Hello Headcase!
"My first question is what is the INSTRUCTIONS tab for, as opposed to the PLAN tab?"
The Plan tab is where our users have historically put both the plan and any patient instructions. Meaningful Use Certification required us to have a separate Instructions tab where patient-facing instructions (versus clinical-speak instructions) could live. You can pull the Instructions or Plan or both into the Clinical Summaries you create for your patients.
I hope that helps. Do post again if you have more questions or need more information
Kate Vander Wiede