Quotation Marks
In medical documentation, quotation marks are most often used to delineate a direct statement or comment from a patient or another healthcare worker. This is known as a direct quotation.
Quotation marks have three main functions: to indicate the use of someone else's exact words, to set off words and phrases for special emphasis, and to display the titles of certain literary and artistic works.
Capitalization
Begin a direct quotation with a capital letter if the quoted material represents an independent clause.
When asked why she is no longer seeing the specialist, the patient states, "He's a quack."
The patient reports that the cardiologist told her, "If you don't lose weight and start exercising, you're going to shorten your life expectancy by 10 years."
When only a word or phrase is quoted from another source, place the quotation marks only around the words extracted from the original source and not around any rearrangement of those words. Do not capitalize the first word of the phrase.
The patient states he has "bad blood."
The patient was agitated throughout the mental examination and repeatedly whispered "make it go away."
Punctuating Quotation Marks
Periods and commas always go inside the closing quotation mark. This is the preferred American English style. (The British English style places them outside the closing quotation mark.)
"Let's go over the details again," she said.
Sign your name where you see an "X."
The patient denies that he is paranoid; he claims he is simply "hypervigilant."
Semicolons and colons always go outside the closing quotation mark.
The medical records indicate the patient has "no known allergies"; however, he adamantly states he is allergic to penicillin.
The consultant states tests are "in process": the latest record indicates the tests are negative.
Alternatively, break these into two complete sentences.
The medical records indicate the patient has "no known allergies." However, he adamantly states he is allergic to penicillin.
The consultant states tests are "in process." The latest record indicate the tests are negative.
With question marks and exclamation points, the punctuation goes inside the closing quotation mark when it applies only to the quoted material.
Patients frequently ask me, "How long will the treatment take?"
The patient becomes agitated and starts shouting "Get away!" every time he is approached.
"What up?" is a phrase frequently used by young people.
When the question mark or exclamation point does not apply to the quoted material, the closing quotation mark goes outside the punctuation.
Do you think he's capable of saying "Nice job"?
Stop saying, "Don't worry"!
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