Professional Document Tools

Week 2 — Lesson 3 | CI2000: Computer Fundamentals

Learning Objectives

Apply built-in Heading styles and themes to a healthcare document so that it generates an automatic Table of Contents and maintains visual consistency (CO-4)
Customize a Word template for a standardized healthcare form (intake, consent, or policy document) that can be reused across the organization (CO-4)
Add headers, footers, and page numbers to a multi-page document to meet professional healthcare documentation standards (CO-4)
Evaluate two versions of the same healthcare document — one using manual formatting, one using styles — and explain why styles improve efficiency, consistency, and accessibility (CO-4)
Use mail merge to generate personalized healthcare documents from an Excel data source (CO-4)

Part 1: Understanding Styles — The Foundation of Professional Documents

In the previous two lessons, you learned to create Word documents, enter and edit text, and apply manual formatting. While manual formatting works well for short documents, it quickly becomes tedious and inconsistent for longer documents or documents that must follow organizational standards. This is where Styles become essential.

What Are Styles?

A style is a predefined set of formatting instructions saved under a single name. When you apply a style to text, all the formatting associated with that style is applied at once. Instead of manually setting font, size, color, and spacing every time you create a heading, you simply select the text and select “Heading 1” — and all the formatting is applied instantly.

Word’s most commonly used built-in styles include:

Normal — The default body text style.
Heading 1 — The top-level heading style. Used for major section titles.
Heading 2 — A second-level heading for subsections.
Heading 3 — A third-level heading for further subdivisions.
Title — A large, prominent style for the document title.
Subtitle — A complementary style for a subtitle below the title.
Quote / Intense Quote — Formatted for block quotations or callout text.
List Paragraph — The default style for bulleted and numbered lists.

Why Styles Matter in Healthcare

In healthcare organizations, consistency is not optional — it is a professional and often regulatory requirement. Styles also provide structural benefits beyond appearance:

Navigation Pane — When you use heading styles, Word displays a clickable document outline (View > Navigation Pane), allowing you to jump instantly to any section — invaluable for long procedure manuals and compliance handbooks.
Table of Contents — Word generates automatic Tables of Contents based on heading styles.
Accessibility — Screen readers used by visually impaired individuals rely on heading styles to navigate documents.

Applying Styles

To apply a style, select the text (or place your cursor in the paragraph), then select the desired style in the Styles gallery on the Home tab.

Modifying and Creating Custom Styles

Modifying an Existing Style

Right-click the style name in the Styles gallery or Styles pane.
Select Modify.
In the Modify Style dialog box, change the font, size, color, spacing, alignment, or any other attribute.
Choose whether the modification applies to Only in this document or New documents based on this template.
Select OK.

All text using that style updates automatically throughout the document.

Creating an Entirely New Style

Select the New Style button at the bottom of the Styles pane.
Give it a descriptive name (e.g., “Clinic Policy Heading” or “Patient Instructions Body”).
Configure all the formatting — font, size, color, spacing, alignment.
Choose whether to save it to this document only or to the template.
Select OK to save.

Custom styles are a powerful way to enforce healthcare document standards across your organization.

Healthcare Connection: When every policy document, patient form, and internal memo uses the same heading styles, font choices, and spacing, the result is a cohesive organizational identity that conveys professionalism and reliability. Styles also enable screen reader navigation — a critical accessibility requirement in organizations serving diverse patient populations.

Part 2: Themes — Coordinated Design at the Document Level

While styles control the formatting of individual text elements, themes control the overall visual design of the entire document. A theme is a coordinated set of colors, fonts, and effects that work together to give your document a unified, professional appearance.

What a Theme Includes

Theme Colors — A palette of 12 coordinated colors used throughout the document. When you change the theme colors, all elements that reference theme colors update automatically.
Theme Fonts — Two font selections: one for headings and one for body text.
Theme Effects — Visual effects for shapes, charts, and SmartArt.

Applying and Customizing Themes

To apply a theme, go to the Design tab and select Themes. Hover over any theme to see a live preview. You can also customize individual components:

Design > Colors — Change the color palette
Design > Fonts — Change the heading and body fonts
Design > Effects — Change shape and graphic effects

To save a customized combination, select Themes > Save Current Theme.

