SmartPhrase vs SmartText: A clinician’s guide to Epic’s documentation shortcuts

EHR documentation takes time away from patient care, and Epic’s SmartTools exist to reduce that burden. Two of the most useful, SmartPhrase and SmartText, get confused constantly and are treated as interchangeable. They aren’t.

If you chart in Epic, you already know SmartPhrases: type a period and a few characters, press the space bar, and a longer phrase appears. SmartText is less familiar, even to clinicians who use it every day. When you open a new progress note and the sections are already there, filled in with standard language and placeholders, that’s SmartText. It runs in the background. SmartPhrases are what you actively type.

SmartPhrase is a reusable text block in Epic, the electronic health record (EHR) used by many hospitals and clinics. You start it by typing a period followed by a short abbreviation (such as .hpi or .pe), and it expands into a longer phrase, paragraph, or a full template. SmartPhrases are sometimes called “dot phrases” and serve as text-expansion shortcuts in Epic.

SmartText is an Epic template framework that supplies the default text for note types, letters, and structured documentation. SmartText can embed SmartPhrases, SmartLists for selecting from predefined options, and SmartLinks that pull live patient data from the chart. Clinical informatics staff typically configure and deploy SmartText at the department or organizational level.

This guide covers the practical differences between SmartPhrase and SmartText, when to use each, how they fit into Epic’s broader SmartTools suite, and how to handle documentation that happens outside Epic.

What is an Epic SmartPhrase?

A SmartPhrase is a text shortcut that lives inside Epic. You type a period followed by a short name, press the space bar, and Epic replaces that abbreviation with a longer block of text. The concept is identical to text Snippets in other tools, but SmartPhrases only work within Epic’s interface.

Commonly used SmartPhrase examples include:

• .hpi for a history of present illness template
• .pe for a physical exam template
• .plan for a treatment plan outline
• .meds for a medication reconciliation block
• .avs for after-visit summary instructions
• .hpibackpain for a condition-specific HPI noting the absence of red-flag symptoms

These names are only an example of how a library might look. Every organization names its SmartPhrases differently, so .hpi at one hospital might be .hpigen or .HPITEMPLATE at another.

Personal vs shared SmartPhrases

SmartPhrases come in two categories. Personal SmartPhrases are ones individual clinicians create for their own workflow. For example, a hospitalist might create .admit to insert a preferred admission note structure, and a dermatologist might create .biopsypath for a standard pathology follow-up paragraph.

Shared SmartPhrases are available to other users in a department or across the entire organization. Clinical informatics staff usually create and maintain these, so documentation stays consistent across providers and can be updated centrally when guidelines change.

To create personal SmartPhrases, open the SmartPhrase Manager (in many Epic builds, you can search for My SmartPhrases), add a new SmartPhrase, type or paste the text, name it, and save. You can also select text in a note field and click the green plus sign at the top of the field. Names can’t include spaces or symbols, so a short name that starts with your initials is easy to remember. Exact menu names vary by organization.

To share a SmartPhrase, open it in the SmartPhrase Editor and list other users in its Sharing section to give them access. Check Can Edit? for anyone who should help maintain it, so colleagues can keep a shared phrase current without involving IT.

What is an Epic SmartText?

SmartText is a template layer that sits above SmartPhrases in Epic’s documentation hierarchy. Where a SmartPhrase is a single block of text you insert on demand, SmartText is a pre-configured template that supplies the default content for an entire note type.

When you open progress notes, discharge summaries, or letter templates in the Epic system, the text that appears first is often SmartText. It provides the scaffolding for the document, including section headers, standard language, and embedded dynamic data.

SmartText can contain:

• SmartPhrases embedded within the template for reusable text blocks
• SmartLists, shown in yellow for single-select or blue for multi-select, that display dropdown menus of predefined options
• SmartLinks, which use the @ symbol as a delimiter to pull live patient data from the chart, such as @FNAME@ for the patient’s first name, @DOB@ for date of birth, or @CMED@ for current medications

The key distinction: SmartPhrases are user-initiated, starting when a clinician types a short abbreviation. SmartText is system-configured, loaded automatically when a note type opens. Providers might never type a SmartText abbreviation directly because an informatics analyst has already assigned the template to the note type.

SmartText is most commonly used for progress notes, consultation notes, letter templates, patient instructions, and discharge summaries. Because it standardizes documentation structure across an organization, SmartText changes typically go through a documentation governance review rather than being edited by individual clinicians.

SmartPhrase vs SmartText: side-by-side comparison

This table summarizes the practical differences clinicians and informaticists encounter when working with these two tools.

