SOAP vs DAP Notes: Which Should You Use for ABA Therapy?
Choosing between SOAP vs DAP notes affects how quickly you write notes, how well teams communicate, and how you meet compliance standards. Here's what you should know about how each format works and which might be the better option for your practice.
What are SOAP notes?
SOAP notes divide clinical information into four sections:
- Subjective (S): What the client reports, such as feelings, complaints, or goals
- Objective (O): Observable behaviors, test results, or measurable data
- Assessment (A): Clinician’s analysis of progress, barriers, and clinical impressions
- Plan (P): Next steps, interventions, or recommendations for treatment
Clinicians often use SOAP notes because they follow a clear format that many professionals can understand.
Structured notes like SOAP also help teams communicate and meet compliance standards.
You can make SOAP note writing even easier with Passage Health’s Electronic Health Records (EHR) platform, which lets you quickly enter subjective and objective session details.
What are DAP notes?
DAP notes break down sessions into three key areas:
- Data (D): Objective information from the session, including behaviors observed or interventions delivered
- Assessment (A): Your interpretation of what the data means for treatment
- Plan (P): Recommendations and next steps for therapy
DAP notes essentially remove the “Subjective” section, which some clinicians may find redundant.
This can make note-taking quicker and more efficient, without reducing clinical accuracy.
Passage Health can pre-fill your DAP note templates, helping you save a few extra minutes on each session.
SOAP vs DAP notes: Key differences
Which format should you use?
Whether you use SOAP or DAP notes depends on your workflow and team needs:
- SOAP notes work well for practices that need detailed client reports or where several professionals look at the same notes.
- DAP notes may be better if you want to record sessions quickly or if client reports are stored somewhere else.
No matter the format, structured notes can help you plan treatment, reduce mistakes, and improve communication between healthcare providers.
Both formats support legal compliance and clinical decision-making.
You can also track progress over time with Passage Health’s analytics dashboards, which summarize your SOAP or DAP notes to help guide treatment decisions.
Benefits of structured therapy notes
SOAP or DAP notes offer clear benefits for both clinicians and organizations:
- Consistency: Structured note formats reduce ambiguity by capturing all critical session information.
- Team communication: Clinicians from different fields can easily see client progress without extra explanation.
- Compliance and legal protection: Proper documentation supports audits, insurance claims, and regulatory requirements.
- Treatment tracking: Objective data allows for measurable tracking of client progress over time.
- Efficiency: Using templates and structured formats saves time on notes while keeping them accurate.
Research also shows that structured notes make information clear, which can help improve treatment, keep clinicians accountable, and provide useful data for decisions.
Limitations and considerations
While structured notes are valuable, there are some limitations to bear in mind:
- Time constraints: SOAP notes can be more time-consuming due to the detailed subjective section.
- Training: Clinicians need training to write clear, structured notes that are short but informative.
- Flexibility: Some approaches, like person-centered therapy, use open conversations that don’t always fit a strict note format.
- Overfocusing on notes: Spending too much time on note-taking can take away from client interaction.
Understanding these limits helps you choose the right format and use it well in your practice.
How to decide between SOAP and DAP notes
The choice between SOAP and DAP notes often depends on several key factors:
- Setting: Hospitals and interdisciplinary clinics may prefer SOAP notes for detailed reporting. Private practices may favor DAP for speed.
- Team needs: Groups with several providers looking at notes may get more value from SOAP’s clear subjective section.
- Rules and regulations: Some programs and insurers need detailed client-reported information, so SOAP notes are often the better choice.
- Using technology: Tools like Passage Health can make either format faster and easier, so clinicians can choose based on their workflow, not the note type.
Practical note-taking tips for clinicians
No matter which note-taking format you opt for, here are a few tips to help your notes stay clear and reliable:
- Be consistent: Choose one format per setting and stick to it for readability.
- Focus on measurable data: Objective observations provide the clearest insights into client progress.
- Link assessment to plan: Every plan item should be justified by your assessment.
- Use technology: Passage Health’s EHR tools can help you save time on repeated tasks while keeping your notes accurate.
Key takeaways about SOAP vs DAP notes
- SOAP notes provide a detailed, standardized structure with subjective input.
- DAP notes streamline documentation while maintaining assessment and planning quality.
- Both formats improve communication, clinical decision-making, and legal compliance.
- The right choice depends on your workflow, team, and reporting practices.
- Platforms like Passage Health can make either format more efficient and actionable.
Make note-taking easier with Passage Health
Modern EHR systems can help clinicians manage their documentation more efficiently.
Passage Health makes taking SOAP or DAP notes easier and quicker through:
- Template automation: Use the pre-filled sections to reduce manual entry.
- Analytics integration: Automatically aggregate data from multiple sessions to track client progress.
- Time tracking: Identify which notes take longer to optimize your workflows.
- Error reduction: Standardized fields help reduce missing information and improve compliance.
- AI Session Notes: Automatically generate narrative summaries based on your session data to help you bill faster.
Want to help your clinicians balance speed, accuracy, and actionable insights? Book a demo to see how Passage Health makes it easy to use SOAP and DAP notes in your sessions.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between SOAP and DAP notes?
The main difference between SOAP and DAP is the subjective section. SOAP notes include what the client reports, while DAP notes skip this and focus only on what you observe, your assessment, and the plan.
Which is better to use: SOAP or DAP notes?
Which is better for you depends on your work and documentation needs. SOAP notes are good for teams and detailed reports, while DAP notes are faster for regular session recording.
Are DAP notes faster to complete than SOAP notes?
DAP notes are usually quicker to finish than SOAP notes because they skip the subjective section. This saves time while keeping important clinical details.
When should clinicians choose SOAP notes over DAP notes?
Clinicians should use SOAP notes when they need detailed documentation of both observations and client-reported information, when following specific rules or regulations, or when working with teams that need comprehensive subjective data.
Can EHR systems support both SOAP and DAP note formats?
Most modern EHR systems work with both SOAP and DAP notes. This lets clinicians pick the format that fits their workflow. Tools like Passage Health can also fill in sections and carry data forward to save time.
References
Ebbers, T., Kool, R. B., Smeele, L. E., et al. (2022). The impact of structured and standardized documentation on documentation quality; a multicenter, retrospective study. Journal of medical systems, 46(7), 46. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-022-01837-9
Mosler, F., Packer, K., Jerome, L. et al. (2023). Structured communication methods for mental health consultations in primary care: A scoping review. BMC Primary Care, 24(1), Article 175. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1186/s12875-023-02129-y
Podder, V., Lew, V., & Ghassemzadeh, S. (2023). SOAP notes. In StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482263/
