Once you have built your first template, the next step is making it predictable. This guide covers the two levers that do the most work: precise fields and clear rules.
Everything here is still plain text. The skill is in the wording.
The Quick Recap
A Vero template is made of three things:
Plain text - appears in the final note exactly as written, such as section headers, reusable boilerplate, and sign-offs.
[Fields] - square brackets are filled from the transcript, written context, uploads, attached patient profile, and other available source material.
(Rules) - round brackets are instructions Vero follows. They do not appear in the final note.
Most template problems are field or rule problems. Improving those usually gives the biggest output improvement.
Writing Precise Fields
How Vero Treats a Field
Anything inside
[ ]is treated as content Vero should fill from source material.The square brackets themselves do not appear in the final note.
If there is no relevant information for a field, Vero should omit unsupported content rather than invent it.
Fields can contain multiple specific items when you want a clean combined line.
Specificity Is Everything
The more specific the field label, the better Vero understands what to include, how much to include, and in what order.
Generic | Better |
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Split Large Fields Into Smaller Ones
A large field like [Full assessment and plan] asks Vero to decide the structure on its own. Split it into the pieces you want.
Before:
Assessment and Plan:
- [Full assessment and plan]
After:
Assessment:
- [Primary diagnosis]
- [Supporting reasoning in 1-2 lines]
- [Differential diagnoses, if discussed]
Plan:
- [Investigations ordered]
- [Treatment plan]
- [Counselling discussion]
- [Referrals]
- [Follow-up and return precautions]
Combine Items When You Want One Clean Line
A comma-separated field can produce a concise one-line summary from whatever source material is available.
[Patient name, age, sex, presenting complaint]
If only age and complaint are available, Vero should use the available source material rather than forcing the missing items.
Writing Powerful Rules
Rules are instructions in (round brackets). They shape formatting, inclusion, ordering, tone, and conditional behaviour.
Rules do not appear in the final note.
Where to Put Rules
Inline rules apply to one field. Place the rule immediately after the field.
[Past medical history] (Only include if explicitly mentioned. Use hyphenated bullets.)
Global rules apply to the whole template. Put them at the bottom of the template or under the section they affect.
(Write in a professional but concise tone. Avoid abbreviations unless standard. Use DD/MM/YYYY for all dates.)
Useful Types of Rules
Formatting rules -
(Use hyphenated bullets),(One finding per line),(Use DD/MM/YYYY for all dates).Content rules -
(Only include if explicitly mentioned),(Do not infer diagnoses from symptoms),(Only list completed investigations here).Tone and voice rules -
(Use formal clinical language),(Use sentence fragments),(Use the patient's own words in quotation marks when clinically relevant).Placement rules -
(Put ordered investigations under Plan, not Objective).Conditional rules -
(Only include this section if a mental status exam was performed).
Rule Language That Works Best
Rules work best when they are direct, specific, and unambiguous.
Vague | Precise |
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Fields and Rules Together
A specific field tells Vero what to fill in. A targeted rule shapes how it appears.
[Physical exam findings] (Format as "System: findings", one system per line. Only include systems explicitly examined.)
[Medication list] (Include dose, route, and frequency. Preserve the exact spelling from the source.)
[Completed investigation results] (Only include results already available. Planned or pending investigations belong under Plan.)
Structuring a Template
Order sections the way you work. Vero reads top-down, so put sections in the clinical order you want reflected in the output.
Do not double labels and fields.
Medications: [Medication list]works better than[Medications] - [List].Use narrative and bullets intentionally. HPI and assessment reasoning often work well as prose. Medications, vitals, investigations, and plans often work well as lists.
Keep global rules in one place. Tone, dates, units, and abbreviation rules are easier to maintain when they live together.
Keep the template shorter than you think. A tight template with specific fields usually beats a long template with many vague fields.
Drop-In Patterns
Vitals
[HR, BP, RR, Temp, SpO2 with units, on one line]
Physical exam
[Physical exam findings] (One system per line, format "System: findings". Only include systems examined. Specify laterality only if stated.)
Assessment
[Primary diagnosis with one-line reasoning]
[Differential diagnoses, if discussed]
[Active issues being managed today only]
Plan
[Investigations ordered today]
[New medications: name, dose, route, frequency, duration]
[Counselling or non-pharmacologic management]
[Referrals and urgency]
[Follow-up timeframe and return precautions]
Pitfalls to Avoid
Rules inside placeholders. Write
[Diagnosis] (Use medical terminology), not[Diagnosis (Use medical terminology)].Contradictory rules. Do not ask for bullets in one place and paragraphs in another unless that is intentional.
Fixed patient facts. Diagnoses, medications, follow-up timing, pronouns, and patient-specific negatives should usually be fields, not static text.
Overly broad fields. Replace
[Summary]with the specific content you want.Expecting rules to invent content. Rules shape source material. They do not create facts that were not provided.