Navigate to: Admin > Clinic Settings > Clinical Settings > Diagnoses List
What You Need to Know
Shepherd uses SNOMED-based diagnosis codes organized into three subsets.
AAHA (American Animal Hospital Association)
AAEP (American Association of Equine Practitioners)
SAS (Small Animal Specialist).
Diagnoses cannot be created from scratch — they come from the SNOMED code library. You can activate or deactivate individual diagnoses, but you cannot add custom diagnoses outside the existing library.
Discharge instructions are attached at the diagnosis level, not the visit level. When a diagnosis is added to a patient's SOAP, any saved discharge instructions for that diagnosis automatically populate.
The Diagnoses List and Diagnoses Settings are separate tabs. Diagnoses Settings controls which code subsets are enabled clinic-wide. Diagnoses List is where you manage individual codes.
Diagnoses Settings
The Diagnoses Settings tab controls which code subsets are available clinic-wide when adding a diagnosis to a SOAP.
To access: Admin > Clinic Settings > Clinical Settings > Diagnoses Settings
The available toggles are:
Use AAEP Codes — Enables the use of American Association of Equine Practitioners diagnostic codes.
Use SAS Codes — Allows the use of Small Animal Specialist diagnostic codes.
AAHA codes are always available and do not require a toggle. Click Save after making changes.
The Diagnoses List
The Diagnoses List tab displays all diagnoses available in your clinic's library. Each row includes:
Diagnosis — The preferred description of the diagnosis.
With Discharges — Indicates whether discharge instructions have been saved for that diagnosis (Yes or No).
Subset — The code subset the diagnosis belongs to (AAHA, AAEP, or SAS).
Status — Whether the diagnosis is Active or Inactive.
Actions — Icons to preview or edit the diagnosis.
Use the Search field to find a diagnosis by name. Toggle Show Only Inactive to filter the list to deactivated diagnoses.
Viewing a Diagnosis
To view the details of a diagnosis without editing it, select the preview icon in the Actions column. (the eye icon)
Viewing a diagnosis shows:
Preferred Description
Acceptable Description(s)
SNOMED CT Concept ID
Subset (AAHA, AAEP, or SAS)
Status
Discharge Instructions (if saved)
Editing a Diagnosis
To edit a diagnosis, select the edit icon in the Actions column.
When editing, you can:
Activate or deactivate the diagnosis using the Active toggle
Add or update Discharge Instructions
Upload Discharge Instruction Files
Click Save after making any changes.
Adding Discharge Instructions
Discharge instructions saved on a diagnosis automatically populate in the patient's SOAP whenever that diagnosis is applied. This eliminates the need to manually add or copy instructions at the time of the visit.
To add custom discharge instructions to a diagnosis, select Edit 
in the Actions column. The discharge instruction field is a fully formatted rich text editor. You can adjust font size, font name, color, alignment, and add images or links.
Using Variables in Discharge Instructions
Variables insert client, patient, or clinic-specific information directly into discharge instructions so each document is personalized without manual editing. Place the variable exactly where you want the data to appear.
Available variables:
{PATIENT NAME} — Patient name
{CLIENT NAME} — Client name
{INITIAL COMPLAINT} — Reason for visit
{DOCTOR} — Assigned doctor
{USERS} — Assigned users
{PHONE NUMBER} — Your clinic's phone number
{EMAIL} — Your clinic's email
Discharge Instruction Files
In addition to typed instructions, you can attach existing PDF files to a diagnosis. Uploaded files will be available to include when discharge instructions are sent after a visit.
To upload a file, select Upload a file or drag and drop a PDF into the upload area on the edit screen. You can also import a ClientEd article using the Import ClientEd Article button.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I add a diagnosis that isn't already in the list?
Shepherd's diagnosis library is built from SNOMED codes organized into the AAHA, AAEP, and SAS subsets. Diagnoses cannot be created outside of this library. If a code subset is not appearing, verify that the relevant subset is enabled under Admin > Clinic Settings > Clinical Settings > Diagnoses Settings.
Why isn't a diagnosis appearing when I try to add it to a SOAP?
A diagnosis will not appear in the SOAP if it has been set to Inactive, or if the code subset it belongs to has not been enabled in Diagnoses Settings. Check the diagnosis status in the Diagnoses List and confirm the correct subset toggle is enabled.
Does deactivating a diagnosis remove it from existing SOAPs?
Deactivating a diagnosis prevents it from being selected in future SOAPs, but does not remove it from records where it has already been applied.
Can I use the same discharge instructions file for multiple diagnoses?
Yes. You can upload the same PDF file to multiple diagnoses individually through each diagnosis's edit screen.
Do any diagnoses come with default discharge instructions?
No, you must add your own information within each diagnosis
When do discharge instructions populate on the SOAP?
Discharge instructions saved on a diagnosis automatically populate in the patient's SOAP when that diagnosis is added during the visit. They can be reviewed and edited within the SOAP before finalizing.