Report Writing Guides

Guides for writing better clinical reports

Practical guidance for allied health clinicians in Australia, Ireland, the UK, Canada and the US: how to write the reports each funder actually reads, from NDIS functional capacity assessments to Housing Adaptation Grant reports and Medicare progress reports, plus invoicing and tax.

UKUnited Kingdom 8 min read

How to Write a Care Act Needs Assessment (OT Guide, UK)

A Care Act needs assessment stands or falls on one thing: whether you have linked each need clearly to an eligibility outcome and to its impact on wellbeing. Here is how to write one that does.

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CanadaCanada 8 min read

Form 1 Attendant Care Needs: An OT’s Guide to Getting the Hours Right

The Form 1 turns your clinical observation into a monthly attendant care benefit. Getting the minutes, frequency and levels right, and evidencing each one, is what makes it hold up.

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FCAAustralia 9 min read

How to Write an NDIS Functional Capacity Assessment (FCA)

The FCA is the report NDIA planners lean on most. Here is a clear, section-by-section method for writing one that reads as objective, evidence-based, and reasonable and necessary.

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FCAAustralia 11 min read

Functional Capacity Assessment Template: Every Section, and What the NDIA Reads Each One For

Ten sections, the six functional areas the NDIA actually assesses, and a reasonable and necessary case under every recommendation. Free Word template included.

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ComplianceAustralia 6 min read

NDIS "Reasonable and Necessary": Writing Section 34 Justifications

Every funded support has to pass the Section 34 test. Here are the seven tests a planner applies since the 2024 changes, and a repeatable pattern for justifications that hold up.

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SILAustralia 8 min read

How to Write an NDIS SIL (Supported Independent Living) Report

SIL reports are among the most scrutinised NDIS documents. Here is how to structure eligibility, support hours, and risk so the recommendation holds up.

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ProgressAustralia 9 min read

How to Write an NDIS Progress Report (Plan Reassessment Report)

The NDIA publishes six steps for allied health plan reassessment reports. This guide works through each one, with what to write, what to leave out, and where clinicians most often lose the reader.

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Behaviour SupportAustralia 8 min read

NDIS Behaviour Support Plans: FBA, Interim and Comprehensive Plans

Behaviour support is the most heavily documented NDIS work. Here is how the FBA feeds the plan, the difference between interim and comprehensive plans, and how to handle restrictive practices.

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Assistive TechnologyAustralia 7 min read

How to Write an NDIS Assistive Technology (AT) Report

An AT report has to prove the equipment is the right fit, was trialled, and is reasonable and necessary. Here is how to structure one so it is approved the first time.

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Home ModificationAustralia 7 min read

How to Write an NDIS Home Modification Report

Home modification reports carry real evidence and compliance weight. Here is how to structure one, from the OT assessment to quotes and justification.

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NDIS ChangesAustralia 7 min read

I-CAN v6: What the New NDIS Assessment Tool Means for Allied Health

From 1 April 2027 the NDIS plans to set budgets from a support needs assessment built on I-CAN v6, not from your report. Here is what it is, and where your report still counts.

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Behaviour SupportAustralia 7 min read

How to Write a Functional Behaviour Assessment (FBA) for the NDIS

A functional behaviour assessment stands or falls on one thing: whether you have worked out what the behaviour is for. Here is how to get the function right.

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ToolsAustralia 6 min read

The Best NDIS Report Writing Tools in 2026 (Honest Comparison)

There is no single best NDIS report tool, there is a best one for how you work. Here is an honest look at the options and how to choose.

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AssessmentsAustralia 6 min read

Using WHODAS 2.0 in an NDIS Functional Capacity Assessment

WHODAS 2.0 measures function across six domains on the same ICF basis the NDIS thinks in. Here is how to use it in an FCA and report the scores well.

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InvoicingAustralia 7 min read

Free NDIS Invoice Template (2026): What to Include to Get Paid

A plan manager pays your invoice fast when everything they need is on it, and holds it when something is missing. Here is a free NDIS invoice template and the exact fields that get you paid without the back and forth.

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InvoicingAustralia 7 min read

How to Invoice as an NDIS Support Worker (Sole Trader Guide)

Going independent as a support worker means you handle your own invoicing. Here is how to set it up once so every invoice is compliant and gets paid without chasing.

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InvoicingAustralia 6 min read

How to Claim Travel on an NDIS Invoice (2025-26 Rules)

Travel is one of the most common things clinicians undercharge or get knocked back on. Here is how to claim it correctly on an NDIS invoice under the 2025-26 rules.