Themes vs. Styles: What Is the Difference?

Themes set the overall palette — the available colors, fonts, and effects for the entire document.
Styles apply specific combinations of those theme elements to individual text elements.

Feature	Styles	Themes	Templates
What it controls	Formatting of individual text elements	Overall document color palette, font pair, and graphic effects	Complete document layout including styles, themes, and content placeholders
Where to find it	Home tab > Styles gallery	Design tab > Themes, Colors, Fonts	File > New > template gallery
Scope	Applied to selected text or paragraphs	Applied to the entire document at once	Applied when creating a new document
Healthcare example	“Policy Heading” style: Arial 14pt Bold Navy	“UMA Healthcare” theme: Navy/blue palette with Inter headings	“Patient Intake Form” template: pre-designed form with logo and fields

▶ How to add branded templates to Word, Excel & PowerPoint start pages • Kevin Stratvert

A healthcare organization wants all policy documents to have consistent formatting, generate automatic Tables of Contents, and be navigable by screen readers for accessibility compliance. Which Word feature is MOST essential to achieve all three goals?

Themes

Styles

Templates

Building Blocks

Answer: Styles are the most essential feature for achieving all three goals. Styles ensure consistent formatting of headings and body text. Word’s automatic Table of Contents is generated based on heading styles (Heading 1, Heading 2, etc.). Screen readers rely on heading styles to navigate document structure, making styles critical for accessibility.

Part 3: Templates — Reusable Document Blueprints

A template is a pre-designed document that serves as a starting point for new documents. Templates combine styles, themes, page layout settings, content placeholders, and sometimes pre-written text into a single reusable file. When you create a new document from a template, Word generates a copy — the original template remains unchanged and ready for the next use.

Built-In and Online Templates

Word provides a rich library of templates accessible from File > New. Common template categories useful in healthcare include:

Patient intake forms — Collect patient demographics, insurance information, medical history, and consent
Appointment reminder letters — Standard letters sent to patients confirming upcoming appointments
Referral letters — Professional letters referring patients to specialists or other facilities
Medical office memos — Internal communications about policies, procedures, or announcements
Health education flyers — Patient-facing materials about conditions, procedures, or wellness topics
Meeting agendas — Structured agendas for staff meetings, quality improvement committees, or safety huddles

Healthcare Scenario: You are a medical office assistant at Lakeside Community Health Center. The office manager asks you to create a patient intake form for a new specialty clinic. Instead of building the form from scratch, you go to File > New, search for “patient intake form,” find a suitable template, customize the fields, apply the clinic’s theme colors and logo, and save it as a new template for future use.

Creating Your Own Templates

Step-by-Step: Creating a Custom Template

Create a new document and design it exactly as you want the template to appear — include styles, themes, logos, headers, footers, placeholder text, and any standard content.
Go to File > Save As.
In the “Save as type” dropdown, select Word Template (*.dotx).
Give the template a descriptive name and save it. Templates are saved to the Custom Office Templates folder by default.
The template now appears in the Personal section of File > New.

In healthcare offices with shared network drives, custom templates can be stored on the network so all staff have access to the same standardized forms and documents.

Template Type	Description	Key Elements	Healthcare Application
Patient Intake Form	Collects patient demographics, insurance, and medical history	Form fields, checkboxes, signature lines, HIPAA notice	New patient registration at clinics and specialty practices
Referral Letter	Professional letter referring a patient to another provider	Letterhead, patient info block, clinical summary, provider signature	Primary care to specialist referrals
Office Memo	Internal communication to staff about policies or announcements	To/From/Date/Subject header, body text, distribution list	Policy updates, schedule changes, compliance reminders
Patient Education Handout	Informational document given to patients about a condition or procedure	Title, body text, bulleted lists, images, clinic contact info	Post-visit instructions, medication guides, wellness tips
Meeting Agenda	Structured outline for a meeting or committee session	Meeting title, date/time, attendees, agenda items with times	Staff meetings, quality improvement committees, safety huddles
Health Event Flyer	Promotional document for health events or campaigns	Eye-catching title, event details, images, call to action	Blood drives, flu shot clinics, health fairs

Part 4: Building Blocks and Quick Parts

Building blocks are reusable pieces of content that you can insert into any document with just a few clicks. Think of them as pre-made “chunks” of a document — a formatted header, a disclaimer paragraph, a logo block, or a pre-built table — that you use frequently and want to insert without recreating them each time.

