Podiatry assessment report: structure, template and time saved

Introduction

It is 9 p.m. The last patient has left, but the assessment reports are still waiting. Consultations are the heart of your work. The writing that follows them is far less so, yet it eats into your evenings.

A podiatry assessment report is, however, one of the most standardised documents of your practice. Its structure is well known. Its template is reusable. This article details what it must contain, offers a model to copy, then shows where time is really lost — and how to automate it without losing clinical control.

What a podiatry assessment report must contain

This document formalises the examination of the foot and posture. It has three goals: to document the clinical process, to set a diagnosis, and to communicate with both the patient and the referring doctor.

Its structure follows four steps.

1. History taking. You record the reason for the visit, pain (scored on the VAS scale), medical history and the patient's activities.
2. Non-weight-bearing examination. Patient seated or lying down: skin and nail inspection, palpation, joint and muscle assessment.
3. Weight-bearing examination. Patient standing: static disorders, postural analysis, plantar pressure on a podoscope, and gait.
4. Diagnosis and treatment plan. You conclude, set objectives, indicate treatment (plantar orthoses, care, advice) and the care schedule.

In France, the national podiatrists' federation has published a standard summary sheet for this assessment, to be kept available for the health insurance medical service or the patient.

A point of vocabulary, often raised. "Podiatry assessment" and "diagnostic podiatry assessment" describe the same process. The second term, more formal, stresses the diagnostic dimension and the traceability of clinical reasoning. It is the one official documents use.

A reusable template

A single template, reused from one patient to the next, removes the blank page and ensures nothing is forgotten. Here is a model to adapt to your practice.

PODIATRY ASSESSMENT REPORT

Patient: [Name] — Assessment date: [date] — Practitioner: [Name, ID]

1. REASON FOR VISIT
   Complaint, location, duration, pain (VAS /10), history, activities

2. NON-WEIGHT-BEARING EXAMINATION
   Skin/nail inspection · palpation · joint and muscle assessment

3. WEIGHT-BEARING EXAMINATION
   Static · posture · plantar pressure (podoscope) · gait

4. PODIATRIC DIAGNOSIS
   Clinical conclusion

5. TREATMENT PLAN
   Objectives · treatment (orthoses, care, advice) · care schedule

[Optional] SUMMARY SHEET FOR THE REFERRING DOCTOR
   One-sentence diagnosis · recommended course of action

The summary sheet for the referring doctor deserves particular attention. It must be readable in seconds. A one-sentence diagnosis, a course of action: that is often all your colleague expects.

Where time is really lost

The problem is not knowing what to write. It is the time writing takes, once the consultation is over.

This burden is in fact growing. Since the French law of 19 May 2023, podiatrists may prescribe plantar orthoses as a first step, unless the referring doctor advises otherwise. They may also grade the podiatric risk of diabetic patients, with information sent to the referring doctor. More rights, then, but also more documents to produce and send.

The result: a growing share of your time goes into typing and formatting, rather than care. That is precisely the time you can win back.

What generative AI changes (and its limits)

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) does not file information: it writes it. For this type of document, its value comes down to four concrete tasks.

1. Transcription of the consultation, while you examine the foot.
2. Writing the report in your own template, from that transcription.
3. The summary sheet for the referring doctor, condensed into a few lines.
4. Follow-up between consultations, prepared faster.

In practice, the flow of an assessment looks much the same, but the effort changes. Here is what it looks like, step by step.

Step	Without assistance	With a dedicated AI
During the consultation	Typing notes, eyes on the screen	You speak, the AI transcribes
After the patient leaves	Writing the report from scratch	A structured draft in your template
Summary for the doctor	Re-typing a summary	A pre-generated summary to review
In the evening	Reports piling up	Reviewing and validating

One point matters. AI assists, it does not decide. The podiatric diagnosis and the validation of the report remain your responsibility. The right tool saves you writing time, not your clinical judgement. You review, you correct, you validate.

Three conditions to do it compliantly

Your patients' data are personal health data. Before adopting a tool, three questions deserve a clear answer.

1. Hosting. Require a provider certified HDS (the French health data hosting certification), ideally in France, and a tool compliant with the GDPR.
2. Training. Check, in writing, that your patient data are not used to train the vendor's models.
3. Oversight. The tool prepares, you validate. Control stays with you.

On this ground, Markus is hosted in France, HDS-certified, and never trains its AI on your patient data. That is also why it was co-created with healthcare professionals.

Key takeaways

• A podiatry assessment follows four steps: history taking, non-weight-bearing exam, weight-bearing exam, diagnosis and treatment plan.
• A reusable template removes the blank page and makes your reports more reliable.
• AI can take over the writing, under three conditions: HDS hosting, no training on your data, and human validation.

Further reading

• Markus for podiatrists: the assistant that writes your reports in your own template — see the podiatry page.
• Data security: HDS hosting, GDPR and Markus's commitments — see the security page.
• Official source: rules for prescribing plantar orthoses on ameli.fr.
• Legal framework: law no. 2023-379 of 19 May 2023 (Légifrance).