosage information, or you can specify your own details.
Enter the recommended serving as either a specific amount, a range, or free form instructions. Different dosage options may be displayed depending on the material of the supplement (liquid, capsule, etc.).
Practice Better provides structured options for supplement timing through the Frequency & Duration section when adding supplement recommendations. You can specify:
- Frequency (once per day, twice per day, every morning, etc.)
- Specific timing (upon rising, with breakfast, mid-morning, with lunch, mid-afternoon, with dinner, after dinner, before bed)
- Duration (days, weeks, months, or "as needed")
- Units and quantities
While your protocol includes an overall duration, you can also set specific timeframes for individual supplement recommendations. This allows you to create protocols where certain supplements phase in or out at different points during the treatment period.
Adding Health Conditions and Detailed Instructions
If you are recommending supplements related to a client’s specific health condition(s), enter those in the appropriate field. Type to search the database, or type and hit the enter key on your keyboard to save a custom entry.
For supplement recommendations that require nuanced guidance, use the Additional Information field to add detailed directions. This field accommodates up to 2,000 characters, giving you ample space for:
- Conditional instructions (e.g., "If symptoms persist after two weeks, increase dosage to twice daily")
- Safety considerations (e.g., "Discontinue if any digestive discomfort occurs")
- Cycling schedules (e.g., "Take for five days, then rest for two days")
- Storage requirements or preparation notes
Add Lifestyle Recommendation
Lifestyle recommendations address the broader wellness factors that support your clients' health goals.
You can include guidance related to:
- Detoxification practices
- Digestive support strategies
- Exercise routines
- Mindfulness techniques
- Sleep optimization
- Stress reduction methods
Click on any of the categories to explore Curated Recommendations, or type to add your own custom instructions.
Attach Files
The file attachment option enables you to provide customized resources that enhance your recommendations. Protocol file attachments support common formats including images (JPG, PNG), PDFs, and Word documents. Individual file attachments can be up to 120 MB in size.
Consider attaching explanatory videos, educational PDF documents, or supplementary reading materials that help clients understand and implement your guidance. When you share the protocol with a client, all attached files are included automatically.
📍 Note: Attached files count toward your Practice Better account storage limit, so consider file size when adding multiple resources to protocols.
Saving Your Protocol Template
Practice Better automatically saves your work as you go – click the cloud icon (autosave) near the top-right corner to view Version History if you need to access previous versions. Versions are stored for up to 60 days, giving you peace of mind when making significant changes.
After building your recommendations, click the Save button in the top right corner to access your saving options.
Choose from three save options depending on your needs:
- Save template: This option saves your current work and keeps the protocol template for continued editing.
- Save as new template: Use this option to create a duplicate copy of your current template as a separate protocol template. This is particularly useful when you want to create variations of an existing protocol. The duplicated template can be modified independently without affecting the original.
- Save as new protocol: Select this when you want to create a client-specific protocol based on this template immediately. You'll be prompted to choose which client should receive this protocol.
Managing Your Protocol Templates
To manage your Protocol Templates, go to My Practice > Protocol Templates. Use the search bar at the top of the page to quickly locate existing templates as your protocol library grows.
Editing Template Names and Content
Protocol names and content can be updated anytime. Simply open the protocol template editor and make your changes – updates save automatically as you work.
Deleting Protocol Templates
When you no longer need a protocol template, you can remove it from your library. Go to My Practice > Protocol Templates, click the More Options menu (3 dots) next to the template you want to delete, and select Delete.
💡 Tip: Accidentally deleted a protocol template? You can restore deleted resources through Practice Better's recovery feature. Learn more about restoring deleted clients and resources.
Sharing Protocol Templates with Your Team
If you're part of a group practice on a team plan, you can share protocol templates with other practitioners when proper permissions are enabled. To configure sharing settings:
- Go to your list of protocol templates and locate the one you want to share.
- Click the More Options menu (3 dots) and select Manage Sharing.
- Select which team members should have access to this template.
Protocol templates don't have sharing access codes like Forms or Note Templates. However, you can share protocols with Practice Better users outside your practice through Programs (available on Professional plans and higher). Add your protocol to a program module, enable the sharing access code on the program, and colleagues can import the entire program – including your protocol – using your code.
Creating a Protocol For a Client From a Protocol Template
Protocol templates shine when you need to create customized plans efficiently. Go to My Practice > Protocol Templates from the top navigation menu to access your saved templates.
Locate the protocol template you want to use and click the Create for... button next to it.
A popup window appears where you'll select the client who should receive this protocol. Practice Better creates a draft protocol for that client based on your template, giving you the opportunity to make any client-specific modifications before publishing.
Review the protocol and adjust any recommendations as needed for this particular client's situation. When you're satisfied with the customizations, click Save > Save and publish to send the protocol to your client.
How Clients Receive and Access Protocols
When you publish a protocol, your client receives an email notification alerting them to the new resource. Clients access their protocols by logging into their client portal, where all shared protocols are available for review. Mobile users can view protocols through the Practice Better mobile app, and protocols can be printed directly from the client portal if needed.
If a client reports they can't access their protocol, verify two things: the client has activated their client portal login, and the protocol has been published (not still in draft state) for this specific client.
Wondering if your client has reviewed their protocol? Check the Recent Activity stream in the client's record for a "viewed" indication that shows when they accessed the protocol.
Updating a Published Protocol
When you need to revise a protocol that's already been shared with a client, you'll create an updated version rather than editing the original. Here's how:
- Go to the client record’s Protocols section.
- Locate their existing protocol and click the More Options menu (3 dots) > Duplicate.
- Make your edits to the draft version.
- Click Save > Save and publish to share the updated protocol with your client.
- Optionally, delete or archive the older version from the client's protocols section.
📍 Note: Editing a protocol template doesn't automatically update protocols already sent to clients. Each client protocol is a standalone document, ensuring that changes to your templates don't unexpectedly alter active client care plans.
Connecting Protocols to Programs and Packages
Protocols can be added to program modules, creating structured learning paths or phased treatment approaches for your clients. This feature is available on Professional plans and higher.
When a protocol is included in a program module, and that program is part of a package, clients automatically receive the protocol when they access the corresponding module. This automation streamlines your client onboarding and program delivery.