Welcome to the Instinct release notes page! These notes will provide information on the functionality of new features released this month.
Table of Contents
📅 Appointment Calendar Improvements
Admin > Appointment Types
A column has been added for Abbreviations in the Admin > Appointment Types screen. The Abbreviation field will only allow a maximum of 7 characters now.
We have also expanded the selectable colors for Appointment Type to 45 options. Each color displays the color name for additional accessibility.
Appointment Type Abbreviations
There is a new max length of 7 characters on Appointment Type abbreviations. Any previous Appointment Type abbreviations that were over the new 7-character limit are now truncated to fit.
Availability Notes
We have added the ability to create notes within Availability Blocks that display directly within the Appointment Calendar. Previously, you could only view calendar notes by hovering over an icon before you could see the information in a tooltip.
Availability Notes can be added or edited from the 3-dot menu next to the Availability block on the Appointment Calendar.
You can also create Calendar Templates with prefilled notes for Availability Blocks which can then be applied to a calendar(s).
Appointment & Drop-off Confirmation
Appointments and drop-offs can now be marked as Confirmed or Unconfirmed and are represented visually in the calendar by the band and a confirmation check mark.
When a new appointment or drop-off is scheduled, it is created in an Unconfirmed state. This is represented as a striped band on the left side of the calendar card in the corresponding Appointment Type color. The striped band on drop-offs will always be black regardless of Appointment Type.
Once an appointment has been confirmed, click the 3-dot menu next to the appointment and “Mark as Confirmed”.
Once an appointment or drop-off is marked as Confirmed, the striped band changes to a solid band. There is also a confirmation check mark that is shown beneath the appointment time.
The 3-dot menu option then changes to “Mark as Unconfirmed”, which would revert the calendar card to a striped band with no confirmed icon.
Regardless of the confirmation state, if a patient for a scheduled appointment or drop-off is checked in, the band is changed to a solid color and a colored border is placed around the card. Marking as Confirmed or Unconfirmed while the patient is checked in will just show or hide the confirmation check mark.
In List View when an appointment or drop-off is marked as Confirmed, the confirmation check mark is present under the Status column.
🚫 Calendar Conflicts
If you schedule a new appointment with + New Appt, the appointment screen will now be displayed in 2 steps.
- Choose Timeslot will display at the top with a step indicator that shows you are on Step 1 of 2.
- The Location, Provider, Type, Start and Duration fields will be the only fields that will display in Step 1.
- If you schedule a new appointment using the 3-dot menu in an Availability Block, and the selected provider is available during the chosen Start date and time, the Finish Details header will display and indicate you are on Step 2 of 2.
- The Reason for Visit, Service, Appt Notes field and Reminder Toggle will display to allow you to move forward with booking the appointment.
🗓Appointment Conflict Warnings
Double booking warning: If a provider has another appointment scheduled during the date and time selected while scheduling a new or editing an existing appointment, a message will display during Step 1 of 2 that says “It looks like the selected timeslot has been taken. Scheduling this appointment may create a conflict in the calendar. Do you want to continue to schedule? “
No availability warning: If you attempt to schedule an appointment for a date and time that the provider does not have availability in the calendar, a message will display during Step 1 of 2 that says “The selected timeslot is outside of the chosen provider’s availability. Please confirm with the provider that they will be available. Do you want to continue to schedule? “
Clicking the checkmark allows booking multiple appointments for the provider during the same time or allows scheduling an appointment outside of the provider’s availability.
Clicking the X closes the warning message and you will remain on Step 1 to choose another date and/or time.
📝 Editing Existing Appointments
When editing an existing appointment, the step indicator will not display.
If the start date and/or time are edited, the system will perform a check to see if the new date and time conflict with another appointment or if it is outside the provider’s availability.
Conflict warning messages will display if there is a conflict and you can confirm the appointment or select another date and/or time.
