One of the key ways Shepherd saves you time is by automating discharge instructions. Discharge instructions are associated with products, services, medications, and diagnoses, and whenever they're added to a patient's medical record, they'll automatically populate.

You can remove them if they are not needed for this visit, edit them if any changes are needed from the default instructions, or create new instructions manually.

If you have discharge instructions linked to a diagnosis in Admin, they will automatically populate in the SOAP when a diagnosis is added.

If you have discharge instructions linked to products in Admin, they will automatically populate in the SOAP as soon as you administer the treatment or add the prescription.

From the discharge instructions section of a patient’s SOAP (the ‘D’ in the SOAP bar), click the +Add New on the right-hand side of the screen.

This will open a new discharge instruction text field that’s freeform and able to be formatted however you like (i.e. with colors, fonts, etc.).

You’re also able to add images, meaning this is a great spot for before and after photos for services like teeth cleaning and grooming.

In addition to manual text and images, you can upload a pre-existing PDF into the discharges.

You can edit any pre-populated discharge instructions by selecting Edit. Editing the instructions will only edit them for this patient and not the overall linked instructions in Admin.

You can also delete a discharge instruction by selecting Delete.

To give the discharge instructions to the client, you can email, download, or directly print them.

Within the Clinic Settings in Admin, you can also select to have the discharge instructions printed automatically with invoices.