Types of Building Blocks

Quick Parts are custom content blocks that you create and save for reuse. To create one: type and format the content, select it, go to Insert > Quick Parts > Save Selection to Quick Part Gallery, give it a descriptive name (e.g., “Clinic Disclaimer” or “HIPAA Notice”), and select OK.

AutoText is a type of Quick Part specifically designed for frequently typed text. For example, you could save your clinic’s full address, a standard disclaimer paragraph, or a HIPAA notice as AutoText and insert it with a few keystrokes. AutoText entries are stored in the Normal template.

Cover Pages are pre-designed first pages for reports and formal documents. Access from Insert > Cover Page. They include professionally designed layouts with placeholders for document title, subtitle, author, date, and organization name — ideal for policy manuals and training materials.

Headers and Footers are pre-designed header and footer layouts. Healthcare documents commonly use headers for the organization name and logo, and footers for “Confidential — Internal Use Only” disclaimers, document version numbers, and automatic page numbers.

Page Numbers offer various formats and positions for numbering your document pages. You can place page numbers at the top or bottom of the page, in the margin, or at the current position. Formats include plain numbers, “Page X of Y,” and decorative styles.

Healthcare Example: Many healthcare documents require a standard HIPAA privacy notice or confidentiality disclaimer. Rather than typing and formatting this paragraph every time, you save it as a Quick Part called “HIPAA Disclaimer.” Now, in any document, you can insert the complete, properly formatted disclaimer in two clicks — saving time and ensuring the exact approved language is used every time.

Part 5: Table of Contents and Document Properties

Long healthcare documents such as policy manuals, employee handbooks, procedure guides, and quality improvement reports require a Table of Contents (TOC) to help readers find information quickly. Word can generate a TOC automatically based on the heading styles you have applied.

Creating an Automatic Table of Contents

Apply heading styles throughout your document. Use Heading 1 for major sections, Heading 2 for subsections, and Heading 3 for further subdivisions.
Position your cursor where you want the TOC to appear (typically at the beginning of the document, after the title page).
Go to References > Table of Contents.
Choose from the built-in TOC formats (Automatic Table 1 or Automatic Table 2), or select Custom Table of Contents for more control.
Word generates the TOC instantly, complete with section titles and page numbers.

Updating the Table of Contents

As you add, remove, or rearrange content, the TOC will need to be updated. Select anywhere inside the TOC and press F9 or select Update Table. Choose:

Update page numbers only — When page numbers have shifted but headings remain the same.
Update entire table — When you have added, changed, or deleted headings.

Pro Tip: Always update the TOC as the last step before printing or distributing a document. An inaccurate TOC with wrong page numbers undermines the professionalism of the document.

Document Properties and Metadata

Document properties (metadata) are descriptive details stored within the file. To view and edit them, go to File > Info. Key properties include Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Comments, and Company. In healthcare:

Document management — Properties help search for and organize files in Windows File Explorer and SharePoint.
Version tracking — The “Comments” field can note the document version, approval status, or review history.
Compliance — Some regulatory frameworks require documents to include specific metadata.
Privacy — Word’s Document Inspector (File > Info > Check for Issues > Inspect Document) can find and remove hidden metadata before sharing externally.

Part 6: Putting It All Together — Creating a Professional Healthcare Policy Document

Let us walk through a comprehensive scenario that brings together styles, themes, templates, building blocks, and document properties.

Scenario: You are a healthcare administrator at Mountain View Medical Group. The compliance officer has asked you to create a new “Infection Control Policy” document that will be distributed to all staff. The document must be 8–10 pages, professionally formatted, consistently styled, include a table of contents, and carry the organization’s branding.

