Vet Times

Tag: records

  • Abdominal ultrasound, pt 1: equipment controls

    Abdominal ultrasound, pt 1: equipment controls

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    Abdominal ultrasound is an invaluable diagnostic tool that can give us far more information about abdominal organs than radiographs. It can also be a very daunting procedure – especially for clinicians unfamiliar with how the machine operates. One of the biggest frustrations with using the ultrasound machine stems from not knowing what each button is…

  • An abbreviation too far?

    An abbreviation too far?

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    We love an abbreviation in the veterinary world. CBA, RTA, TTA – just hopefully not all on the same patient, or all at the same time. To laypeople, medical notes must seem like another language. Therefore, it’s no surprise, when said laypeople request access to their records, that these notes rarely hold the answer. So…

  • Under the microscope: lessons from pathology rotation

    Under the microscope: lessons from pathology rotation

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    The past couple of weeks on rotation have largely consisted of looking down a microscope or performing postmortems – and despite clinical and anatomic pathology being very different, a running theme seemed to exist across both. On the clinical pathology week, we pored over slide after slide of blood smears and cytology samples, trying to…

  • The consequences of making a mistake

    The consequences of making a mistake

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    Fertility work makes up a large proportion of cattle veterinary work in the UK and, after spending a month on the farm rotation at university, I can appreciate the importance of getting it right – and how hard it can be. Experienced large animal vets make it look easy – they scan the uterus and…

  • Best in bred

    Best in bred

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    My blogging career has been kind to me. As well as being invited to express my opinions, for what they are worth, on this website twice a month, I receive intermittent offers to write blogs for companies or to cover pet-based events. One such offer could have seen me furnished with free tickets to Crufts…

  • Openness and transparency

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    I recently discovered a veterinary practice in southern England that advertises the fact they have a glass wall looking into their prep room, as well as secure online access to their patient’s clinical records. This sounds like a brilliant idea for openness and transparency, as well as enhancing the access owners have to their pet’s…

  • Email and information security

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    More commonly these days, our practice management systems (PMS) are able to distil a patient’s records and send the package via email. This is a tremendously convenient tool for us – it is a lot quicker and cheaper to do it this way than struggling with the arcane and temperamental fax machine. However, bear in…

  • Twenty years too late?

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    I recently paused to think about what I was doing (which is always fatal) and realised I was drowning in paper. I was looking after seven in-patients, all in various stages of recovery. Each patient had a set of computer records where the narrative of their stay and invoicing were kept, while the hour-by-hour notes…

  • Do we need diversity of a different kind?

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    There is an ever-present drum beat in the profession’s media, and that is of ever-improving standards and regulation; steadily increasing bureaucracy, compulsory CPD, increasing practice standards and the inspections and approvals and licences that come with them. All very well and good. I’m all for it; I’m just like you – always thinking how can I do this…

  • A waste of potential

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    My phone (a Galaxy Note) is a wonderful device when I think about it. I now take it for granted, but it plugs happily in to cameras, USB drives, printers, sound system, television, and even my car engine management system to diagnose and treat problems. It can send and receive things from all these and…