A physiotherapy progress report format that sets baseline beside today's results, with sample wording you can adapt.
✓Baseline and today side by side
✓Status and evidence for every goal
✓Quick for surgeons and families
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What's inside
Reason for This Report
Attendance and Participation
Subjective Update
Objective Re-assessment
Progress Toward Goals
Home Exercise Adherence
Barriers and Changes
Clinical Interpretation
+ 2 more sections
Preview · 10 sections
Physiotherapy Progress Report
Patient
Patient ID
Date of birth
Report date
Referred by
Physiotherapist
Reporting period
Sessions attended / planned
Reason for This Report
Reason for reportScheduled review, referrer's request, employer or insurer request, or a change in plan.
Attendance and Participation
Attendance and participation
Subjective Update
Patient-reported changeWhat the patient and family report has changed since the start of this period.
Pain Location
Scale Used
Start of Period
Now
Notes
Objective Re-assessment
Measure
Method / Position
Baseline
Previous Review
Today
Range of motion
Strength
Balance and gait
Functional mobility and transfers
Endurance and activity tolerance
Outcome measure used by the clinic (name)
Progress Toward Goals
Goal (as written in the plan)
Baseline
Current
Status
Evidence
Home Exercise Adherence
Home exercise adherenceHow often the programme is done and what gets in the way; use the patient's diary if they keep one.
Barriers and Changes
Barriers and changes
Clinical Interpretation
Clinical interpretationThe treating physiotherapist's reading of the change, tied to the measures above.
Plan for the Next Period
Goal for Next Period
Target
Review Date
Changes to treatment
Frequency and next review
Copies sent to
Therapist Sign-off
Therapist
Designation
Registration
Date
How to fill it in
1
Reason for This Report
One line on why this report exists, quoting any question the referrer asked.
More guidance
One line on why the report exists: a scheduled review, a referrer's request, an employer or insurer request, or a change in plan. It tells the reader which question you are answering. If someone asked a specific question, such as whether the patient can return to light duties, quote it here and answer it within your scope in the plan section.
2
Attendance and Participation
Sessions attended against planned, reasons for missed ones, and how the patient took part.
More guidance
Record sessions attended against sessions planned, cancellations and their reasons where known, and how the patient took part. Attendance explains a large share of progress, good or poor, and readers will look for it. State it factually and without blame.
3
Subjective Update
What the patient reports has changed, with pain on the same named scale.
More guidance
Record what the patient reports has changed since the start of the period: pain, sleep, work, daily tasks, confidence. Use the same pain scale as at baseline and name it, with ratings at the start of the period and now. A short quotation can tell the reader more than a paragraph, especially when it names an activity the patient had stopped doing.
4
Objective Re-assessment
Baseline measures repeated the same way, with baseline, previous review and today in one row.
More guidance
Repeat the baseline measures with the same method, position, equipment and, where possible, the same physiotherapist. Fill baseline, previous review and today in a single row so the change is visible at a glance. For the outcome measure your clinic uses, record its name and the result as its manual reports it. If you could not repeat a measure, write the reason instead of leaving the cell empty.
5
Progress Toward Goals
Each goal copied word for word, with baseline, current level, status and specific evidence.
More guidance
Copy each goal from the treatment plan word for word, then record the baseline, current performance, status and evidence. Use the status words your clinic has agreed and keep the evidence specific: the measure, the date, and who observed it. If you revise a goal, keep the original visible with the new wording beneath, so the change can be traced.
6
Home Exercise Adherence
How often the home programme is done, and what gets in the way.
More guidance
Describe how often the home programme is being done and what gets in the way, using the patient's pain and exercise diary if they keep one. Honest adherence notes explain plateaus and help you redesign the programme rather than adding exercises the patient will not do.
7
Barriers and Changes
Anything that changed the course of treatment, and what you did about it.
More guidance
Record anything that changed the course of treatment, such as a flare-up, a new medical event, a change of job or home, travel or cost, and what you did about each. Keep medical information to what was reported or documented, and say who documented it.
8
Clinical Interpretation
Your reading of the change, with each statement tied to a measurement above.
More guidance
This is the treating physiotherapist's reading of the change, so the page gives guidance only. Say what has improved, what has not, and the likely reasons as you see them, tying each statement to a measurement above. Avoid new medical conclusions. If something needs medical review, say that you have recommended it and to whom.
9
Plan for the Next Period
Next goals, treatment changes, frequency, review date, and who receives this report.
More guidance
Set goals for the next block, any change to treatment and the reason for it, the frequency and the next review date. If discharge is near, say so and what needs to happen first. End with who the report is going to, so the patient knows who has seen it.
Physiotherapy progress report format and sample: filled sample
Fictional entries, initials only, showing the level of detail to aim for. Impression and summary sections are left for the treating clinician.
