How to Manage Surgery Appointments in Ubik

Surgery appointments need clean handoffs. The patient may begin at reception, move through pre-op, enter surgery, recover in post-op, and then continue to discharge or payment. Ubik keeps those stages connected to the same appointment so the team can document the chart, record intra-op vitals, print labels, add charges, and prepare the owner handoff without losing context.

This guide walks through the surgery workflow from two sides:

  • Technician side: open the surgery appointment, move it through the clinical stages, record surgery vitals, attach documents, and prepare the chart.
  • Reception side: find the surgery in the active-care queue, print documents or labels when needed, and continue to payment when the clinical team is done.

Technician Workflow

1. Create or Open the Surgery Appointment

Create the appointment as you normally would, but set the appointment type to Surgery. If the surgery is scheduled ahead of time, assign the doctor or technician, add private notes, and confirm the expected appointment date and time.

When the patient arrives, open the appointment in the New Technician Portal. Surgery appointments use the normal chart workspace, but the workflow steps are surgery-specific.

2. Move the Patient Into Pre-Op

Use the appointment flow steps at the top of the chart workspace. For surgery, the expected path is:

  1. Waiting
  2. Pre-op
  3. Surgery
  4. Post-op
  5. Pending discharge
  6. Payment

Move the appointment to Pre-op when the patient has been checked in and the team is preparing the patient for surgery. This is the right time to confirm patient identity, intake notes, fasting instructions, waivers, and any pre-surgical services or products that should be on the chart.

3. Print Pre-Op Labels When Needed

From the print menu, use Pre-op labels for surgery appointments. These labels help the team keep the patient, crate, documents, or physical materials tied to the right appointment.

Use labels especially when several surgery patients are in the clinic at the same time or when the patient will move between areas.

4. Document the Chart Before Surgery

Use the normal chart sections to document:

  • Symptoms and diagnosis
  • Anamnesis
  • Physical exam notes
  • Private notes for the team
  • Supplemental forms when needed
  • Products, services, and charges
  • Notes to customer
  • Uploaded documents or photos

Surgery appointments hide the standard vitals grid because surgery has a dedicated intra-op vitals section. Use the general chart notes for intake and clinical context, and use the intra-op section for repeated surgery measurements.

5. Record Intra-Op Vitals During Surgery

Move the workflow step to Surgery when the patient enters the procedure stage. In the surgery workspace, use Intra-op vitals to add reports during the procedure.

Each report can include:

  • Heart rate
  • Respiratory rate
  • Temperature
  • Oxygen saturation
  • Systolic blood pressure
  • Diastolic blood pressure
  • Notes

Ubik shows the latest value for each metric, spark charts over time, and a table of recorded reports. Record vitals at the interval your clinic expects so the surgery record has a defensible timeline.

6. Use Linked Appointments for Related Work

If surgery requires related work, create a linked appointment instead of creating disconnected records. For example:

  • A laboratory panel before anesthesia
  • A follow-up appointment after surgery
  • A hospitalization or boarding appointment after the procedure
  • A dental or specialty form appointment connected to the surgical case

Linked appointments stay visible from the appointment rail and can show relevant details such as lab panels, specialty forms, surgery reports, documents, notes, assignee, status, and date.

7. Move the Patient to Post-Op

Move the workflow step to Post-op when the procedure is finished and the patient is recovering. Continue documenting notes, documents, charges, and customer instructions as the patient wakes up.

Post-op is also a good time to confirm:

  • Any medications or supplies sent home
  • Any additional services or inventory used
  • Notes to customer for after-care
  • Follow-up timing
  • Whether a certificate, prescription, waiver, or lab report should be printed or sent

8. Use Pending Discharge When the Patient Is Waiting for Pickup

If the clinical work is done but the owner has not arrived yet, move the appointment to Pending discharge. This keeps the appointment visible as a clinical handoff without forcing payment too early.

Pending discharge is optional. If the owner is ready and the appointment is ready for checkout, the team can continue to payment.

Reception Workflow

1. Find Surgery Appointments in Active Care

In the New Reception Portal, surgery appointments appear in the active-care area when they are in surgery-specific stages such as Pre-op or Post-op. Use the active-care filters to keep those appointments visible without mixing them into the regular scheduled queue.

2. Open the Surgery Appointment When Context Is Needed

Reception can open the appointment to review appointment status, owner and pet context, balance, documents, and available print actions. If clinical details are needed, open the appointment in the New Technician Portal so the clinical team can continue documentation from the correct workspace.

3. Print Documents and Labels

Use the print actions for:

  • Current receipt
  • All open receipts
  • Certificate
  • Prescriptions
  • Signed waiver receipt
  • Surgery pre-op labels

Keep label printing close to the patient movement process. Keep receipt and prescription printing close to the checkout process.

4. Confirm Charges Before Payment

Before taking payment, confirm that products, services, and one-time charges are present. Surgery charges may include services, medications, supplies, lab work, follow-up items, or linked appointment charges depending on how the clinic works.

If something clinical is missing, send the appointment back to the clinical team before checkout. Reception should not guess at medical items.

5. Continue to Payment

When the surgery is ready for checkout, use the payment step or reception payment action. Ubik prepares the charges for review before payment is collected.

If the appointment should remain in a clinical state, do not force it to done just to collect money. Use the workflow status that matches the patient’s real location and handoff.

Best Practices

  • Use Surgery as the appointment type so the workflow shows pre-op, surgery, and post-op stages.
  • Move the appointment through stages as the patient physically moves through the clinic.
  • Print pre-op labels when multiple patients, crates, or documents are in motion.
  • Record intra-op vitals repeatedly during surgery, not only once at the end.
  • Use linked appointments for related lab, hospitalization, boarding, dental, or follow-up work.
  • Add charges as they are known, but let clinical staff confirm medical items before payment.
  • Use Notes to customer for discharge and after-care instructions that the owner should receive.
  • Use Pending discharge when the patient is clinically ready but not yet picked up.

Surgery workflow is safest when the clinical stage, surgery record, documents, charges, and payment handoff stay connected. Ubik gives the team one appointment thread from check-in through recovery and checkout.