Feature	SmartPhrase	SmartText
What it does	Inserts a reusable text block into a note or message	Provides a structured template for an entire note type or document
How it starts	User types a short abbreviation that starts with a period (for example, .hpi) and presses the space bar	Loads automatically as the default text when a note type opens, or can be inserted manually
Scope	A phrase, paragraph, or part of a note	A full note template with multiple sections
Dynamic content	Can include SmartLinks and SmartLists	Can include SmartPhrases, SmartLinks, SmartLists, and conditional logic
Who creates them	Individual clinicians (personal) or informatics staff (shared)	Typically clinical informatics or IT analysts
Sharing	Personal by default; can be shared with other users, departments, or the whole organization	Usually deployed at the department or organization level
Governance	Users can create and edit personal SmartPhrases freely	Changes typically go through an informatics governance process
Best for	Quick insertions, repeated phrases, personal shortcuts, condition-specific text for common diagnoses	Standardized note structures, full documentation templates, organizational consistency

Think of it this way: SmartText is the blueprint for a house. SmartPhrases are the prefabricated components you drop into specific rooms. Most clinical documentation uses both, even if you only consciously interact with SmartPhrases on a daily basis.

When to use SmartPhrases

SmartPhrases shine when you need to insert a specific, repeatable block of text quickly. The best candidates are text blocks you write, or wish you could stop writing, multiple times per shift.

Common SmartPhrase use cases:

• HPI templates for commonly seen conditions (chest pain, back pain, upper respiratory infection)
• Normal physical exam findings you commonly document
• Standard treatment plans for common diagnoses
• Patient education paragraphs and patient instructions for discharge
• Signature blocks with your name, credentials, and contact information
• After-visit summary language tailored to specific visit types

Condition-specific SmartPhrases tend to need less editing after they expand than generic note templates do, which makes them more efficient day to day. Start by identifying the five phrases you write most frequently in a typical shift. Create those first, then expand your library as patterns emerge.

When to use SmartText

SmartText is the right tool when you need a standardized template that structures an entire document. If you find yourself rebuilding the same note layout from scratch each time, or inserting the same SmartPhrases in the same order every time a particular note type opens, that workflow belongs in a SmartText template rather than your personal phrase library.

Common SmartText use cases:

• Default templates for progress notes by specialty or visit type
• Consultation note structures with required sections pre-formatted
• Discharge summary templates that pull in patient data automatically via SmartLinks
• Referral letter templates with dynamic patient demographics, such as the patient name and date of birth
• Procedure note frameworks with SmartLists for documenting technique, findings, and complications

How to request a SmartText template from your informatics team

Because SmartText affects documentation across entire departments, creating or modifying it usually requires coordination with your informatics group. Coming prepared with a well-defined request makes the process faster.

1. Draft the structure you need. Write out the section headers and standard language you want in the template. Note which parts should be free text and which should offer SmartList selections.
2. Identify SmartLink candidates. List every data point the note should pull automatically from the chart: patient name, date of birth, current medications, problem list, medical history, recent vitals. Each is a SmartLink an analyst can embed to pull that data.
3. Flag SmartList locations. Anywhere providers commonly pick from a short, predictable list, for example, laterality, wound classification, or discharge disposition, is a candidate for a SmartList instead of free text.
4. Bring the draft to your informatics liaison. Most organizations have a clinical informatics contact for each department. Submit your draft through that channel, noting the note type it should apply to and which roles should have access.
5. Review and test before go-live. Request a test encounter so you can verify the SmartLinks pull correctly and the SmartLists include the right options before the template goes live department-wide.

Common SmartPhrase mistakes to avoid

SmartPhrases speed up documentation when they’re well built and maintained. When they’re not, they create problems that are easy to miss until something goes wrong.

The most common issue: static text where SmartLinks should do the work. If your SmartPhrase has a blank where you manually enter the patient’s current medication list, that blank is a source of errors. The list already lives in the chart, so use @CMED@ to pull it automatically. Any data you enter by hand that Epic already has is extra friction and lower accuracy.

Naming collisions are harder to diagnose. Name your SmartPhrase .hpi when your organization has a shared SmartPhrase using the same abbreviation, and which phrase wins depends on your Epic configuration. Use a personal prefix: your initials, your specialty abbreviation, anything that separates your library from the shared one. For example, .jchpi instead of .hpi is a small change that prevents confusing behavior down the road.

Stale phrases cause real problems. A SmartPhrase that references outdated dosing guidelines or a discontinued drug is worse than no SmartPhrase at all. Set an annual reminder to review your personal SmartPhrases, and watch department communications for guideline changes that affect shared phrases you rely on.

