18 Free Review of Systems Templates and Examples (2025)

In the United States, healthcare providers use a questioning technique referred to as the Review of Systems (ROS) to obtain medical information about patients. ROS is a crucial part of the admission note when you visit a medical center or hospital and is designed to collect your medical history by covering 14 organ systems. Read on to learn more about this crucial document.

What Is a Review of Systems Template?

A Review of Systems Template is a pre-formatted document that can be used to take inventory of the 14 body systems, which include eyes, cardiovascular, ENT, etc. It is designed to contain questions and a blank field that a doctor can use to collect answers about symptoms from a patient. Rather than write these questions down every time you see a new patient, most hospitals offer a uniform template.

Review of Systems Templates & Examples

Essential Elements of the Review of Systems Template

A review of the system takes inventory of different body systems through a series of questions about symptoms and patient experiences. As mentioned, the Centers for Medicare and Medical Services recognizes 14 body systems, which make up the typical ROS. They include:

• Allergic
• Cardiovascular
• Constitutional symptoms
• Ears, nose, mouth, throat
• Endocrine
• Eyes
• Gastrointestinal
• Genitourinary
• Hematologic or Lymphatic
• Integumentary
• Musculoskeletal
• Neurological
• Psychiatric
• Respiratory

Guidelines for Writing a ROS

Patient medical records are very sensitive, and that is why there are many key guidelines governing how they should be collected, stored, and used. When it comes to writing a ROS, one of the rules you should keep in mind is that you don’t need to re-document information if there is evidence that a doctor reviewed the ROS and updated the details.

If from your initial encounter with the patient, you realize that their ROS has been updated, you can document this information by describing the updates in a new ROS template. You can also document that no changes have been observed in the information provided by the patient.

Besides re-documentation, another provision to remember is that any member of staff in the medical center can document the ROS into the medical records as long as there is proof that a physician performed a review. Mention the date of your ROS if you refer to it in your current notes, even if the ROS is unchanged from the patient’s last visit.

There are three ROS levels, each with its unique wordings. You should familiarize yourself with all of them so that you can effectively capture patient information. They are:

• Problem Pertinent ROS – This ROS inquires about the systems directly related to the problem described in a patient’s HPI. It should contain pertinent positive and negative responses to the related issues.
• Extended ROS – This ROS inquires about systems directly related to the problem described in the HPI plus some more body systems. It should contain responses for between 2 and 9 systems.
• Complete ROS – This ROIS inquires about systems directly related to the problem described in the HPI plus all the body systems. It should contain responses for at least 10 systems.

Benefits of a Review of Systems Template

There is a lot of literature supporting the use of ROS for patients without an injury or life-threatening illness within the primary care system. If a physician fails to use an ROS for guidance during the assessment, they risk missing essential details about the patient’s condition. The benefits of using it are:

• An ROS can give a provider information about the history of an illness or concern the patient has. From this information, they can red-flag certain problems, which they can explore during the physical exam for confirmation or elimination.
• The ROS will also help a provider identify underlying or potential illnesses then prioritize certain organ systems as a follow-up in the examination.
• Because an ROS reveals a patient’s medical history, it can help a physician focus their interview on specific complaints, which could lead to a possible diagnosis.
• Through the questions asked in an ROS, the provider can have an enlightening conversation with the patient about their physical status.
• ROS questions can reveal crucial information about a patient’s past health, surgical history, environmental risks, and occupational hazards,
• ROS questions can remind a patient about a health concern they have but didn’t consider worth reporting, even though it could point to a real problem.
• ROS conversations help establish a rapport between the patient and provider, all while looking and, sometimes, finding new diagnoses.

Review of Systems Vs. History of Present Illness

The Review of Systems is often compared to the History of Present Illness (HPI) because they collect pretty much the same information. However, the former differs from the latter in that it consists of questions the provider asked the patient regarding body systems. The language shows that the patient provided information in response to questions asked by the provider. Some phrases that show a document is an ROS include ‘patient denies migraines’ or symbols like ‘+headache’ or ‘- chest pain.’

These examples show that the patient was answering specific questions asked by the provider. This is important because you would only count an entry once – as either ROS or HPI. If it appears that the information was gathered through other means other than questioning, such as a physical exam, then the information should fall under HPI.

The Review of Systems Template is a medical document designed to take inventory of organ systems through a series of questions about patient experiences or symptoms. The questions can be related to a chief complaint the patient has or be general, which is common when a patient is new. Generally, there are three types of ROS documents. A pertinent ROS reviews only one body system, while an extended ROS covers 2 to 9 body systems. A complete ROS, on the other hand, reviews 10 or more.