The triage function in Vetera helps you to manage emergency appointments. You can categorize appointments by urgency so that veterinary staff can clearly identify which patients require attention as a priority. The triage function is available if it has been enabled in the clinic location settings. The available triage categories, wards, and other options are defined in the settings.
Overview of the triage workflow steps:
1. Check the patient in to a triage ward
Create an appointment or start a consultation from the patient's page.
Existing client and patient: When the patient already exists in your system, you can start a consultation without creating an appointment first: on the patient page, select + Create new > Consultation in the upper right-hand corner of the page. This takes you to the Admit consultation page.
New client and patient: You must first create a new appointment in the appointment calendar and then select the Check in patient button on the Appointment details page, or, you need to create a new client and patient and then start a consultation from the patient page.
Tip: If you book the appointment to a triage ward in the appointment calendar, the ward is automatically added to the appointment details. The triage ward is also automatically added if you book an appointment for a veterinarian whose shift is linked to the ward.
Select a triage ward (if not already added in the appointment details). Note that the patient will not show up on the triage dashboard if a triage ward has not been selected.
Select Check in patient. Note that when a triage ward is selected, you cannot start the consultation before you have checked the patient in and triaged the patient.
Triage Dashboard
When a patient is checked in to a triage ward or has a scheduled appointment for a triage ward it will be visible on the triage dashboard. To access the triage page from the left-hand side navigation, go to Patient care > Triage.
The checked-in patient shows at the top of the Triage patients list. The Triage column shows the waiting time and Admitted at with the check-in time. The waiting time stays red until you have triaged the patient. Below the table, the Scheduled appointments section lists patients with scheduled triage ward appointments who have not yet arrived.
If patient locations are used, you can add a location by selecting the question mark in the Patient location column. The Change patient location dialog opens. You can also add or edit the staff by selecting the link in the Pers. column.
The triage categories used in your clinic location are shown at the top of the page, each showing the current number of patients in the category.
2. Triage the patient
Select the +Triage button at the end of the row. A dialog opens.
Select a Triage category. You can also add a Clinical note, and record the patient's vital signs under Status, if these options are available.
Select Save.
On the triage dashboard, the Triage column shows both the time when the patient was triaged and when the patient was checked in. If the maximum time of the triage category is exceeded before the consultation has been started, the time is highlighted in red.
3. Begin the consultation for the triaged patient
A triaged patient is marked with an ambulance icon and the triage category in the Status column, both on the triage page and under Recent consultations on the Dashboard. Hold the pointer over the category to see its full name.
To open the consultation:
Under Recent consultations on the Dashboard, select the stethoscope button at the end of the row.
On the triage page, select the patient name to open the patient page, where you can review the patient's medical history first. Then select Consultation in the tab row.
You can also open the consultation from the appointment calendar.
Select Start consultation to start the consultation. The patient is then removed from the triage page, and the ambulance icon and the triage category are no longer shown.
On the old consultation page, the triage category is shown under Consultation details.
On the new consultation page this is not yet available.