If you’ve built a personal workflow that chains together the same SmartPhrases in a fixed order to reconstruct a standard note type, your informatics group can create that as a SmartText template. One template handles what you’re currently doing manually at every encounter.

Finally, prune. Personal SmartPhrases you used twice and haven’t touched since slow down searches and add clutter. Delete what you don’t use.

SmartPhrases, SmartLists, and SmartLinks: how they fit together

Epic’s SmartTools are designed as interlocking components. Understanding how they connect helps you create better documentation shortcuts and make more effective requests to your informatics group.

SmartLists present predefined options within a note. The highlighted fields you see in note templates are SmartLists. Yellow indicates single-select, and blue indicates multi-select. Clicking either opens a dropdown where you choose from options instead of typing free text. They enforce consistency. For example, you can always document wound size in the same measurement format or select laterality from a standard list rather than typing “left,” “L,” or “lt.”

SmartLinks pull live data from the patient’s chart directly into your documentation. They use @ delimiters. For example, use @FNAME@ to insert the patient’s first name, @DOB@ for date of birth, @VSRANGES@ for the last 24 hours of vital signs, and @PMH@ for the patient’s medical history. No manual transcription of data that already exists in the chart.

A single SmartPhrase can contain both SmartLists and SmartLinks. A SmartText template can contain all three. The nesting works like this: a SmartText template for an orthopedic consultation might include a SmartLink that pulls in the patient’s imaging results, a SmartList for selecting the affected joint, and an embedded SmartPhrase with the surgeon’s standard post-operative instructions.

The more familiar you are with how these pieces fit together, the more useful your personal SmartPhrases become. A SmartPhrase that uses @CMED@ to pull current medications is far more efficient than one that leaves a blank to fill in manually. To navigate the rest of the Epic system faster, see our guide to Epic keyboard shortcuts.

Text expansion outside Epic

SmartPhrases solve documentation speed inside Epic. The problem is that clinicians frequently write in many places that are not Epic.

Emails to referring providers. Messages in communication platforms. Referral coordination in separate portals. Administrative documentation in HR or credentialing systems. Patient outreach through non-EHR platforms. Letters, forms, and reports that live outside the chart.

SmartPhrases don’t expand in any of those contexts. They’re tied to Epic’s interface, so the moment you leave the EHR, you’re back to writing everything from scratch or copying and pasting from a document kept open on the side. Other EHRs have the same limit. Jacob Moore, a product manager at CloseKnit Health, put it this way: “We have all of these different systems, and we wanted to have a unified voice when we talk to patients. Athena has macros, but we can’t use those in other systems.”

TextExpander fills that gap by keeping the answers you use most ready wherever you type. It works on Mac, Windows, Chrome, iPhone, and iPad, with an Android app in beta, providing text Snippet shortcuts across every app on your device. You create shortcuts that expand into longer text, set up fill-in-the-blank fields for personalized templates, and share standardized messaging across your care team.

Like using dot phrases but just typing shortcuts.

Mike Y., Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine

Virta Health, a virtual care organization focused on reversing type 2 diabetes, deployed TextExpander across its care operations team. The result: 69,000 hours saved organization-wide, an average of 24 working days per person each year. Its coaches use shared Snippet Groups as frameworks for member communication, keeping messaging consistent while personalizing every interaction.

For organizations handling protected health information, TextExpander is HIPAA compliant, maintains SOC 2 and SOC 3 certifications, and encrypts data at rest with AES-256 and in transit with TLS 1.2 or later (see TextExpander security). It offers a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) for qualified Enterprise plans. No tool makes a practice HIPAA compliant on its own, so keep patient details out of saved Snippets and add them with fill-in fields when a Snippet expands. TextExpander works in Epic, Cerner, Elation, and other EHR platforms wherever you type, so it complements your existing SmartPhrase library rather than replacing it.

The setup is simple: SmartPhrases for everything inside Epic, TextExpander Snippets for everything outside it. When your practice already knows what good wording looks like, one shared Snippet keeps it current for everyone. Sign up for free, no credit card required.

Related resources

• TextExpander for healthcare to keep shared clinical wording consistent across your care team
• Epic EMR keyboard shortcuts for faster navigation inside Epic
• eClinicalWorks shortcuts for macros and dot phrases in eCW
• What are text Snippets? to understand how text expansion works
• TextExpander security and compliance for SOC 2, HIPAA, BAA, and encryption details
• A practical guide to improving healthcare productivity
• Healthcare communication tools that reduce errors
• Best medical productivity apps
• PhraseExpress vs TextExpander for another text expansion comparison
• TextExpander pricing for current plans
• Sign up for TextExpander for free with no credit card required