This Week’s Lesson: Smart Key Combos That Turn Avimark Into a Workflow System.

Most clinics use Avimark every day. Fewer clinics use Avimark to its full operational advantage.

The difference is not usually a new feature, a new integration, or a new software purchase. Sometimes the fastest improvement is hiding in plain sight: the hot keys your team already has access to but may not be using as a repeatable workflow.

Avimark hot keys are not just shortcuts. Used well, they are workflow moves. They help your team reduce clicking, avoid duplicate entry, move faster through records, and keep care plans from living in someone’s memory.

The real opportunity is not memorizing every hot key on the list.

The real opportunity is teaching your team which hot keys to combine during the appointment so Avimark supports the way the visit actually moves.

Why Combo Hot Keys Matter

A single hot key saves seconds.

A combo hot key move saves attention.

That matters because most clinic slowdowns do not come from one big failure. They come from small repeated moments: searching for the patient, opening the wrong screen, retyping the same instruction, forgetting to post a reminder, leaving the treatment list disconnected from the record, or finishing the note after the client has already left.

When those steps are repeated all day, they create cognitive load.

Smart key combos reduce that load by giving the team a predictable path:

Open the right record. Capture the right note. Move the plan forward. Connect the treatment list. Close the loop before checkout.

That is how a clinic starts using Avimark as an active workflow system instead of a passive filing cabinet.

Combo Move 1: The Pre-Visit Context Move

Use this before the doctor enters the room.

• F9 — Open Appointment Calendar
• F5 — Appointment Notes
• F6 — Patient / highlight patient first
• F5 — Patient Notes, when needed

This combo helps the team start the visit with context instead of questions.

Before the exam begins, the team can quickly confirm why the patient is here, review appointment notes, check relevant patient information, and reduce repeated history-taking. This is especially helpful for multi-problem visits, rechecks, chronic care cases, or clients who gave important context when scheduling.

The operator lesson: do not let the appointment start cold. Use Avimark to surface context before the door opens.

Combo Move 2: The Room-Ready Check-In Move

Use this when the patient arrives and the team needs to move from schedule to active visit.

• F9 — Open Appointment Calendar
• F8 — Check-in
• F6 — Check-in Patient
• Alt+F10 — Open Whiteboard

This combo helps move the patient from “scheduled” to “actively being worked.”

The whiteboard is especially useful because it makes the visit visible to the team. Instead of relying on someone to verbally tell the back team that the patient is ready, the workflow creates a shared signal.

The operator lesson: if the team has to ask, “Is this patient checked in?” or “Who has this room?” too often, the workflow is relying too much on memory.

Combo Move 3: The SOAP Capture Move

Use this when the clinical conversation needs to become a complete, usable medical record.

• F10 — Medical Condition / SOAP
• F5 — Notes for highlighted entry
• Shift+F10 — Zoom
• Shift+F8 — History Mode

This combo supports cleaner documentation because it helps the team stay inside the medical history workflow instead of jumping between unrelated screens.

F10 gets the team into the SOAP area. F5 allows notes for the highlighted entry. Shift+F10 gives more room to review or work when the screen feels crowded. Shift+F8 supports history mode when reviewing prior entries.

This move becomes even more powerful when the clinic is using an approved Avimark scribe, like VEA. Instead of forcing the doctor or technician to reconstruct the visit after the fact, the scribe can help turn the conversation into a structured SOAP note that is easier to review, edit, and move into the Medical Condition in Avimark.

The key is clinician control. The scribe should not replace the doctor’s judgment. It should reduce the documentation burden, organize the visit, and give the DVM a cleaner starting point for final review.

The operator lesson: SOAP documentation should not be a scavenger hunt. The faster the team can capture the clinical conversation, review the note, and place it correctly in Avimark, the easier it is to complete records while the case is still active.

Combo Move 4: The Doctor’s Instructions Move

Use this when the DVM gives the plan and the team needs to turn it into action.

• Ctrl+F5 — Doctor’s Instructions
• F7 — Open Treatment List
• F8 — Post / Create Invoice

This is one of the most important workflow combinations because it connects the doctor’s plan to execution.

Doctor’s instructions should not live only in conversation. When the team uses Ctrl+F5, the plan has a place to go. Then F7 can help move into the treatment list, and F8 supports posting or invoice creation when appropriate.

