The Instinct Communication Log (Comm Log), is a streamlined, simple way to document and reference all patient-related communication. This can include your own internal hospital notes, as well as conversations and email with the referring veterinarian, owners, and specialists.
How to access the Comm Log
The Comm Log can be accessed several ways, allowing users to quickly log a note without navigating away from the current patient screen:
- Top right hand corner of any Patient Visit
- Keyboard shortcut CTRL + L while in any patient visit
- Bottom of the Status Board
4. The top right of the Business Office
Once the ‘Comm Log’ button is clicked from the bottom of the Status Board or in the Business Office, the patient field will be blank by default. Search by patient name or PIMS ID to view previous entries or create a new one.
How to enter a Comm Log note
Select your Method of communication from the drop down list and type out your notes in the field below. Comm Log entries are autosaved and a completion time select box is available to the left of the orange ‘Log’ button to adjust the time a communication was made.
Snippets can be used to quickly add pre-populated text to your emails and when logging client communications.
📓 Please Note – There is one special type of communication Method called ‘Internal Practice Notes’. These are a protected type of notes useful for recording internal-only communications that will not export in patient records when sending externally. When recorded, internal practice notes appear with a yellow background for easy differentiating.
View, Edit, and Copy/Paste Comm Log history
Viewing – All patient logs are displayed in reverse-chronological order by their recorded time. Each log displays the recorded date and time, completed date and time, user details, and full entry log.
Editing – The Comm Log 3-dot menu is used to edit, void, and undo void. Edits to the Comm Log can be made as long as it’s within 24 hours of the original entry. After 24 hours, an entry can only be voided.
Copy Logs – To copy/paste a patient’s entire Comm Log, simply click the ‘Copy Logs’ icon at the bottom of the screen. The information copied to your computer includes the date the Comm Log was entered, method, user, and note. Voided notes and internal practice notes are not copied.
The icons in the lower left hand section of the Comm Log show the Autosaved date and time as well as the initials of who is communicating the message.
Sending Emails From The Comm Log
Email messages can also be sent from the Comm Log which is a great tool to give quick updates to owners or referring/specialty veterinarians. Please note that sending emails from the Comm Log may not be available at your hospital and if desired, hospital administrators can contact us at support@instinct.vet to enable this feature.
Once ‘Send’ is clicked at the top of the Comm Log, you also have the option to enter a new email address or select an existing email via dropdown from those already associated with the client account. Two-way messaging is not currently supported at this time.
You can also select rVet email addresses from the dropdown menu to easily send updates and documents via email. Client email addresses will be indicated by a 😶 face icon, and the rVet email address will have a 🏥 building icon.
The dropdown menu will not display any email addresses that have opted-out of email notifications.
🔎 Viewing Client Chat messages in the Comm Log
When viewing the Comm Log for a patient, any messages that are linked to the owner or the owner’s alternate contacts will be displayed in the Client Chat section of the Comm Log.
Since messages are linked to the phone number associated with the client, if the phone number is changed, existing messages will still be viewable in the Comm Log; however, a tooltip message will say that the following contacts are no longer associated with this phone number.
Sending Attachments From The Comm Log
In addition to sending an email, you can add attachments directly to the Comm Log via the ‘Attachments’ button.
The Attachments feature is located at the bottom of the Send tab in the Comm Log.
Once selected, you can easily attach any Document that already exists in the patient’s Chart. However, PDFs and common image files are the only file types that will display as options to attach to an email. All other file types are not supported to be sent through the Comm Log Email feature.
A Trash icon appears next to Attachments after you have selected one or more items from the Attachments screen. This button is a quick way to unselect all items in Attachments.
Once sent, the email will include a download link to the PDF which will include all of the selected attachments in one file. Clicking on the download link will automatically download the PDF and open it, then the recipient can either print or save to their computer. The emailed link will remain available for 30 days before it expires.
The Comm Log history will also record if there were any Attachments included in the email. Please note that you are not able to view the attached file names in the Comm Log history but this will be available in a future update.
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