10.4.5.1. Creating Medical Notes (Short Tags)

*THE BIG WHAT
Think of these as issues (or observations) about the animal. You “tag” an animal with this short medical tag, such as “Fleas/Ticks” or “In-Heat,” and a series of helpful things happen. You can do this in Patient Flow or in Checkout.

Medical Notes

Medical Notes can be used in the Treatment sheet tab of Checkout or Patient Flow.

In Checkout, you tag it in the Treatment Sheet tab on the Medical Notes (Short Tag) box:

In Patient Flow, under the patient on the right-hand side click Action > medical notes.

Once an animal is tagged with a medical “short tag,” here is what happens.

1. It is displayed in Patient Flow on the right-hand side.

2. and in Checkout here:

3. And displayed on the HQ Treatment Sheet here:

4. And miraculously displays a “blurb” in the Client Communication box (in Patient Flow and Checkout > after clicking Generate) here:

5. And then the blurb is passed to your take-home paperwork using the word merge field client communication (must be formatted correctly in the template). It looks like this:

The text for the blurbs is all editable in Settings > Medical Notes. You can also add new ones and delete any of our standard ones.

*DID YOU KNOW!
Run a Custom Report with Medical Note (Short Tags) so that your clinic can track trends of notated details about an animal or visit. For example, is there a common trend in health concerns such as URI from a specific Volume Client? How many English Bulldogs had tagged notes for Eye Issues? This takes reporting medical notes to another level!
Learn more about Custom Reports HERE.

Can we create our own Groups? Yep!
Go to Settings > Custom Fields > Custom Field Groups. You can Create New Group, reorganize the groups, or delete the ones we have. We do NOT recommend this.

Other Types of Medical Notes

All Internal Medical Notes (Surgical, Wellness, and Recheck)- We are striving to make it clearer THIS is the field where all long written medical notes go. You can and should be using the “Medical Notes” quick tap buttons for quick identification of issues.

If you are currently using the “Vet Notes” field in the Details tab for anything, you should now switch to the All Internal Medical Notes (Surgical, Wellness and Recheck) field on the Treatment sheet via Checkout and on the Surgical tab via Patient Flow.

Short tags are NOT only for “issues” or “observations.” You can use tags that will auto-drop in blurbs without you having to physically tag it. Here’s what we mean.

1. ITEM TRIGGERED NOTES – this would be for any service item/product. An example would be e-collars. If an animal gets an e-collar, and you’d like it to auto-drop a blurb in every time the service item e-collar is present on an animal, you would set those up here.

2. PRESCRIPTION TRIGGERED NOTES – This would be for any prescription you do. For example, if you send an animal home with Trazadone. When you trigger the prescription, and in client communication you click “Generate,” it will add a blurb about take-home medication.

3. DRUGS / MEDICINES GIVEN TRIGGERED NOTES – This is for any drug given you feel needs a special blurb. For example, Acepromazine — you may want to say, “Your pet received Acepromazine today. This will make your pet drowsy, which is normal.” Etc.

4. SICK TRIGGERED NOTES – These are special items such as “Fever” or “Upper Respiratory Issue.” When tagged, the blurb might say, “Physical exam revealed that your pet is showing clinical signs suggestive of an upper respiratory infection (URI). These include sneezing, coughing, nasal discharge, eye discharge, and congestion. We recommend that your pet be examined by a full-service veterinarian for assessment of your pet’s respiratory health.”

5. INCISION ISSUES TRIGGERED NOTES – This one is for anything related to the incision that happened in surgery. For example, “Clipper Abrasion.” When tagged, it might trigger a blurb of “Your pet’s skin became irritated from clipping/shaving the hair required to perform surgery. We treated the affected area, and the irritation should resolve within ten days. Monitor the area and contact us with any concerns.”

Other categories and examples here. Note: You can also create new categories yourself.

PARASITES TRIGGERED NOTES – Fleas/Ticks: ~ Physical exam revealed that your pet has fleas and/or ticks. These parasites cause skin issues and carry diseases. We recommend that you consult a full-service veterinarian for recommendations on the control and prevention of external parasites.

WEIGHT ISSUES TRIGGERED NOTES – Overweight: Physical exam revealed that your pet is overweight. This condition is normally correctable, so we recommend that you seek the guidance of a full-service veterinarian to assist you in designing a weight loss program for your pet.

SKIN ISSUES TRIGGERED NOTES – Skin Issue: Physical exam revealed that your pet has skin concerns. =Possible causes of skin issues include bacterial or yeast infections, allergies, and external parasites (fleas/ticks/mites). We recommend that your pet be examined by a full-service veterinarian for assessment of the health of your pet’s skin.

GI ISSUES TRIGGERED NOTES – Diarrhea: Your pet has diarrhea. Possible causes of loose stools are stress, diet change or food indiscretion, and intestinal parasites. If this problem persists, we recommend that your pet be examined by a full-service veterinarian for assessment of your pet’s gastrointestinal health.

BIOLOGICAL TRIGGERED NOTES – In Heat: Your pet was in heat at the time of surgery. Separate her from intact males for a minimum of ten days to allow the internal surgical sites to heal.

HEAD ISSUES TRIGGERED NOTES – Retained baby teeth: * Your pet has retained deciduous (baby) teeth. These can lead to abnormal tooth growth and increases plaque buildup. Talk with your vet about having them removed.

BODY ISSUES TRIGGERED NOTES – Heart Murmur – 3: Physical exam revealed that your pet has a heart murmur. A heart murmur is due to a disturbance in blood flow and has multiple potential causes, including stress or anatomic abnormalities. We recommend that your pet be examined by a full-service veterinarian for assessment of your pet’s cardiovascular health.

*The triggered notes order can be adjusted….

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