Patient care goals

Track measurable care goals and progress against them.

4 stepsUpdated for AveeCare
In this guide
Open the Care Goals tab on a patientClick Add Care GoalFill in Goal Name and DescriptionEdit or delete a saved goal

Care Goals are the plain-language outcomes you want to drive for a patient: walk to the mailbox unassisted, take medications on time, keep up with bathing twice a week. The Care Goals tab gives you a focused list per patient, separate from the structured Care Plans tab where goals live alongside ADL tasks and a review cadence.

Quick answer

Open Patients, click a patient, then click the Care Goals tab. Click Add Care Goal in the top-right (or the centered button if the patient has no goals yet). Type a Goal Name and an optional Description, then click Add Goal. The new goal lands as a card in the list.

Open Patients

What the form captures

The Add Care Goal modal is intentionally short. It has two fields:

  • Goal Name. A one-line title. Required. Examples in the placeholder: “Improve mobility, Maintain independence.”
  • Description. A multi-line text area for the detail: how the goal is measured, how often, what counts as met. Optional but worth filling in.

There is no status field, no target date field, and no progress percentage on a Care Goal. Goals are free-form notes you revise over time. If you want a structured plan with status, review cadence, and ADL tasks attached, use the Care Plans tab instead.

1. Open the Care Goals tab on a patient

Open Patients

  1. Open Patients in the sidebar and click the patient row.

    The patient detail page opens on the Overview tab. The tab strip across the top shows Overview, Appointments, Forms, Files, Disclosures, Billing, ADLs, Care Goals, Medications, Allergies, Notes, Contacts, Incidents, Care Plans, Authorizations, Hospitalizations, Progress.

  2. Click Care Goals in the tab strip.

    Care Goals sits between ADLs and Medications. The URL changes to /patients/<name>/<id>/care-goals. If the patient has no goals yet you'll see a centered target icon, “No care goals available,” and a centered Add Care Goal button. If goals exist, the Add button moves to the top-right and the goals render as cards below.
    Patient detail page with the Care Goals tab in the tab strip highlighted with a red box and arrow

2. Click Add Care Goal

  1. Click the + Add Care Goal button.

    On a patient with no goals the button is centered under the empty-state message. Once at least one goal exists, the button lives in the top-right above the list.
    Care Goals tab on a patient with one goal, the Add Care Goal button in the top-right highlighted with a red box and arrow

  2. The Add Care Goal modal opens.

    A target icon and the title “Add Care Goal” appear at the top. Two fields: Goal Name and Description. Cancel and Add Goal sit at the bottom. Add Goal stays disabled until Goal Name has at least one non-whitespace character.
    Add Care Goal modal showing the Goal Name input, Description text area, Cancel button, and disabled Add Goal button

3. Fill in Goal Name and Description

  1. Type a clear, measurable Goal Name.

    Short and concrete beats long and aspirational. “Walk to the mailbox unassisted within 30 days” is easier to track than “Improve quality of life.”

  2. Add a Description that says how you will measure it.

    There is no separate target-date field, so capture the target date and the how-we-will-know-it-is-met criteria in the Description. Caregivers see the goals on the visit detail, so write for them.

  3. Click Add Goal.

    A toast confirms “Care goal added successfully” and the modal closes. The new goal appears as a card with a blue target icon, the Goal Name as the heading, and the Description below it.

4. Edit or delete a saved goal

  1. Click the pencil (edit) icon on the right side of the goal card.

    The Edit Care Goal modal opens with the existing Goal Name and Description prefilled. Change either field and click Save Changes. A toast confirms the update.
    Edit Care Goal modal with Goal Name and Description prefilled from the existing goal, plus Cancel and Save Changes buttons

  2. Click the trash (delete) icon to remove a goal.

    A confirmation modal asks “Are you sure you want to delete <goal name>? This action cannot be undone.” Click Cancel to back out or the red Delete button to permanently remove the goal.

Common pitfalls

  • Goal that is not measurable. “Improve quality of life” is hard to evaluate. Write goals you can check off, like “Walk to the mailbox unassisted within 30 days” or “Take morning medications without prompting for two weeks.”
  • Skipping the Description. Goal Name alone tells a caregiver what the goal is, not how to know it is met. The Description is where you put the target date, the threshold, and any caveats.
  • Too many goals at once. Three to five concrete goals beats a long aspirational list. Trim aggressively, then revise as the patient progresses.
  • Confusing Care Goals with Care Plans. Goals on this tab are free-form outcome notes. Care Plans are the structured document that bundles goals, ADL tasks, medication tasks, a status enum, and a review cadence into one record. If you need a status field, due date, or Mark as Reviewed action, you want the Care Plans tab.
  • Deleting instead of editing. Delete is permanent and there is no history. If a goal is met, prefer editing the Description to note the outcome, then revise toward the next goal.

Frequently asked questions

Care Plans are the structured record: goals plus ADL tasks plus medication tasks plus a Status enum (Draft, Active, Under Review, Completed, Discontinued, Archived) plus a review cadence. Care Goals on this tab are simpler, just a Goal Name and Description per entry, with edit and delete. Use Care Goals for quick free-form outcome tracking and Care Plans when you need the formal document.
No. The form has Goal Name and Description only. Capture the target date and any status notes inside the Description. If you need first-class status and dates, add the goal inside a Care Plan instead.
Yes. Goals on the patient flow into the visit detail so the caregiver knows what they are working toward. Write the Description in plain language the caregiver can act on.
Yes. Click the pencil icon on the goal card to open the Edit Care Goal modal. Both Goal Name and Description are editable, then click Save Changes.
A confirmation modal asks you to confirm. Once you click the red Delete button the goal is permanently removed with no undo. There is no archive or trash, so prefer editing if you might want the wording back.
There is no hard cap. The list scrolls. In practice keep the list short, three to five active goals reads better in the visit detail than fifteen.
No. Goals on the Care Goals tab are stored separately from goals defined inside a Care Plan. Pick one place per patient and stick with it so caregivers do not see duplicate or conflicting goals.

Keep going

Patient care plans

Build a care plan with goals, ADL tasks, and a review cadence per patient, then mark plans reviewed when due.

Progress notes timeline

Chronological progress notes on the patient.

Patient ADLs

Activities of Daily Living check-list per patient that flows into visits.

Written by
Calvin Nesvig
Founding Partner, AveeCare

Builds AveeCare full-time. The AveeCare Help Center is written and maintained by the team that builds the product, so the steps in every article come from the same people who ship the features.

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