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USAUnited States 9 min read

Medicare Progress Report Requirements for PT, OT and SLP (2026)

A Medicare progress report is due at least once every 10 treatment days, it must be written by the therapist and not the assistant, and a reviewer reads it looking for four specific things. Here is exactly what the manual says, and how to write one that passes.

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USAUnited States 9 min read

Medicare Plan of Care for Outpatient Therapy: Contents, Certification and the 30- and 90-Day Clocks

The plan of care is the document the physician certifies, and certification is what makes the claim payable. Here is what the plan must contain, the two clocks that govern it, and the delayed-certification rule that saves more claims than people realize.

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USAUnited States 7 min read

Medicare Treatment Notes: The Four Required Elements, and What You Can Stop Writing

Clinics over-write daily notes and under-write progress reports. Medicare asks for four elements in a treatment note and explicitly says the note does not have to justify medical necessity. Here is the list, the minutes rule, and the signature rule for assistants.

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USAUnited States 9 min read

How to Write an FCE Report That Holds Up: Exertional Levels, Effort Language and the Job Match

Every FCE report answers one question: can this person do this job, and at what physical demand level? The classification vocabulary is federal, the effort language is where reports get thrown out, and the report should open with the answer. Here is how to write it.

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USAUnited States 9 min read

School-Based OT, PT and SLP Evaluation Reports Under IDEA: The Federal Rules Your Report Has to Meet

About 7.5 million students receive services under IDEA, and every one of them was evaluated under the same federal procedure. Here is what that procedure requires of your report, where the 60-day clock starts, and the mistake that makes a report unusable to the IEP team.

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InvoicingIreland 8 min read

The Irish OT Invoice: What Goes On It, and the VAT Question Nobody Answers

Nine fields get you paid and prove the work for six years. The VAT line is the part nobody writes about honestly: Revenue says the purpose of the work decides, not your profession.

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InvoicingUnited Kingdom 9 min read

Do You Charge VAT on That Report? The HMRC Rule UK Therapists Keep Missing

Treatment is exempt. A report written so a court, an insurer or an employer can decide usually is not, and that report income is the only part of your turnover the £90,000 threshold counts.

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InvoicingCanada 9 min read

Do You Charge GST/HST on That Assessment? What the CRA Already Answered for Canadian Therapists

The CRA published worked examples showing exactly where the line falls, and it named occupational therapists twice, both times exempt. The example most likely to catch you never names a profession at all.

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Report writingIreland 8 min read

The Housing Adaptation Grant OT Report: What the Council Actually Needs From You

Four kinds of work require an OT report, there is no official template, and the doctor’s certificate is somebody else’s job. Here is what the council is actually reading for.

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ComplianceAustralia 8 min read

Is It Safe to Use AI for NDIS Reports? What Ahpra Actually Requires

Yes, with conditions, and Ahpra has written them down. Nothing in the guidance prohibits an AI-drafted report. What it does is put the whole burden of accuracy on the person who signs it.

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Report writingIreland 9 min read

The Capacity Assessment Report Under the ADM Act: What You Have to Record

S.I. 204/2023 lists occupational therapists as a prescribed class. The Decision Support Service has published exactly what your record has to contain, and it is more specific than most people expect.

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Report writingIreland 9 min read

The Moving and Handling Report: What Schedule 3 Actually Asks For

Irish law does not ask you to score a lift. It asks you to avoid the handling first, then assess against five headings. Two Irish bodies use two different acronyms, and neither is the requirement.

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Report writingIreland 11 min read

Equipment and Seating Reports: The Criteria the HSE Has Already Published

The HSE has published, item by item, what your equipment recommendation is judged against. The condition most reports never answer is the list of what you ruled out.

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MedicareUnited States 10 min read

KX Modifier Threshold 2026: $2,480, What It Attests To, and What Your Record Has to Show

KX is not a cap and it is not a request for more money. It is an attestation that the chart already contains the justification, and since April 2026 there is a national audit topic that opens the chart to check.

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Report writingUnited Kingdom 12 min read

EHC Needs Assessment Advice for OTs, SLTs and Physios: What Section F Needs From You

Section F is the only part of an EHC plan the local authority has a direct legal duty to secure. Write your advice as if it will be enforced, because it can be.

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Let Carearoo draft it for you

Carearoo drafts the report from your notes onto your own Word template in about five minutes. Your first report is free, so you can judge the output on one of your own de-identified cases. No subscription: you pay per report after that, at your country's price.