Step-by-Step Process

Start with a template or blank document. Search for “policy” in the template gallery. If you find a suitable template, use it as a starting point.
Apply the organizational theme. Go to Design > Themes and select the custom Mountain View Medical Group theme.
Set up styles for the document. Ensure Heading 1, Heading 2, and Heading 3 styles are formatted to match your organizational standards.
Create the document structure using styles. Type your section headings and apply Heading 1 to each. The Navigation Pane shows a complete outline you can use to jump between sections.
Add headers and footers. Insert the clinic logo and name in the header. Add “Confidential — Internal Use Only” and automatic page numbers in the footer.
Insert building blocks. Use your saved HIPAA Disclaimer Quick Part in the compliance section. Insert a pre-built cover page and a “Document Revision History” table from your saved Quick Parts.
Generate the Table of Contents. Position your cursor after the cover page and insert an Automatic Table of Contents from References > Table of Contents.
Set document properties. Go to File > Info and set the Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, and a comment noting the version and review status.
Final review. Run Spelling and Grammar check. Review in Print Preview. Update the Table of Contents one final time (F9). Save as .docx for editing and .pdf for distribution.

Key Takeaway: Professional document tools — Styles, Themes, Templates, Building Blocks, and Document Properties — work together as a system. Mastering their interplay allows you to create consistent, accessible, and branded documents efficiently, regardless of length or complexity.

A medical office creates the same patient intake form every time a new specialty clinic opens. The form always has the same layout, logo, fields, and formatting. Which Word feature is the BEST tool for this recurring need?

Apply a new theme each time the form is needed

Use the Format Painter to copy formatting from an old form

Save the form as a Word template (.dotx) and create new forms from it

Modify the default Normal style to match the form’s formatting

Answer: A Word template (.dotx) is the best solution for documents that are created repeatedly with the same layout, formatting, and standard content. Saving the patient intake form as a template means that every time a new clinic opens, staff can go to File > New, select the template, and have a perfectly formatted form ready to customize. The original template remains unchanged.

After adding three new sections to a 25-page clinic policy manual, you notice the Table of Contents still shows the old page numbers. What should you do?

Delete the Table of Contents and create a new one from scratch

Manually type the correct page numbers into the Table of Contents

Select inside the Table of Contents and press F9, then select “Update entire table”

Change the heading styles to force the Table of Contents to refresh

Answer: The correct approach is to select inside the Table of Contents and press F9 (or select the “Update Table” button), then select “Update entire table.” This tells Word to rebuild the TOC, picking up any new headings, changed headings, and updated page numbers. You should select “Update entire table” rather than “Update page numbers only” because you added new sections.

Part 4: Mail Merge — Personalizing Documents at Scale

Healthcare workers frequently need to send the same letter to dozens or even hundreds of patients — each one personalized with the patient’s name, appointment date, or other individual information. Mail Merge is the Word feature that makes this possible at scale, without manually editing each letter one by one.

Common healthcare uses for mail merge include:

Appointment reminder letters — Personalized with each patient’s name, appointment date, and provider’s name
Billing notices — Addressed to individual patients with their specific balance information
Lab result letters — Sent to patients using a list from an Excel spreadsheet exported from the EHR
Annual wellness reminders — Personalized outreach to patients due for preventive screenings

Mail merge works by combining a Word letter template (with merge field placeholders like «FirstName» and «AppointmentDate») with a data source such as an Excel spreadsheet that contains one row per patient.

Step-by-Step: Completing a Mail Merge

Step 1: Prepare the Excel Data Source

Before starting in Word, set up your Excel spreadsheet as the data source. Each column becomes a merge field. For a patient appointment reminder, your spreadsheet should include columns such as:

FirstName
LastName
AppointmentDate
DoctorName
ClinicPhone

Each row represents one patient. Make sure the first row contains the column headers (no blank rows above the data), and save the file before opening Word.

Step 2: Open Word → Mailings Tab → Start Mail Merge → Letters

Open a new or existing Word document that will serve as your letter template. Navigate to the Mailings tab on the Ribbon. In the Start Mail Merge group, select Start Mail Merge and then choose Letters.

