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Workflow: Canine spay surgery at a small animal hospital

Read about how to use ezyVet and Vet Radar for a canine spay surgery at a small animal hospital.

Example information for this workflow:
  • Callisto Vets, a small animal hospital in the United States
  • Six staff members who use:
    • ezyVet
    • Vet Radar
    • IDEXX VetConnect PLUS
    • One IDEXX VetLab Station
    • PayJunction payment integrations
  • Minnie Williams, a six-month-old female dog
  • Liam Williams, Minnie's owner
  • An appointment for Minnie to receive a canine spay surgery

Step 1: The client makes an appointment

A dog in a person's arms

Liam Williams, a Callisto Vets client, has a six-month-old female dog named Minnie. Liam uses ezyVet's online portal feature to schedule a spay surgery appointment for Minnie.

The online portal has an e-booking system that clients can use to select an appointment time. Before a client can select a time, the e-booking system shows questions about the appointment that the client must enter answers to. The e-booking system shows this sequence of questions:
  1. Is the appointment urgent?
  2. What type of appointment do you want to make?
The e-booking system uses the client's answers to:
  • Select the applicable appointment type
  • Show only appointment times that are applicable for that appointment type
When Liam uses the e-booking system and enters answers to the questions, the e-booking system selects the Surgery appointment type. Christina Langley, the practice manager of Callisto Vets, configured ezyVet's planning guides feature to make sure that surgery appointments only occur between 8:00 and 11:30 AM. As a result, the e-booking system only shows Liam appointment times that occur between those times. After Liam selects an applicable time, the online portal shows Liam:
  • Information about the appointment type, time, and location
  • That the appointment status is Unconfirmed

Step 2: The client receives automated messages about the appointment

A mobile phone in a person's hand

Christina Langley configured ezyVet to automatically send SMS messages to clients one day before their appointments. The SMS messages use an SMS template with template variables to automatically add appointment information. Thus, one day before Minnie's appointment, Liam receives a message with a confirmation of Minnie's appointment. The message helps Liam to know when the appointment is. And it is not necessary for staff to manually make and send a message.

Liam sends a confirmation reply. When he sends the confirmation reply, ezyVet automatically:
  • Keeps a record of the confirmation reply
  • Sends a memo to applicable staff members that tells them that Liam sent the confirmation reply
  • Changes the appointment status to Confirmed
  • Shows the appointment status in the ezyVet calendar screen and in the client, patient, and clinical record
  • Shows the Confirmed appointment status in the online portal, where Liam can see it

Christina Langley also configured ezyVet to automatically send emails with remote consent forms to clients one day before surgery appointments. The emails use an email template with template variables to automatically add appointment information. And the remote consent forms use a document template to add information that clients must agree to about the risks of the procedures. Thus, one day before Minnie's appointment, Liam receives an email with a remote consent form that tells him about the risks of spay surgery.

Liam uses the remote consent form's remote signature feature to enter his electronic signature. Then, Liam sends an email with the signed remote consent form to Callisto Vets. As a result:
  • Callisto Vets has a permanent document that shows that Liam agrees with the risks
  • It is not necessary for staff to manually make and send a consent form
  • It is not necessary for Liam to come to Callisto Vets to write his signature
  • It is not necessary for Liam to wait to receive the consent form as a physical letter
Callisto Vets has a policy that clients must make a $75 deposit before all surgery appointments. Because Callisto Vets uses PayJunction remote payments, clients can remotely make deposit payments. Thus, the email with the remote consent form tells Liam that:
  • He must make a $75 deposit before the appointment
  • He can make payment for the deposit in the online portal
Liam makes payment for the deposit in the online portal. ezyVet permanently stores a record of Liam's deposit as an invoice. The invoice automatically has a relation to Minnie's appointment record. As a result, staff can:
  • Clearly see that Liam paid the deposit
  • Include the deposit record in financial reports

Step 3: The receptionist records that the patient is at the hospital

A dog in a car

At the scheduled appointment time, Liam and Minnie go to Callisto Vets. The receptionist, Nadine Hurley, uses ezyVet to set Minnie's appointment status to In Waiting Room. The status shows in the calendar screen and in the client, patient, and clinical record. As a result, staff easily know that Minnie is in the waiting room.

Primary features:

Step 4: The veterinarian does a consultation before the surgery

A staff member with a dog

James McCoy, Minnie's veterinarian, is in the consultation room. He uses ezyVet's calendar screen to see the Minnie's appointment status. Because Minnie's appointment has an icon that identifies the appointment status as In Waiting Room, he goes to the waiting room and tells Liam to come to the consultation room with Minnie. To make sure that staff know that Minnie is in the consultation room, Nadine changes Minnie's appointment status to In Consultation.

