Tasks are a useful way to organize and track action items across your practice. They are most commonly used for managing client callbacks, follow-up communications, DVM-to-staff instructions such as refill guidance, and internal reminders like weekly supply orders or routine equipment maintenance. Completed tasks linked to a patient are saved in that patient's history, so your team does not need to re-enter details after finishing a callback.

Navigate to: Tasks (left navigation menu)

Deleting a task is permanent.

Once a task is deleted, it cannot be recovered. If you may need the record later—as a reference or for patient history—mark the task Completed instead of deleting it. Note: A deleted task may still appear as an entry in patient history, but it can no longer be opened.

Automatic task assignment is resolved at the moment the task is created.

If an automatic task is configured to assign to the Supervising Doctor or Assigned User, that person must already be on the SOAP when the product is administered. If no matching user is present at that moment, the task will generate as unassigned.

Each product supports only one automatic task.

Multiple automatic tasks cannot be configured for the same product.

Tasks cannot be bulk edited.

All task fields—assignment, priority, due date, and status—must be updated individually in the task record. The one exception is status: you can change the status of multiple tasks at once using the Change Status To button on the Tasks dashboard. Admin > Bulk Edit does not support tasks.

The red dot is the only notification for task assignments.

When a task is assigned to you or your team, a red dot appears next to Tasks in the left navigation menu. There are no separate email, text, or pop-up notifications for task assignments.

Tasks can be created manually as needed, or automatically when a specific product is administered through the SOAP.

You can create a task from:

When you create a task from a client or patient profile, that client's and patient's information is automatically linked to the task.

All users can view all tasks in the Tasks dashboard. Assigning a task determines responsibility and alerting—it does not make the task private or hide it from other users.

When a patient-linked task is completed, that task and its details are saved in the patient's history.

You can configure a product to automatically create a task each time it is administered through the SOAP. This helps ensure consistent patient follow-up without relying on manual creation.

How automatic tasks are triggered: A task is generated when the product is ordered or entered into treatment through the SOAP. This is the only supported way to automatically generate a task—appointment types, diagnoses, and other workflow steps do not independently trigger tasks.

One task per product: Each product supports one automatic task configuration. Multiple automatic tasks from the same product are not currently supported.

The Tasks dashboard displays all tasks across your practice, sorted by due date with the oldest tasks at the top. Within each date, urgent tasks sort to the top.

Tasks remain in the Tasks dashboard until they are marked Completed. They do not disappear when they become overdue.

Use the following tools to find and manage what you need:

To find an accidentally completed task: Turn on Show Only Completed, then sort by Last Modified to find the most recently completed task.

To find completed administrative tasks (tasks with no client or patient linked): These tasks remain in the main Tasks dashboard. Toggle on Show Only Completed to view them.

You can also view tasks linked to a specific patient or client by opening their profile and selecting the Tasks tab. Toggle Show Only Completed to view completed tasks in that view as well.

Patient Lifecycle search now includes content from Task Notes, in addition to task title and description. This makes it easier to find historical tasks using keywords recorded in the notes.

When you have tasks that are due today or overdue, a red dot appears next to Tasks in the left navigation menu as a quick alert that something needs attention.

The red dot is also how task assignments are communicated. When a task is assigned to you or your team, the red dot will appear. Members of an assigned team see the red dot the same way an individually assigned user does.

There are no separate email, text, or pop-up notifications for task assignments—the red dot is the only indicator.

Tasks support four status options to help you track progress:

Use Completed any time a task is done and you want to keep the record. Use Delete only if the task was created by mistake and no record is needed.

You can still add notes to a task after it has been marked Completed.

Tasks support three priority levels:

New tasks are created at Medium priority unless a different level is selected. Priority affects sort order within the Task Dashboard—urgent tasks rise to the top within their due date group.

When an automatic task doesn't generate, it usually means the product isn't configured with an active automatic task, or the product administered isn't the one the task is attached to.

Check the following:

If the product is correctly configured but the task still didn't generate, assign the task to the patient manually.

If duplicate tasks are appearing unexpectedly, do not delete them before contacting Shepherd Support. Preserving the duplicates allows the support team to review the trigger history and identify the cause. Once Support has investigated, they can advise on which duplicates to remove.