HPI Assistant

Welcome to the HPI Assistant

The HPI Assistant lets you instantly generate a high-quality history of present illness from just a few words. Simply enter a short patient summary, and the assistant will produce a full, structured HPI. Saving you time while maintaining clinical clarity.

How It Works

Simple Input, Comprehensive Output

Enter a brief summary of the patient presentation:

Example Input:

74M, L sided weakness, R facial droop, slurred speech x 1 hour

Generated HPI:

The patient is a 74-year-old male presenting with acute onset left-sided weakness, 
right facial droop, and slurred speech that began approximately one hour prior to 
arrival. He denies headache, vision changes, dizziness, chest pain, palpitations, 
shortness of breath, fever, or recent trauma. He denies prior similar episodes, 
recent falls, or seizure activity. No history of anticoagulant use or recent 
surgery. He denies numbness, difficulty swallowing, or loss of consciousness.

The assistant expands your brief input into a complete, professionally structured history with precise timing, appropriate medical terminology, functional impact, pertinent negatives, associated symptoms, and relevant context clues, all woven into a comprehensive clinical narrative.

Input Flexibility

The HPI Assistant works with various input styles:

• Chief complaint format: 45F, chest pain x 2 hours
• Triage notes: SOB, productive cough, fever x 3 days
• EMS report: MVA, LOC, c/o neck pain
• Bullet points: Headache, photophobia, nausea, no fever
• Brief narratives: Patient reports worsening abdominal pain since yesterday

What Gets Added Automatically

The assistant automatically enhances your input by converting lay terms to clinical language, adding relevant review of systems elements, clarifying onset and duration, including appropriate quality descriptors and pain scales, incorporating pertinent negatives, and documenting any functional impacts.

HPI Assistant Interface

The HPI Assistant transforms brief clinical input into comprehensive, structured histories:

The screenshot demonstrates how a simple input like 74M, L sided weakness, R facial droop, slurred speech x 1 hour becomes a comprehensive, clinically appropriate HPI. The output provides a detailed symptom description using appropriate medical terminology, a clearly documented timeline and onset, pertinent negatives relevant to the presentation, and clinical context to support medical decision-making.

Flexible Follow-up and Refinement

Real-Time Modifications

After generating an HPI, easily refine the output with natural language commands:

Add clinical details:

• Include that he's on warfarin
• Add that family witnessed the event
• Note he has a history of MI

Adjust focus and length:

• Make this shorter for a fast track patient
• Expand the timeline section
• Focus more on the pain characteristics

Format modifications:

• Format as bullet points
• Use our department's HPI template
• Add more pertinent negatives

Customize the Output

Customize palmER to match your preferred format by using Documentation Preferences:

Format using this structure:
- Chief Complaint:
- History of Present Illness:
- Review of Systems:
- Past Medical History (relevant):
- Medications (relevant):

Key Benefits

Speed and Efficiency

Generate comprehensive histories in seconds rather than minutes, with output formatted and ready to paste directly into your EMR.

Clinical Quality

You capture all essential history elements without having to think about what you might have missed. The assistant automatically includes pertinent positives and negatives, uses appropriate medical terminology that supports clinical decision-making, and structures the history in a way that's defensible and anchors your diagnostic reasoning.

Every HPI follows a consistent, standardized structure that your entire team can rely on. This consistency makes your documentation thorough and organized and improves clinical communication. And it serves as a great teaching tool, giving residents and students a consistent reference for proper HPI structure and content.

Workflow Integration

The HPI Assistant is designed to fit right into your workflow. It works with any EMR, and you can use Documentation Preferences to customize the output to match your preferred format and style. Paste the generated HPI directly into your EMR or use it as input for other palmER tools. Modify it as your case evolves. It's also great for creating clear sign-out summaries.

Integration with Other palmER Tools

The Workflow

Pro Tips for Optimal Results

Input Best Practices

• Include timing - x 2 hours vs recently provides better context
• Add severity - severe vs moderate helps with urgency assessment
• Note progression - worsening vs stable vs improving
• Include triggers - after exercise or at rest adds diagnostic value
• Mention location - left-sided vs bilateral guides examination

Common Input Examples by Chief Complaint

Chest Pain:

55M, substernal chest pain x 30 min, diaphoretic, radiates to left arm

Shortness of Breath:

68F, SOB and productive cough x 3 days, worsening, unable to walk upstairs

Abdominal Pain:

23F, RLQ pain x 6 hours, sharp, worse with movement, nausea

Headache:

34M, sudden severe headache x 1 hour, worst of life, photophobia