Endocrinology software: a diabetes and thyroid clinic, one check-up after another
Endocrinology software earns its keep on the fourth visit, not the first: a diabetes or thyroid clinic lives on numbers that only mean something next to the last ones, and on targets that differ from patient to patient. This guide sets out what the record should hold, follows a diabetes check-up in OPALEVI, and says where the program stops.
Key takeaways
- Endocrinology is follow-up. An HbA1c or a TSH means little alone, so keep each as a number in its own field and read it next to the earlier ones.
- Write the regimen and the patient's own targets into the record, so the sheet the patient takes home shows today's readings and the agreed targets together.
- Examine the diabetic foot site by site and foot by foot, not as “feet fine”.
- OPALEVI records, charts and prints. Here it calculates only the waist-to-hip ratio and BMI: it does not read glucose meters, compare a reading with a target or suggest a dose.
Why a diabetes and thyroid clinic outgrows paper and a general program
Most endocrine practices start with a folder per patient and a general diary. As the three-monthly list grows, the same troubles return:
- The HbA1c sits in laboratory printouts. Seeing it go from 8.4 to 7.9 to 7.2 % means leafing through three sheets, if all three were kept.
- The target lives in the doctor's head. One patient aims for 7 %, an older one for 8 %; the folder never said which.
- The regimen is a sentence. “Insulin at night, increase by two” is not a list a patient can follow at home.
- The foot check shrinks to a word. “Sensation preserved” does not say which sites were tested, or on which foot.
In endocrinology a reading is half a fact. The other half is the reading before it and the target it is measured against.
What an endocrinology record should hold
First agree what a check-up must capture; the list works on paper too:
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| HbA1c and fasting glucose, with the unit | Comparable only when each reading carries its unit; mg/dL taken for mmol/L is a real error. |
| The regimen, line by line | Medicine or insulin, dose and time of day: what the patient follows at home. |
| Individual targets | HbA1c, glucose, blood pressure and weight agreed for this patient, where the next clinician sees them. |
| Weight, waist and hip | Weight at every visit; waist and hip together, read as one ratio. |
| TSH and the thyroid by lobe | Each lobe by palpation and ultrasound, the highest TI-RADS category, and where each nodule sits. |
| The foot, site by site | Monofilament per site and side, the two foot pulses, each ulcer with its Wagner grade and size. |
The record keeps the numbers; the clinician reads them
Good software puts a reading beside its target and leaves the judgement alone. Whether 7.9 % is close enough for this patient, or a TR4 nodule needs a needle, is a clinical decision.
A diabetes check-up in OPALEVI, step by step
A routine three-monthly review of a patient with type 2 diabetes, in a practice registered as OPALEVI for private practices with the Endocrinology department. Words in bold are the labels on the screen.
Booking the review
The desk books it under Add appointment; if the desk leaves Email the patient a reminder the day before on, the patient can be emailed a reminder ahead of the review.
The nurse's part
Under Vital signs the nurse types weight, height, blood glucose, pulse and blood pressure; BMI appears from weight and height. Mark ready for the doctor tells the endocrinologist.
Glycaemic control
After the Doctor's report (complaints, examination, diagnoses, advice), type the HbA1c and Fasting glucose under Glycaemic control and pick the Control assessment yourself: OPALEVI never picks it.
Regimen and targets
Regimen and targets holds Insulin and medicines, up to twenty lines of medicine or insulin, dose and when, then the patient's own Target HbA1c, glucose, blood pressure and weight.
Foot, prescription, finish
Record the foot (below), write the Prescription and finish. Book a follow-up appointment opens a booking for this patient; Invoice this visit bills the check-up.
A new check-up starts empty: nothing is copied from the last one. Earlier visits are shown on the charts and in the patient's visit list, and the Change history keeps who changed what, and when.
The endocrinology tools: trends, the thyroid and the diabetic foot
HbA1c, glucose and TSH across visits
Under Metabolic course, HbA1c and glucose across visits draws both series from this patient's earlier check-ups in the department plus today's, each on its own axis. TSH across visits does the same for the thyroid. Nothing is drawn until two values exist, and then only the typed values, with no target line, band or arrow.
The practice chooses mg/dL or mmol/L under Other settings (Blood glucose unit). Each reading keeps the unit it was typed in, and charts and prints show every reading in the practice's unit. Weight and blood pressure are recorded at every visit, but this record charts only HbA1c, glucose and TSH.
Waist, hip and their ratio
Measurements takes waist and hip circumference, and OPALEVI calculates the Waist-to-hip ratio (104 and 112 cm give 0.93): arithmetic, with no reading of what it means.
The thyroid: lobes, TI-RADS and nodules on a map
Thyroid and therapy starts with the TSH level in mIU/L. Thyroid lobes is a small grid: right lobe, left lobe and isthmus, each by palpation and ultrasound, answered as normal size or enlarged, with or without nodules. Highest TI-RADS (ACR) keeps the highest category from the ultrasound report.
Findings on the thyroid maps the neck from the front and each side, on a male or female figure from the patient's recorded sex. Each nodule is a numbered mark with a finding, a size in millimetres and its own ACR TI-RADS category. No ACR wording, size threshold or thyroid volume is produced; the scan report attaches under Visit documents.