📝 Business Office Permissions
There are two new permissions for Business Office screens. New users will not have access to the Business Office without at least one of the permissions below. Depending on which Business Office permission they have, their access to Patient/Client Account data may be limited.
business_office_manage_accounts_and_patients
- With this permission ON: users can add or edit Patient/Client Accounts anywhere in Instinct
- With this permission OFF: users can not add or edit Patient/Client Accounts anywhere in Instinct, and when using Force Check Out Instinct will not suggest a Patient Merge
business_office_read_only
- With this permission ON: users can view Patient and Client data anywhere in Instinct, but they can not add or edit Patient or Client data, and when using Force Check Out Instinct will not suggest a Patient Merge
- With this permission OFF: users can not navigate to the Business Office, and they can not add or edit Patient or Client data, and when using Force Check Out Instinct will not suggest a Patient Merge
None of the 2 Business Office Permissions
If a user has none of the above business_office permissions, the Business Office icon does not display in the left navigation bar and is not accessible anywhere in Instinct
💸 Account Deposits, Account Credits, and Unapplied Payments
Permissions
Users will need to have the payment_unapply permission added to a role in order to see the Unapply Payment(s) option on the 3-dot-menus next to Visit Invoice rows. This permission will be automatically enabled at release time for any roles using the payment_record permission, such as the Cashier role.
Payments & Ledger Changes
- In the Payments panel, the Visit tab has been renamed to Invoice, and the Account Payoff tab has been renamed to Account
- In the Ledger header, a new Account Credit (Unapplied Payments) line will display directly under Account Balance
Old Payments & Ledger
New Payments & Ledger
Account Deposits
In the Payments Account tab, you can enter a Deposit amount that will be applied to the Client Account as an Account Credit (Unapplied Payments):
You can also Unapply Payment(s) using the 3-dot menu next to the Visit Invoice and issue it as an Account Credit.
Account Credits
When there are funds available in Account Credit (Unapplied Payments), you can use Account Credit as a payment method that will be used to pay off invoices. This method is available on both the Invoice and Account tabs in the Payments panel.
Unapplied Payments Account Credit (Unapplied Payments) Refunds
If there is a settled payment made to the invoice, you can use Unapply Payment(s) in the 3-dot menu of an Invoice to turn it into an Account Credit.
Account Credit (Unapplied Payments) Refunds
In the Account tab (formally Account Payoff), you can make refunds at the Account level. This transaction will issue a refund from the Account Credit (Unapplied Payments) amount available. You cannot refund an account more than the credit balance, and the option to Refund won’t display if there are no funds in Account Credit (Unapplied Payments).
🧠 Looking for more information? Check out our Account Deposits, Account Credits, & Unapplied Payments Guide for a closer look!
🔎Discontinuing Advanced Search Feature
Last summer, we released an improvement to our patient, account, and visit search functionality throughout Instinct where you could search by phone numbers, multiple owners, and even microchip numbers.
Unfortunately, we have discovered that this search feature was unreliable, and at times completely blocked our hospitals from receiving search results. We will discontinue this search feature by the end of December and focus on developing a new (better!) search feature in the New Year.
Upon deactivating this feature, the following will occur:
Any search boxes that allowed advanced searching such as by Microchip ID, Alternate Contacts and Phone Numbers will revert to the standard search parameters of Patient ID, Patient Name, Account Name, and Account ID.
Search Feature Changes
Patient Registration screen with added search feature:
Search will revert to “Search by name, last name or ID”
Accounts Screen with added search feature:
Search will revert to “Search by contact name or ID”
Financials Screen (Instinct EMR hospitals only) with added search feature:
Search will revert to “Search by contact name or ID”
Visit Look-Up (from the main navigation bar) with added search feature:
Search will revert to “Search by contact name or ID”
Be on the lookout 🕵️♀️ for announcements regarding a new and improved search feature in the New Year!
Please feel free to reach out to us at support@instinct.vet if you have any questions.