Custom fields are a great tool for collecting data throughout HQ. You can customize your e-appointment form, collect data for reports, and tailor your medical notes for efficient charting. This section will guide you through setting up custom fields.
Where to use Custom Fields
There are three places the custom field can be used:
- Medical Notes: If the field is assigned to a custom field group that is marked as Medical, then the custom field will appear on the Medical Notes (Short Tags) section of the treatment sheet. This is useful for adding additional context for exam notes, visit details, and notes for client communication.
- Details tab: If the field is not assigned to a medical group, then the field will appear on the Checkout screen’s Details tab. This would be suitable for fields that are about client demographics or additional animal details.
- E-appointment form & Details tab: If the field is not assigned to a medical group and you check the box for “Field should be displayed on e-appointments form” it will be added to the e-appointment form and can be viewed on the details tab. Adding a question or field to your e-appointment form allows you to collect information from clients at the time of scheduling an online appointment. These details can be reviewed when approving appointments and can later be reported on.
Custom Field Groups
Go to Settings > Custom Fields > Custom Field Groups. These groups are used to sort and assign your custom fields. We have preloaded many groups for you in HQ. If you need to make more, there is a link up top to +Create New Group.
Tagging a group as “Is Medical” will add that group and its subsequent custom fields to your Medical Notes (Short Tags) section of the Treatment Sheet. E-appointment related groups should not be marked as medical.
You can re-order the groups, create new groups, and edit the names if needed from here.
Create Custom Fields
Once you have the groups you need, you can add new fields in the Custom Fields tab.
Create a new custom field by clicking +Create New Field and filling in the prompts. Be sure the required sections are all filled in.
The Name is what is shown anywhere the field displays. When creating a question for the e-appointment form, be sure to write the question in the name section.
The Control Type is the type of custom field you want to make. For example, a dropdown menu, multiple select option, or textbox. This cannot be changed once you save your field.
The Template Hint is used to create a custom merge field to add to a Word document. You may not use the custom field for your Word document templates but the hint is required for setup. The template hint should be a one or two-word abbreviation of the field “name.” No spaces, no numbers, no special characters are allowed for the template hint. Letters only. Example template hint: OwnerConcerns or RegularDVM.
Display Order is the assigned location of that field relative to the other custom fields you have. Use the display order to arrange where the field sits in Medical Notes or on E-appointments. If assigned to the order of “1,” that field will appear first within it’s group or at the top of your ungrouped fields.
TIP: You may find it helpful to review pre-existing medical fields and mirror the setup for new medical fields.
Custom Fields for E-Appointments
If you would like to know more information from the client when they are requesting an appointment online, create custom fields and indicate that they should be displayed on your E-appointments. Additionally, you can choose whether this is a required field for the client to respond to by ticking the “Required on e-appointments form” checkbox.
Some examples might be:
- Has your pet has ever had an allergic reaction to a vaccine?
- If a cat, is it indoor or outdoor?
- Is there any chance the pet may be pregnant?
Troubleshooting Custom Fields
Custom field won’t save
If your custom field is Save button is greyed out, and you filled out all the required sections, take a look at the Template Hint. This field should only have alphabetical characters and no spaces are allowed. Try adjusting this field and see if you then have the option to save your settings.
Custom field not available as a priority appointment restriction
Typically, this issue pops up for multi-clinic accounts. If the custom field is marked as a Clinic Field, it means when it was set up the box for “Field should be created for current clinic only” was checked. Clinic Field custom fields are not able to be used in priority scheduling because of the way custom fields interact with OneLink e-appointment forms. To fix this, recreate your field and do not check the create for current clinic only box.