The operator lesson: a treatment plan that is only spoken is easy to lose. A treatment plan that is documented, connected, and posted becomes operational.

Combo Move 5: The Estimate-to-Care Move

Use this when the team needs to connect recommendations, estimates, and client decisions.

• Patient Area — Estimates Tab
• F2 — New
• F3 — Change
• F4 — Remove
• F7 — Choose

This combo helps keep estimates from becoming disconnected from the visit.

If the client approves care, the estimate can move forward. If the client declines or modifies care, the team can update the estimate instead of leaving the record unclear. This creates better handoffs between the doctor, technician, CSR, and checkout.

The operator lesson: estimate clarity is client communication. If the estimate is messy, the conversation feels messy too.

Combo Move 6: The Treatment List Power Move

Use this when the team needs to manage treatments efficiently.

• F7 — Open Treatment List
• F2 — New
• F3 — Change
• F4 — Remove
• Ctrl+A — Select All
• Ctrl+Alt+H — Entry History
• Shift+Ctrl+P — Show / Hide Preview
• Shift+Ctrl+G — Show / Hide Group Panel

The treatment list is where many clinics lose time because the team clicks around, searches manually, or misses the connection between the plan and the record.

This combo makes the treatment list more usable. The team can add, change, remove, review, select, and inspect entries faster. Entry History is especially useful when the clinic needs to understand what changed and when.

The operator lesson: treatment lists should support charge capture, clinical clarity, and team accountability.

Combo Move 7: The Follow-Up Before Discharge Move

Use this before the client leaves.

• Patient Area — Follow-ups Tab
• F2 — New
• F3 — Change
• F4 — Remove

Patient Area — Reminder Tab

• F6 — Show All Reminders
• Shift+F
• 8 — Post Reminder

This combo closes one of the most common workflow gaps in veterinary medicine: follow-up that is discussed but not assigned.

If the team talks about a callback, recheck, lab follow-up, nutrition check-in, medication response, or chronic care reminder, it needs to be captured before discharge. The follow-up should not depend on someone remembering at the end of the day.

The operator lesson: follow-up is not complete until it has an owner, a timeline, and a place in the system.

Combo Move 8: The Checkout Closure Move

Use this when the visit is wrapping up and the record needs to match the plan.

• F8 — Post / Create Invoice
• Shift+F5 — Invoice Instructions
• Shift+Ctrl+F8 — Pre-Invoice
• F10 — Accounting

This combo supports a cleaner checkout experience because it connects the invoice, instructions, and accounting workflow.

When invoice instructions are used well, the CSR does not have to decode the plan from memory. The team can reduce last-minute confusion, missed charges, and unclear client instructions.

The operator lesson: checkout should not be the first time the clinic organizes the visit. Checkout should confirm what the workflow has already captured.

Combo Move 9: The Whiteboard Visibility Move

Use this when the case needs shared team awareness.

• Alt+F10 — Open Whiteboard
• F9 — Open Appointment Calendar
• F11 — Refresh

The whiteboard is valuable because it gives the team a shared view of active work. Used with the appointment calendar and refresh, it can help reduce the constant verbal checking that slows teams down.

This is especially helpful during busy GP days, urgent care blocks, boarding overlaps, and multi-doctor schedules.

The operator lesson: visibility reduces interruptions. If the status is visible, the team does not have to keep asking.

Combo Move 10: The Inventory + Instructions Move

Use this when inventory, medication, or product instructions matter to the plan.

Inventory List

• F5 — Instructions
• Ctrl+Alt+H — Entry History
• Shift+Ctrl+P — Show / Hide Preview

Medical History

• Alt+F9 — Drug Label

This combo helps the team connect inventory and medication workflows back to client clarity.

Instructions matter because clients do not just need a product or medication. They need to understand what it is, why it matters, how to use it, and when to follow up.

The operator lesson: inventory is not just stock. It is part of the care plan.

The Smart Clinic Standard

The goal is not to make every team member memorize every Avimark hot key.

The goal is to teach the team the five to ten combinations that match the clinic’s real workflows.

