Dermatology and aesthetic clinic software: from the mole check to the filler's batch number
Dermatology and aesthetic clinic software has one hard job: to remember exactly what was seen and done last time, from the width of a mole to the batch of filler in a cheek, so that today's visit can be compared with it. This guide sets out what the record should hold, follows a skin check and an injectables session in OPALEVI, and lists the questions to ask before you choose.
Key takeaways
- A skin record proves its worth at the next visit: a size in millimetres, a numbered mark on a body map and a photograph taken the same way each time.
- Write the product, the amount and the batch number against each injection point, so a recall or a reaction can be traced to a patient and a date.
- Let the program add up scores such as PASI; the meaning of the number, and of every lesion, stays with the clinician.
- Treat consent and clinical photographs as records: the words shown, who signed and when, and who may open the pictures.
Why paper and general-purpose records fall short in skin work
Skin medicine is comparative. At most follow-ups the question is not “what is this?” but “has it changed?”, and only something measured or photographed last time can answer it. Aesthetic medicine adds a second question: exactly what went into this patient, where, and from which box. The signs that a practice has outgrown paper or a general program:
- “Was it this big in the spring?” The last note says “pigmented lesion, left shoulder”, with no size, no mark and no picture.
- Photographs on a personal phone, beside the holiday pictures, leaving the clinic every evening.
- Batch stickers in paper folders. A supplier announces a recall, and someone leafs through files by hand.
- Severity by impression. One dermatologist's “moderate” psoriasis is another's “quite extensive”.
Good skin software does not see more than the clinician. It keeps what the clinician saw last time in a form the next visit can be compared against.
What a dermatology and aesthetic record has to hold
Whatever you use, paper included, each visit should leave these behind:
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Site, morphology and size in mm | The baseline every later visit is compared with. |
| ABCDE features present | The melanoma warning signs as they were seen, so a change can be named. |
| Dermatoscopic pattern and findings | A fixed vocabulary, plus the clinician's own words. |
| Marks on a body diagram | Which of many moles is which, numbered for the next clinician and for the patient. |
| Standardised photographs | Same distance and light, a ruler in the frame: without a scale a photo shows shape, not size. |
| Severity by region (PASI) | A response to treatment as a number rather than an impression. |
| Product, amount, point and batch | What went where, and from which lot, so it can be traced. |
| Consent and aftercare | What was explained, who agreed and when, and the advice the patient took home. |
Photographs are health data
A clinical photograph is often the most sensitive part of the record. Ask for consent to photography in writing, use devices the clinic controls, and decide in advance who may open the pictures.
A skin check in OPALEVI, step by step
One dermatology visit in OPALEVI for private practices; the dermatology department page lists the same parts in one line. Bold words are the names on the screen.
Book
Booking starts in Add appointment; when the file holds an email address, tick Email the patient a reminder the day before.
Describe the lesion
In the Dermatological examination, write the Location, choose the Morphology and the Distribution, type the Size in millimetres, and under ABCDE features present mark only the features the lesion shows.
Record the dermatoscopy
Pick the Global dermatoscopic pattern (the eight of the 2003 consensus), describe the Dermatoscopic findings and set Biopsy taken.
Mark the body map
On Lesion distribution on the diagram, click once per lesion and give it a morphology and a size. The figure turns to the back, the profiles, the face, the hands and the palms; Findings on the scalp and nails has close-ups of its own.
Photograph and trace
Under Borders on the photograph, Upload a photograph and Draw the border. Once the scale is set with Calibrate the scale (a line along the ruler, and its length in Known length (mm)), each border shows its area in mm².
Plan and print
Fill in the Treatment to use at home, the Advice for the skin and the Next skin check, then press Print prescription and print the Skin check sheet.
The skin check sheet is what the patient keeps: the lesion's description, the map marks as numbered points on a plain outline (never the photograph), each calibrated border's area, the home treatment and the next check date. It calls no lesion benign or suspicious.
Plain notes: the Size is typed, and OPALEVI calculates only the area inside a calibrated border. It does not compare photographs or flag a changed mole by itself, and the next skin check date books nothing; book the follow-up from Next steps.
Following a plaque or a mole over time
A score that adds itself up
PASI scores by region grades erythema, induration and desquamation (0–4) and the area (0–6) for head and neck, upper limbs, trunk and lower limbs. The PASI index is calculated with Fredriksson and Pettersson's weights once the grid is complete; a half-filled grid leaves it blank rather than smaller. What the score means is the dermatologist's call.
Size and photographs across visits
Size across visits charts the recorded size once there are two measurements. Photographs are taken in Visit documents with Take a photo on a phone, tablet or laptop, each with a Photograph caption and an On the report tick; they are compressed on saving, and the phone's location data is removed.
On the patient's file, Clinical photographs gathers them all. Compare with the last visit sets Before (A) beside After (B), each with its date, department and author, and prints both on one sheet. The printed report offers With photographs or Without photographs.
An aesthetic treatment, from consent to aftercare
In the aesthetic medicine department the record is an Aesthetic treatment, and the doctor's report asks only for check-ups and additional notes. One injectables session:
Skin and consent
Under Skin and consent, choose the Skin phototype (Fitzpatrick) and Photoageing (Glogau), set Informed consent obtained and add the Consent date; in the Treatment plan below, write What was explained before consent.
What was used
The Treatment section takes the Treated area, the Product / device, the Batch number (LOT), the Amount used and the Session no.
