> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.elationhealth.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# The Patient Letter Comment Object

> A reply on a patient letter, from either the practice or the patient.

## In the EHR

Comments carry the back-and-forth that follows a patient letter. Practice users add them to the letter in the chart, patients add them from Patient Passport, and each side sees what the other wrote, so a letter and its comments read as one conversation. A comment belongs to one letter and is addressed through it. See [Communicating with patients](/articles/Passport--Communicating-with-patients), and [The Patient Letter Object](/articles/rest/patient-document-api/patient-letters-beta/the-patient-letter-object) for the letter a comment hangs off.

## Working with patient letter comments via the API

**The patient reads these comments.** A comment is part of the conversation the patient sees, not an internal annotation on the chart document, and comments the patient writes come back in the same list as the ones you create. Keep practice-only remarks out of this resource.

**A letter accepts comments only after it is signed.** A `POST` to an unsigned letter's comments is rejected. Sequence the write after signing, or hold the comment until the letter is signed.

**Deleting a comment removes the record permanently.** The comment carries no deleted timestamp and drops out of the letter's comments on the next read, with no way to retrieve it afterward. Keep your own copy of anything you need to reconstruct later.