This tells Word that you are creating a standard letter mail merge (as opposed to labels, envelopes, or an email merge).

Step 3: Select Recipients → Use an Existing List → Browse to Excel File

In the Start Mail Merge group, select Select Recipients and choose Use an Existing List. A file browser opens. Navigate to your Excel spreadsheet and select it. Word will prompt you to select the worksheet within the file (e.g., Sheet1). Select the correct sheet and click OK.

Word is now connected to your patient data. You will see the Edit Recipient List option become available, where you can sort, filter, or remove recipients.

Step 4: Insert Merge Fields

Now write or edit your letter, inserting merge fields where personalized data should appear. Place your cursor where you want a field to appear, then select Insert Merge Field in the Write & Insert Fields group on the Mailings tab.

For example, a salutation line might look like:

Dear «FirstName» «LastName»,

And the body might include:

This is a reminder that your appointment with Dr. «DoctorName» is scheduled for «AppointmentDate». Please call us at «ClinicPhone» if you need to reschedule.

Step 5: Preview Results

Before printing or sending, always preview your merged documents. Select Preview Results in the Preview Results group on the Mailings tab. This replaces the merge field placeholders with actual data from the first row of your spreadsheet.

Use the navigation arrows to page through each letter and verify that names, dates, and other data appear correctly for multiple records. Look for any formatting issues, missing data, or unexpected values.

Step 6: Finish & Merge → Print Documents or Edit Individual Documents

When you are satisfied with the preview, select Finish & Merge in the Finish group on the Mailings tab. You have two main options:

Print Documents — Sends all merged letters directly to the printer. Word prints one personalized letter per patient.
Edit Individual Documents — Creates a new Word document with all the merged letters as separate pages. This allows you to review or make last-minute changes to individual letters before printing.

For healthcare correspondence, Edit Individual Documents is recommended so you can review the complete merged set and catch any errors before printing.

▶ How to Mail Merge in Word, Excel & Outlook • Kevin Stratvert

Scenario: The clinic coordinator needs to send 12 personalized appointment reminder letters. Each letter must address the patient by name and include their appointment date. The coordinator has a spreadsheet with all 12 patient records. What is the most efficient way to create all 12 letters?

Use mail merge with the Excel patient list as the data source and a Word letter template with merge fields («FirstName», «LastName», «AppointmentDate»). This produces 12 fully personalized letters automatically, without manually editing each one. Use “Finish & Merge → Edit Individual Documents” to review the complete set before printing.

A medical office manager has an Excel spreadsheet with 50 patient names, addresses, and appointment dates. She needs to create personalized reminder letters for each patient. Which Word feature should she use?

Find and Replace

Track Changes

Mail Merge using the patient Excel file as the data source

Mail Merge with manual typing for each letter

Answer: Mail Merge using the patient Excel file as the data source is the correct answer. Mail Merge connects a Word letter template (with merge field placeholders like «FirstName» and «AppointmentDate») to the Excel spreadsheet, automatically generating one personalized letter for each of the 50 patients. Find and Replace replaces text throughout a document but cannot personalize multiple separate documents. Track Changes records edits made by collaborators. Manually typing each letter would be extremely time-consuming and error-prone.

Lesson 2.3 Summary

Styles are predefined formatting sets that ensure consistency, enable automatic Tables of Contents, and support accessibility via screen reader navigation.
Themes control the overall visual design (colors, fonts, effects) of an entire document and update all styles simultaneously when changed.
Templates are reusable document blueprints combining styles, themes, layouts, and standard content — essential for standardized healthcare forms.
Building Blocks and Quick Parts let you save and insert reusable content (HIPAA disclaimers, address blocks, cover pages) in any document.
Word generates automatic Tables of Contents from heading styles — update with F9 after editing.
Document properties (metadata) support document management, version tracking, compliance, and privacy protection.
Mail Merge combines a Word letter template with an Excel data source to generate personalized healthcare documents (appointment reminders, billing notices, lab result letters) at scale.