Every point
On the Injection map (face and both profiles), each point carries its product, Units / ml and LOT. Injections on close-up views of the eyes and lips add the Product type, the Injection depth and the Product brand.
Below the face
Body treatments marks Treated zones with the Treatment applied, such as laser hair removal, HIFU or cryolipolysis, and the Treated surface in cm².
Course and aftercare
List the course in Planned and performed treatments, tick the Standard aftercare advice, add your Aftercare instructions and set the Next session: Book a follow-up appointment then opens the calendar on that day.
The patient's sheet
Treatment plan and aftercare prints the session with its LOT, the course, the numbered injection points with product, amount and batch, the consent summary and the aftercare.
What it does not do: the product, brand and LOT are typed, not scanned or taken from stock, and patients cannot be searched by batch. No dose is suggested and no contraindication checked.
The signed form belongs on the patient's file: under Consents, Record consent keeps the kind (Treatment, Photography and others), the exact text shown, who signed and when, and, optionally, a scanned copy. It cannot be edited, only withdrawn and recorded again. A department's own Patient approval text is written once under Records and approval.
Reception, stock, invoices and who opens the photographs
- Courses. A Course of treatment in the booking dialog books 2 to 30 sessions at the same hour; the desk's day is described in the clinic reception software guide.
- Stock. With the stock module on (Settings → Application menus), a service's Materials used come off the shelf when the visit is saved, deliveries keep their Lot / batch, and Stock levels has an Expiring soon filter.
- Billing and referrals. Invoice this visit bills the services; the dermatology record prints a referral letter, and Refer to a department sends the patient on inside the clinic once it has more than one department. For excisions, see hospital surgery and ward software.
Who may open the pictures
Photographs need the visit-history permission: finance never has it, and reception only while Reception may see patients' visit history is on. Under Department setup, Record privacy sets each department to The whole clinic, The department or Only the clinician; both departments start at the whole clinic. Every photograph download is written to the activity log.
Questions to ask before choosing dermatology and aesthetic clinic software
Ask them with a real visit, not a demo. OPALEVI's replies include the “No” and “Partly” ones.
| Question | What to look for | OPALEVI |
|---|---|---|
| Is the lesion record structured? | Morphology, size, distribution and ABCDE as fields. | Yes, plus the dermatoscopic pattern. |
| A body map with scalp and nails? | Numbered points on every view. | Yes. |
| Is PASI calculated? | From regional grades, refusing gaps. | Yes, once the grid is complete. |
| Measuring on photographs? | A scale calibrated against a ruler. | Partly: the traced area after calibration; sizes are typed. |
| Photos compared across visits? | Two side by side, dated, printable. | Yes, chosen by you; no automatic detection. |
| A LOT for each injection point? | Point by point, close-ups included. | Yes, typed. |
| The LOT from a barcode or stock? | A scan, or a pick from deliveries. | No. |
| Patients found by batch for a recall? | A search by LOT across visits. | No: the LOT is on each visit and on the patient's sheet. |
| A quality-of-life questionnaire (DLQI)? | Used under its licence. | No. |
| Photos kept from reception? | A switch for the desk, privacy per department. | Yes. |
For the rest of the clinic, read how to choose clinic software; every feature is on the features page.
Your first week in OPALEVI
Register
Choose private practice or clinic and tick Dermatology, Aesthetic medicine or both; each comes with its record, starter services and phrases.
Set up the basics
The First steps card leads to Add your services and prices, Set up the report letterhead and Invite your colleagues.
Decide on privacy
Set Record privacy before the first photograph is taken.
Run a real week
Photograph every lesion with a ruler, calibrate one tracing, and print a skin check sheet and an aftercare sheet.
Standardise the photograph first
Same distance, light and background, a ruler beside the lesion: no program can compare two photographs taken differently.
Next in this series: ophthalmology clinic software. Treating animals? Read veterinary practice software. Clinics with several departments get the same records.
Frequently asked questions
What is dermatology and aesthetic clinic software?
A program that keeps a skin or aesthetic practice's records in a form the next visit can be compared against: lesions with their size and features, body maps, photographs across visits and severity scores, and for treatments every injection point with its product, amount and batch, plus the consent and the aftercare.
Can I record the batch number of every filler or toxin?
Yes. The aesthetic record has a batch number (LOT) for the session, and each point on the injection map and the close-up views keeps its own LOT, product and amount. The clinician types it; nothing is scanned. It also prints on the sheet the patient keeps.
Can reception see clinical photographs?
Only if the practice allows it. Photographs need the same permission as the visit history: finance never has it, and reception only while the clinic's visit-history switch is on. Record privacy can also limit a department to its own staff or to the treating clinician.
Can I take the photographs with a phone or tablet?
Yes. OPALEVI works in the browser of a phone, tablet or computer with nothing to install, and the visit's documents panel opens the device camera. Each picture is compressed, loses its location data and appears on the patient's file, ready to compare with earlier ones.
Can I try it before paying?
Yes: a free trial with no card. Record real visits, take real photographs and print both patient sheets. Without a plan at the end of the trial, nothing is charged: the account turns read-only and keeps what you entered.
How is the price worked out?
By the number of staff members who use OPALEVI; paying for a year at once brings the rate down. Patients and visits are never counted, so a crowded month of skin checks costs no more than a slow one. The pricing page shows today's figures.
