$re = '/\${[a-z]+\.[a-z]+\.[a-z]+\.|}/';
$str = '"Patient:
${ss.patient.howard.firstName} ${ss.patient.howard.lastName}
Gender: ${ss.patient.howard.sex}
Birthdate: ${ss.patient.howard.dob}
${ss.patient.howard.addressLine1}
Phone: (801)546-4765"
';
$subst = "";
$result = preg_replace($re, $subst, $str);
echo "The result of the substitution is ".$result;
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php