We recently wrote about Instinct’s value in the outpatient setting and many have been asking what the workflow looks like from the nursing point of view.

Lucky for you, I have a unique perspective on that. Like many on our expert team, not only do I work on Instinct as a full-time member, I also work with Instinct in practice from time to time, which means this is one of my favorite questions to answer.

I recently got the surprise opportunity to work with Dr. Caleb in the ER of our hospital—with Instinct helping along the way, naturally.

Let me take you behind the scenes of a particular case to show you how Instinct helped us deliver amazing care during a busy holiday shift.

🐕 Presentation

That day, a 16-week-old mixed breed puppy named Rocky came to the ER to be evaluated for vomiting.

His owner called our curbside number when they arrived, and 0ur front desk team checked him into the practice management software. His name promptly appeared on the Instinct treatment board TV screen.

That’s my cue to call the client. The front desk staff had noted vomiting as the reason for Rocky’s visit, so I definitely wanted to check in with the parents to see what had been happening at home.

📋 Intake and Triage

While Rocky waited in the car with his mom, I called her and obtained a summary of what prompted the visit and what had been happening with Rocky at home.

She explained that Rocky had been vomiting clear liquid and hadn’t eaten for the last 24 hours.

As we talked, I added these details in the progress notes section at the top of the treatment sheet. This allows us to save a written record of our conversation with the parents.

After speaking with Rocky’s mom, I instructed her to meet us at the main entrance so I could bring Rocky in for an evaluation. (Because of the pandemic, we are not currently allowing parents into the hospital.)

After the obligatory negative parvo test, I carried Rocky to our treatment area, where I obtained his vitals, placed them in the vitals board in Instinct, and took the time to love on the bright and alert puppy. Working from home most days, you start missing puppy snuggles.

This vitals board is a great one-stop board to get an update on a patient. I’m able to put all of Rocky’s information in at once without having to order up each individual vital on the treatment sheet.

🩺 Examination

A quick glance at the treatment screen and Dr. Caleb could see there were 8 completed triage treatments on the treatment board, which means he was ready to examine Rocky.

He noted the reason for the visit and reviewed Rocky’s progress notes. Dr. Caleb also noted from the alerts that Rocky was a cage jumper, so he knew to be careful when bringing the wiggly puppy to the exam table. After the obligatory puppy snuggles, Dr. Caleb performed a complete exam from nose to tail.

💉 Ordering Treatments

Dr. Caleb spoke to Rocky’s mom about what had been going on at home, reviewed his exam findings with her, and shared his recommended treatment plan for the puppy. Rocky’s mom elected to treat him supportively on an outpatient basis.

Dr. Caleb then ordered up the ER-OP vomit/diarrhea group and the discharge group. This allowed him to quickly order up multiple treatments at once so that he could finish working on discharge instructions for Rocky.

These product groups are a built-in Instinct feature that can be customized as you wish to help streamline your workflow. Product groups—which your admin team can upload for you—allow you to order multiple related treatments at one time. Plus, the Instinct team sets you up with various templated product groups to get you started. 💪

For example, here’s the group Dr. Caleb ordered up for Rocky:

And here’s the discharge group we can order up when Rocky is ready to go:

While ordering the treatment plan, Dr. Caleb was also able to give Rocky’s owners an estimated price for the treatments using the predicted billing feature in Instinct.

💊 Completing Treatments

Dr. Caleb’s treatment orders immediately popped up on the treatment room TV screen. That’s my next cue to complete his treatments… and squeeze in a little more puppy play time.

I hovered over the treatment orders to see which treatments were due.

To complete treatments, I clicked on the green highlighted treatment square. From there, I was able to complete each individual treatment as noted above by clicking on the complete button.

Once I had completed the treatments, I called the client to go over the treatments that were performed, review Dr. Caleb’s recommendations, and let her know that our client service representative would call her shortly to check them out.

In Instinct, turning on the ready to go icon is a fast, simple way to alert the front desk team that Rocky is ready to be checked out.

🚗 Discharging the Patient

Once Rocky was all checked out, a front desk team member called to let me know that I could bring Rocky out to his mom.

How cool is that? A one-stop-shop communication tool where everything is laid out and easy to read. Of course, Dr. Caleb and I spoke throughout the patient’s visit, but there was no second-guessing any pertinent information, and everything was always right there within the treatment sheet in Instinct.

Instinct has been invaluable in streamlining our workflow, and the communication features have made it so much easier for our team to make sure every patient gets the best possible care during their visit.

Instinct is an awesome veterinary tool that gets better and better every day. We’ve already launched our new full veterinary practice management platform, but we’re not stopping there. There are even more new features coming to Instinct this year—I can hardly wait to start using them.

Keep an eye on our website and sign up for our Pick the Brain newsletter to learn more about what’s in store this year.