In the consultation room, James McCoy opens a clinical template in Minnie's clinical record. The clinical template has standard questions that make sure that James McCoy asks Liam all the necessary questions about Minnie's clinical history. While Liam gives answers to the questions, James McCoy uses keyboard shortcuts to quickly and easily record each answer in the template. As a result, less time is necessary to record Minnie's clinical history.

James McCoy does a physical examination of Minnie and records measurements of her vitals (for example, her temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure). Because ezyVet has dedicated sections for different types of medical information, Minnie's clinical record is easy to read. And because Christina Langley configured ezyVet's clinical layouts feature:
  • The clinical record shows only the sections that are applicable for the work that Callisto Vets does
  • Less manual work is necessary for staff to find applicable clinical information

Step 5: The veterinarian makes a diagnostic request before anesthesia

A cat and a dog who do diagnostic tests
To make sure that it is safe to give Minnie anesthesia during surgery, James McCoy gets a sample of Minnie's blood for a diagnostic test. To do the test, he uses an IDEXX VetLab Station. Because the Callisto Vets ezyVet site has the VetLab Station integration, James McCoy can send a diagnostic request directly from ezyVet to the VetLab Station. As a result, it is not necessary to:
  • Install software
  • Configure IP addresses
  • Use a different device (for example, a dedicated computer that sends requests)

Step 6: The patient goes to the kennel and the veterinarian sends clinical information to Vet Radar

A staff member with a tablet device

After James McCoy sends the diagnostic test request to the VetLab Station, he puts Minnie in a cage in the kennel. To help staff know that Minnie is in the kennel, James McCoy changes Minnie's appointment status to In Hospital. The status tells staff that Minnie that they must do regular checks and treatment tasks for Minnie.

After James McCoy moves Minnie to the kennel and changes her appointment status, he uses ezyVet to send her clinical information to Vet Radar. As a result, staff can clearly see the schedule of treatment tasks for Minnie. And they can easily record the treatment tasks that they completed (for example, when they do checks of her vitals or give her food). Vet Radar automatically sends the recorded information to Minnie's ezyVet clinical record.

At the same time, Liam goes back to the waiting room. Nadine tells Liam that a staff member will give him a client callback to give him information about Minnie's surgery. Then, Liam goes home.

Step 7: The veterinarian receives the diagnostic result

When Minnie's diagnostic test is completed, IDEXX VetConnect PLUS sends a James McCoy a memo. The memo tells James McCoy that the diagnostic result is available.

Because Callisto Vets uses the VetLab Station integration, the diagnostic result automatically shows in Minnie's ezyVet clinical record. Thus, it is not necessary to use different software to see the result. And it is not necessary to manually add the result to the clinical record.

When James McCoy opens the diagnostic result in Minnie's clinical record, he sees that it is safe for Minnie to receive general anesthesia and a spay surgery. Thus, Minnie's spay surgery will occur at the scheduled time on the next day.

Step 8: The patient stays at the hospital until the scheduled surgery

A staff member with a tablet device

Before the end of James McCoy's work day, he goes to Minnie's cage and sees that she is anxious. James McCoy gives Minnie a toy, and as a result, Minnie is calm. Then, James uses Vet Radar to add a critical note to Minnie's patient sheet. The critical note clearly tells other staff that Minnie must have a toy to make sure that she is not anxious.

When the next day starts, a different staff member does a check of each patient in the kennel. During the checks, the staff member uses Vet Radar with a tablet. Vet Radar's patient whiteboard shows each patient's treatment tasks and when to complete them. The whiteboard helps the staff member to make sure that they do the correct tasks for each patient at the correct times.

Vet Radar also shows the note that tells staff to make sure that Minnie has a toy. Because the staff member read the note, they do not remove the toy from Minnie's cage.

Step 9: The receptionist gives the owner a cost estimate

Before Minnie's surgery, James McCoy uses ezyVet to quickly make a cost estimate. The estimate includes the costs of the services and materials for the surgery. And it includes the costs of the care that Minnie receives while she stays in the kennel.

Nadine does a client callback to tell Liam about Minnie's treatment plan. Nadine tells Liam that Minnie's condition is good and that the surgery can occur at the scheduled time. Nadine also tells Liam that she will send him an email with a cost estimate for Minnie's procedure. After Liam enters a remote signature to agree with the estimate, Minnie can receive the spay surgery. Nadine uses an ezyVet phone template to record the information that she gave Liam during the call.

After the call, Nadine sends Liam an email with the estimate directly from ezyVet. Because Liam agrees with the estimate, he enters his remote signature and sends the signed estimate to Callisto Vets.

