Use Microsoft Copilot in Outlook for Routine OT Communication

Tool:Microsoft Outlook

AI Feature:Copilot — Draft with Copilot

Time:10-15 minutes

Difficulty:Beginner

What This Does

Outlook's built-in Copilot drafts professional emails based on brief bullet points you provide. For OTs, this means writing referral follow-up emails, parent communication, team coordination messages, and prior auth status requests in seconds instead of minutes.

Before You Start

You use Microsoft Outlook (web or desktop app)
Your organization has Microsoft 365 — Copilot is included in most M365 plans
You're logged into your work Microsoft account

Steps

1. Find the Copilot button in Outlook

Open Outlook. Click New Email to start a new message. Look for the Copilot button (sparkle/star icon) in the top toolbar of the compose window. If it's not there, try the web version at outlook.office.com — Copilot appears more consistently there.

2. Click Copilot and describe your email

Click Draft with Copilot. A text box appears. Describe what you need in plain English:

Prompt

"Write a professional email to the referring physician updating them that their patient has completed their OT evaluation. Let them know I recommend 2x/week for 6 weeks for shoulder rehab, and ask if there are any additional precautions I should be aware of."

3. Review and adjust the draft

Copilot produces a full email draft in seconds. Review it for tone and accuracy. If it's too formal or too casual, click Regenerate and add "make it warmer" or "make it more concise." Edit any specifics directly before sending.

4. Use Copilot to reply to incoming emails

When you receive an email that needs a routine reply, open it and look for the Reply with Copilot option that appears in the reply toolbar. Click it, describe the reply you want, and it drafts instantly.

Real Example

Scenario: You've been phone-tagged with a parent for two weeks and need to follow up in writing about her daughter's IEP OT service hours after an evaluation.

What you type into Copilot: "Email a parent explaining that her daughter's OT evaluation is complete. The recommendation is 30 minutes of direct OT per week plus 15 minutes of consultation. Invite her to the IEP meeting to discuss. Warm, professional tone."

What you get: A complete, warmly worded parent communication that would have taken you 8–10 minutes to compose — ready in 20 seconds.

Tips

For HIPAA-conscious communication: Copilot in your work Outlook operates within your organization's M365 tenant — more secure than consumer AI tools for work-related communication
Keep a running note of the most common emails you write — paste them as Copilot prompts and save the outputs as Outlook Quick Parts for one-click reuse
If Copilot isn't in your Outlook, it may need to be enabled by your IT department — ask your supervisor or IT admin to enable Microsoft 365 Copilot for your account

Tool interfaces change — if a button has moved, look for similar AI/magic/smart options in the same menu area.