Reason for This Report
Scheduled review after 8 sessions, requested by Dr N. (orthopaedics) ahead of the 12-week surgical follow-up.
Attendance and Participation
Attended 6 of 8 planned sessions over 4 weeks; 2 missed for a family wedding out of town. On time for each session and completed all planned exercises in clinic.
Subjective Update
Right outer elbow pain: 7 at worst at the start of the period, 4 now, on the same 0–10 scale. Now lifts a full pressure cooker with the right hand. Still carries shopping bags in the left hand only.
Objective Re-assessment
Grip, right, dynamometer, elbow at 90°, best of three: baseline 18 kg, today 26 kg (left 34 kg). Grip before pain begins, same set-up: baseline 10 kg, today 21 kg.
Progress Toward Goals
Goal: carry a 5 kg bag 100 m in the right hand with pain no higher than 3. Current: carried 3 kg for 100 m in clinic, pain 2. Status: progressing. Evidence: observed at session 8 on 14 October.
Home Exercise Adherence
Diary shows exercises on 4 to 5 days a week, mostly in the evening; missed on long shift days. Patient asked for a shorter version for those days.
Barriers and Changes
Flare-up after a 6-hour bus journey in week 3; settled within 4 days with activity changes. No new medical events reported.
Plan for the Next Period
Next 4 weeks: one session a week; progress wrist and forearm loading; add lifting practice based on his work tasks. Review at session 12. Copies to Dr N. and to the patient.
Progress report or SOAP note?
SOAP note
Progress report
When
After every session
At set review points, after a number of sessions or weeks
Compares
Today's session with the last one
The whole period with the baseline
Measures
The few measures taken today
The full set of baseline measures, repeated the same way
Goals
Mentions the goal worked on
Gives a status and evidence for every goal
Reader
The treating team
Referrer, patient and family, employer or insurer
Tips and mistakes to avoid
Do
Copy the baseline table from the assessment before re-measuring, so you repeat the same position, method and equipment.
Ask the family member who brings an older patient what they notice at home; carers see changes patients miss.
Write for the least specialised reader, and explain abbreviations such as ROM once or avoid them.
Send a one-page PDF if that is what the referrer reads, after checking consent and your privacy policy.
In healhab, a clinic builds its own progress report template, and a report is published only after a clinician has reviewed it.
Avoid
Comparing today's measurements with a baseline taken in a different position or with a different method.
Reporting only the goals that improved.
Paragraphs of narrative with no numbers, so the reader cannot tell how much has changed.
'Patient is improving' as the whole interpretation.
Leaving out attendance, which is often the main reason progress was slow.
About this progress report
A physiotherapy progress report compares where the patient started with where they are now: attendance, pain, re-measured range, strength, balance and function, the status of each goal, home exercise adherence, and the plan for the next period. This free template has a table for each and fills in online or downloads as a PDF.
At a planned review point, such as session 6
When a referrer, employer or insurer asks for an update
Before changing the treatment plan
When care moves to another physiotherapist mid-episode
Read more
A progress report looks back over a block of treatment and tells the referrer, family, employer or insurer whether physiotherapy is working. The treating physiotherapist writes it; in hospitals a supervising senior often countersigns.
Repeat the baseline measures the same way, set them beside today's results, and give every goal a clear status. Tables carry the numbers, because the reader may be a surgeon between cases or a family member on a phone.
Questions
What should a physiotherapy progress report include?+
The reason for the report, attendance, the patient's account of change, repeated baseline measures, each goal's status with evidence, home exercise adherence, barriers, your interpretation, and the plan for the next period. Measures and goals sit in tables.
Is there a filled sample of this progress report?+
Yes. Each section in the guide above shows a fictional sample entry, initials only. Clinical Interpretation has guidance but no sample, because reading the change is the treating physiotherapist's job.
How often should I write a physiotherapy progress report?+
At the review points set in the treatment plan, usually a number of sessions or weeks, and whenever a referrer or insurer asks. Record the interval in the plan so everyone knows when to expect it.
What is the difference between a progress report and a re-assessment?+
The re-assessment is repeating your examination and measures; the progress report records those results with goal status and the plan. US physical therapy clinics often call it a progress note or re-evaluation.
What should I write if the patient is not improving?+
Say so plainly, with the measures, then record what you think is limiting progress and what you will change: the plan, the frequency, or a referral for medical review. A clear 'not progressing' helps more than hopeful wording.
Can I send the progress report to the referring doctor?+
Yes, with the patient's consent and within your clinic's privacy policy. Download the report as a PDF, check it for internal notes, and send it by your clinic's usual channel.
Is this the same as a physiotherapy progress sheet?+
Not quite. Many Indian clinics keep a running progress sheet with a line per session, which is closer to a session note; the SOAP note template suits that. Keep this report for formal reviews.