The diabetic foot
Diabetic foot asks for each foot separately. The 10 g monofilament grid has ten sites, nine on the sole from the big-toe pulp to the heel and one on top, each Felt or Not felt on the right and the left; a site not tested stays blank. Foot pulses takes the dorsalis pedis and posterior tibial pulses on each side. Ulcer grade (Wagner) runs from 0 to 5, its six definitions shown underneath. Ulcers on the feet shows the top and the sole of each foot, and each ulcer mark has its own grade and size.
The diabetes review, the laboratory and the rest of the practice
The visit header offers Print prescription, Print referral letter, the Diabetes review and the full report. The review is the patient's sheet: glycaemic control, vital signs, waist-to-hip figures, the regimen, the Individual targets and the foot. Readings and targets stand side by side, never compared, and no dose is suggested.
Under it prints a blank Blood glucose diary, 7 days: a column per day, a reading before and after each meal and at bedtime, and room for notes, in the unit of this visit's glucose. The diary stays on paper; what the patient brings back is noted in the report, not charted.
- The laboratory. Where the practice runs its own laboratory in OPALEVI, analyses are requested under Analyses and read under Analysis results. Results do not fill the record's HbA1c or TSH boxes: you type the value you follow. See the medical laboratory guide.
- Colleagues outside. The Referral letter carries your question, its urgency and the findings, with this visit's diagnosis and therapy appended. Retinal screening is the eye clinic's (ophthalmology clinic software); a Charcot foot is often shared with orthopaedics (orthopaedic clinic software); shared care with the family doctor is in the general practice guide.
- Invoices are on from registration; a practice that does not bill patients turns them off under Application menus.
Who reads the record. The desk handles bookings and payments; visit history stays closed to it unless you switch on Reception may see patients' visit history, and the finance role has no access to clinical notes. With a single department, Record privacy has two settings: Automatic, open to the whole team, or Only the clinician, the record's assigned doctor.
Questions to ask before choosing endocrinology software
Ask every vendor these, us included, and test the answers in the trial.
| Question | A good answer | OPALEVI |
|---|---|---|
| Are HbA1c, glucose and TSH charted across visits? | Each reading a point, from the record itself. | Yes: two charts under Metabolic course. |
| Can glucose be in mg/dL or mmol/L? | One practice unit, every reading converted. | Yes: a setting; each reading keeps its typed unit. |
| Does it read glucose meters or sensors? | A tested connection, or a clear manual route. | No: readings are typed. |
| Does a laboratory result fill the record? | The value lands in the right box. | No: results stay on their sheet. |
| Is the foot recorded by site and side? | Monofilament sites, pulses, ulcers on a map. | Yes: ten sites, two pulses, a Wagner grade per ulcer. |
| Are weight and blood pressure charted? | Each visit's vitals as a trend. | Partly: recorded each visit, not charted in this record. |
| Will the bill grow with the patient list? | A cost that depends on the team, not the caseload. | No: it is per staff member; patients and check-ups are not counted. |
The modules are listed on the features page, the prices on the pricing page, and the general buying questions in how to choose clinic software.
Your first afternoon with endocrinology in OPALEVI
The First steps list on the Today screen guides the set-up and ticks each item off.
Register and choose the department
Register as a private practice. General practice comes pre-selected; untick it if you do not need it and tick Endocrinology. The endocrinology department page lists the record.
Set the glucose unit first
Choose mg/dL or mmol/L under Other settings before the first reading, so charts and diary speak your laboratory's unit.
Prices and paper
Add your services and prices, starting from the two already listed, then Set up the report letterhead so the review and diary carry your practice's name.
Bring in the team
Invite your colleagues: the nurse who weighs and measures, and whoever runs the desk, each with their own role.
Type the HbA1c at every check-up
Type the HbA1c and TSH whenever a result is in. From the second check-up, the charts show a direction.
Frequently asked questions
What is endocrinology software?
A program that keeps an endocrine practice's records as structured fields: HbA1c, glucose and TSH with their units, the regimen and individual targets, the thyroid by lobe with TI-RADS, and the diabetic foot by site and side. Readings can be followed for years and printed for the patient; the judgement stays with the clinician.
Can OPALEVI take readings from a glucose meter or the laboratory?
Not from a meter: there is no connection to glucose meters, sensors or pumps, so readings are typed. Where the practice's laboratory works in OPALEVI, analyses are requested from the visit and results open on their own sheet; they do not fill the endocrine record, so the HbA1c or TSH you follow is typed into the check-up.
Does OPALEVI say whether a patient is on target?
No. You write the targets agreed with each patient, and the diabetes review prints them beside today's readings without comparing the two. The charts carry no target line or band, and the control assessment is the clinician's choice. OPALEVI calculates the waist-to-hip ratio and BMI, records the rest, and suggests no dose.
Can reception see clinical notes?
Only if you allow it. The desk keeps the diary, opens new patient files and takes payment, but visit history is hidden from it until the practice switches that on. The finance role never opens clinical notes. To go further, the record privacy choice Only the clinician keeps each record to its assigned doctor and the practice's administrators.
Can I try it before paying?
Yes, with a free trial that starts when you register; no card is needed. Use it on real work: set your glucose unit, record a check-up with its foot examination, print a diabetes review with its diary. A trial that ends without a plan costs nothing, and the files can still be opened and read.
How is OPALEVI priced for an endocrine practice?
Per staff member: each staff member with an active account in the practice is a seat, and paying for a year lowers the monthly rate. Patients, check-ups, departments and printed reviews are never counted, so a growing diabetes list leaves the bill where it was. Current figures are on the pricing page.
