Workflow: Drafting a Patient Education Letter for a Newly Diagnosed Condition

This workflow takes you through the full process of using an AI tool to draft a patient education letter. You do not need any previous experience with AI. The whole process should take about fifteen minutes the first time, and around five minutes once you have done it a few times.

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Step 1: Decide What the Letter Needs to Cover

Before opening any AI tool, spend two minutes writing down the three to five key things you want the patient to understand. For example, for a newly diagnosed patient with hypothyroidism: what the thyroid does, why their TSH is elevated, what the medication aims to do, how long it takes to feel effects, and when you will review them.

Having this list before you start means you will get a more focused, useful draft from the AI.

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Step 2: Open Your AI Tool

Open ChatGPT (at chat.openai.com), Claude (at claude.ai), or whichever AI writing tool your organisation uses. You do not need to create an account with personal details to try these — free tiers are available for both. If your organisation provides an approved AI tool, use that instead.

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Step 3: Write Your Prompt

In the text box, write your instruction to the AI. Be specific about the audience, the content, the tone, and the format. Here is a template:

"Write a patient education letter for a -year-old patient newly diagnosed with . Cover the following points: [list your key points here]. Write in plain English at a reading level suitable for a general adult. Warm but informative tone. Use short paragraphs. Around 300 words. Do not include specific drug names or doses."

Do not include any real patient information — no names, dates of birth, hospital numbers, or identifying details of any kind.

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Step 4: Read the Draft Carefully

The AI will produce a draft within a few seconds. Read it from beginning to end as if you are the patient. Ask yourself:

• Is everything here clinically accurate?
• Is anything missing that matters?
• Is anything included that I would not say to this patient?
• Is the tone right — warm, clear, not frightening?

Make a note of any changes you want to make.

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Step 5: Ask for Revisions if Needed

You do not need to edit the draft manually at this stage if there are significant changes needed. Simply type a follow-up instruction in the same conversation window. For example:

"The second paragraph is a bit alarming. Can you rewrite it to be more reassuring, while still being honest?"

Or:

"Can you add a short section at the end explaining what symptoms should prompt the patient to contact the clinic?"

The AI will revise the draft based on your instruction.

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Step 6: Copy the Draft into Your Document System

When you are satisfied with the structure and content, copy the text into your usual word processor or clinical correspondence system. Do not send the AI draft directly from the AI tool to a patient.

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Step 7: Add Clinical Specifics and Personalise

Now that the draft is in your own system, add the specific details that the AI could not include: the patient's actual name, the specific medication and any key points about their personal management plan, your name and contact details, and any local clinic information. This is the step where the generic draft becomes a document for this patient.

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Step 8: Review One Final Time

Read the complete letter one more time. Check that everything is accurate, personalised, and appropriate. Check that you have not inadvertently left a placeholder (like "") in the text.

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Step 9: Save as a Template (Optional but Recommended)

If this letter covered a condition you see frequently — hypothyroidism, type 2 diabetes, PCOS — save the anonymised AI draft as a starting template for next time. Over time you will build a small library of templates that reflect your clinical voice and your local approach.

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Step 10: Send and Document

Send the letter through your usual clinical correspondence channel. Note in the patient record that education material was provided, as you would with any written information given to a patient.

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Remember: AI is a helpful assistant, not a clinician. You make the call.