Step 10: The veterinarian gives the patient anesthesia and does the spay surgery

Two staff members with a dog and a tablet device

At the scheduled time, James McCoy changes Minnie's appointment status to Admit for Surgery and prepares Minnie for the spay surgery. To record the tasks that he does to prepare Minnie, James McCoy uses ezyVet's clinical templates feature. When James McCoy gives Minnie anesthesia, he uses Vet Radar's anesthesia sheet feature to record and monitor Minnie's vitals and the quantity of drugs that she receives. The anesthesia sheet makes an alert sound at an interval of five minutes. The sound tells James McCoy to record Minnie's vitals on the anesthesia sheet's anesthesia chart. Thus, James McCoy remembers to record Minnie's vitals at regular intervals.

Because Vet Radar's anesthesia chart shows how Minnie's vitals change, James McCoy can easily monitor the changes and adjust the drug dosage if necessary. And because Vet Radar automatically sends all recorded information to ezyVet:
  • ezyVet and Vet Radar have completed records of Minnie's vitals and the drugs that Minnie received
  • ezyVet automatically adds the drugs to the invoice

James McCoy does the spay surgery. Then, James McCoy uses ezyVet's clinical procedure feature to record information about the surgery. ezyVet uses the recorded information to automatically add items to the invoice. Thus, it is not necessary for a staff member to manually make an invoice.

When James McCoy completes all his veterinary care tasks for Minnie, he moves her to the kennel. Then, he changes Minnie's appointment status to In Discharge. The status makes sure that staff know that:
  • Minnie's surgery is completed
  • They must start to do discharge tasks

Step 11: The receptionist discharges the patient

A staff member who uses a computer at a desk

Nadine uses ezyVet's calendar screen to see that Minnie's appointment status is In Discharge. Thus, Nadine uses a document template in ezyVet to make a discharge summary for Liam. The template automatically adds applicable information about Minnie's surgery and the care that Liam must give her at home (for example, pain medication). As a result, it is not necessary for Nadine to manually add the information. Nadine uses an email template to send the discharge summary to Liam. When she sends the discharge summary, ezyVet automatically makes a communication record of the email.

To tell Liam that he can get Minnie from the hospital, Nadine uses a phone template to do a client callback. ezyVet keeps a communication record of the callback.

Then, Nadine changes Minnie's appointment status to Awaiting Collect. This helps other staff know that Minnie's treatment is completed and that Liam will get her from the hospital.

Step 12: The receptionist approves the invoice

Nadine opens Minnie's invoice. The invoice automatically has all of the costs that are related to the spay surgery and related care. Thus, it is not necessary for Nadine to manually add line items to the invoice. Nadine adds a credit note product to the invoice that subtracts Liam's deposit from the total cost. Then, she approves the invoice.

Christina Langley configured ezyVet to automatically make changes to patient records when a staff member approves an invoice for a spay surgery. Thus, when Nadine approves the invoice for Minnie's surgery, ezyVet automatically changes Minnie's sex in her patient record to identify that she is spayed. And ezyVet automatically makes a certificate of Minnie's spay surgery and adds it to her patient record.

Step 13: The receptionist prints documents for the owner

To quickly and easily print Minnie's spay certificate, Nadine uses ezyVet's ezyPrint feature. Because ezyPrint is an ezyVet feature, it is not necessary for Nadine to connect her device to the printer or use a different cloud print service.

Nadine also uses ezyPrint to print the label of the pain relief medication that Liam must give Minnie at home. The medication label uses a label template that automatically adds the dosage and instructions. Nadine opens the applicable label directly from the invoice. Thus, it is not necessary to do a search in ezyVet for the label. And there is less risk that Nadine will print an label with incorrect information.

Nadine uses ezyVet's document templates feature to make and print a discharge summary. She selects the template that Christina Langley configured for discharge summaries that clients receive. The template automatically only includes information from the clinical record that is important for the client to read (for example, the results of Minnie's physical examination). Thus, it is not necessary for Nadine to manually make the summary.

Nadine uses ezyPrint to print the discharge summary.

Step 14: The owner makes payment and gets the patient

A person with a payment card and a dog with an e-collar

To make payment and get Minnie, Liam comes to Callisto Vets. Nadine gives Liam the spay certificate, medication and label, and discharge summary.

After Liam makes payment, ezyVet automatically adjusts the invoice and Liam's contact record to identify that Liam made payment. And ezyVet automatically opens a dialog box that Nadine uses to send Liam an email with the invoice directly from ezyVet. Then, Liam and Minnie go home.

To help staff know that all the tasks for Minnie's appointment are completed, Nadine changes the appointment status to Complete.