What to do if you experience an internet, power, or other outage. This guide also goes over how to manually check patients in to Instinct if your practice management system is down.
First, don’t panic! These things happen which is why we strongly recommend preparing for any type of outage ahead of time.
Table of contents:
Contact Instinct
- Support Chat – live 24/7 chat with quick response times
- Bat Phone 866.267.1818 – call us if you are unable to use the Support Chat and we’ll call you back
- Email support@instinct.vet – less urgent communications/requests
Internet Outage
- Instinct can work on a 4G network in a pinch so if your WiFi goes down, use your smartphone or wireless hotspot to connect to the internet. We also recommend having a designated wireless hotspot available to connect to the internet during these times.
- You can always print treatment sheets and temporarily use paper treatment sheets until the internet is back up.
- Have a set plan or SOP in place that staff can reference if/when this happens (think ‘Open drawer in case of internet/power outage’).
- Assign a main contact that your team can go to if issues arise (even on overnights and weekends). This person can also access treatment sheets from home for staff if needed.
Power Outage
- Have a backup generator to power your hospital or important outlets (think surgery room, oxygen cages, etc.).
- Have at least 1 charged laptop available or a power bank that is constantly plugged in to the wall and turns on whenever the power goes out.
- Instinct can work on a 4G network in a pinch so if you’re power is out, use your smartphone or wireless hotspot to connect to the internet. We also recommend having a designated wireless hotspot available to connect to the internet during these times.
- You can always print treatment sheets and temporarily use paper treatment sheets until the power is back on.
How to Print a Treatment Sheet
The dropdown at the bottom of every treatment sheet allows you to download/print the following:
- Summary PDF: This includes only pertinent nurse notes and is built for sharing with referring hospitals.
- Detailed PDF: This displays all ordered treatments and is the best document to share for legal proceedings.
- Future PDF: This displays a clean day of scheduled treatments and is useful for referring vets if they want to continue your plan for a patient (use as a day-to-day template).
Checking In an Existing Patient
📓 Please note: The following sections are for clinics not using Instinct EMR.
If needed, you can always manually check in an existing patient in Instinct:
1. Click the Calendar icon in the left sidebar to open Business Office.
2. Search for the patient by ID or name and select ‘Check In’.
3. Next, select a Status (Inpatient, Outpatient, Boarding or OTW) followed by any other applicable information and then click ‘Check In’.
Connected Hospitals: Once your practice management system is back up, the Check in/Out will sync with this visit.
Checking In/Creating a New Patient
If a new patient arrives while your practice management system is down, you can follow the steps below to create/check a new patient in.
1. Click the calendar icon in the upper left corner to open Business Office. Then, select ‘+ New Patient’ within the ‘Patient Registration’ section.
2. Fill in all the required fields (indicated by an asterisk *). Since this patient has not been seen before, you will have to create a temporary Patient ID and/or Account ID (if the owner doesn’t exist in Instinct already).
💡 Protip: Search by Last Name to easily add a new patient to an existing Account.
3. After clicking “Save & Check In”, select a Status (Inpatient, Outpatient, Boarding or OTW) followed by any other applicable information and then click ‘Check In’.
You have now checked in this patient using a temporary PIMS ID because your practice management system is down.
Unconnected hospitals: Once your practice management system is back up, update the PIMS ID in Instinct so it matches with your practice management system. You are now DONE!
Connected hospitals: Once your practice management system is back up and running, check this patient in as you normally would which assigns them with their own PIMS ID. This patient will now be displayed twice in Instinct (temporary PIMS ID you created in Instinct and the actual PIMS ID created via your practice management system).
You will now want to merge the two accounts together in Instinct and reopen the previous treatment sheet. Don’t worry – this is a very easy process and we’ve documented all the steps for you below!
Merging Patients
1. Click the “Calendar” icon in the navy blue bar on the left side of the screen to open Business Office.
2. Click ‘Merge Patients’ at the top of the page to merge the patient with the temporary PIMS ID with the patient using the actual PIMS ID.
3. Click “Merge Patients” which removes the temporary patient from Instinct and stores that treatment sheet as a previous visit. You will now want to ‘Reopen’ this previous visit so you don’t have to create the treatment sheet again.
Reopening a Visit
1. Check the patient back in (manually if you’re an unconnected hospital or through your main practice software if you’re a connected hospital) and then find your patient on the Status Board.
2. Open their treatment sheet and select ‘Visits’ at the top of the screen. Find the previous visit and click the 3-dot menu as shown below:
3. Click ‘Reopen’ and this will restore everything as good as new! You have up to 24 hours to ‘Reopen” a previous treatment sheet.