Start with these daily standards:

Before the exam: review context. During the exam: capture once. During planning: connect instructions to treatments. Before checkout: post, assign, and clarify. Before discharge: confirm follow-up and reminders.

That is how Avimark becomes more than a system of record. It becomes a system of movement.

Why This Makes Your Clinic More AI-Ready

AI works best when the clinic has clean inputs, consistent workflows, and clear handoffs.

If every doctor, technician, and CSR documents differently, AI has to work harder to interpret the workflow. But when the team uses repeatable steps, consistent notes, structured treatment plans, and reliable follow-up habits, the clinic becomes easier to automate.

That does not mean AI replaces the team.

It means the team becomes easier to support.

Smart key combos help create the foundation: cleaner records, fewer duplicate entries, stronger handoffs, and more predictable clinical outputs.

Staff Meeting Exercise

Pick one visit type this week: wellness, dermatology, chronic care, sick visit, dental consult, or urgent care.

Then ask the team:

Where do we lose time in Avimark? Where do we retype the same thing? Where do instructions live only in someone’s head? Where does follow-up get discussed but not assigned? Which three hot key combos would remove the most friction?

Start there.

Do not roll out every shortcut at once. Pick one combo, teach it, practice it for a week, and measure whether it reduces friction.

Download the SOP and Meeting Presentation for Your Staff Today

These quick tips help you and your clinic become AI-ready and adopt practices that help everyone move faster.

The smarter clinic does not ask people to remember what the workflow should capture.

It gives the team repeatable moves that make the right action easier to complete.

Request Download here: https://forms.gle/6R9E5vYkVMCc5sMP6

FAQs

What are Avimark hot keys? Avimark hot keys are keyboard shortcuts that help veterinary teams move faster through common areas of the program, such as the appointment calendar, medical history, SOAP notes, treatment list, whiteboard, follow-ups, reminders, and invoicing.

Why should veterinary clinics use Avimark hot key combinations?

A single hot key can save seconds, but a hot key combination can save attention. When teams use repeatable Avimark shortcut sequences, they can reduce clicking, avoid duplicate entry, improve handoffs, and keep the visit moving from check-in to documentation to checkout.

What is an Avimark combo hot key move?

An Avimark combo hot key move is a set of shortcuts used together to support a specific clinic workflow. For example, a team may use appointment calendar shortcuts, patient notes, medical history, SOAP, treatment list, and invoice instructions together to move a visit forward without relying on memory or excessive clicking.

How can Avimark hot keys improve SOAP documentation?

Avimark hot keys can help teams get into the Medical Condition / SOAP area faster, open notes for a highlighted medical history entry, zoom into the record, and review history mode. This helps the team keep documentation connected to the active case instead of reconstructing the visit after the client leaves.

How does an approved Avimark scribe help with SOAP notes?

An approved Avimark scribe, like VEA, can help turn the clinical conversation into a structured SOAP note that is easier for the veterinarian to review, edit, and place correctly in Avimark. The scribe should support clinician control, reduce documentation burden, and help the team complete records while the case is still active.

Can Avimark hot keys reduce duplicate entry?

Yes. When teams use Avimark hot keys consistently, they can reduce the need to retype the same information across multiple screens. This is especially helpful for appointment notes, patient notes, medical history, SOAP documentation, treatment lists, estimates, invoice instructions, and follow-ups.

What Avimark shortcuts help with follow-up before discharge?

The Follow-ups Tab and Reminder Tab shortcuts can help teams create, update, remove, show, and post reminders before the client leaves. This helps prevent follow-up from living only in someone’s memory.

How can Avimark hot keys help with checkout?

Avimark hot keys can help teams post or create invoices, access invoice instructions, use pre-invoice workflows, and move into accounting. This supports a cleaner checkout process because the CSR has clearer information and the visit record better reflects the care plan.

Why is the Avimark whiteboard important for workflow visibility?

The Avimark whiteboard helps the team see active work, patient status, and movement through the clinic. When used with appointment calendar and refresh shortcuts, it can reduce interruptions and repeated verbal status checks.

How do Avimark hot keys make a veterinary clinic more AI-ready?

AI works better when clinics have consistent workflows, cleaner documentation, and structured handoffs. Avimark hot key combinations help create repeatable habits around SOAP notes, treatment planning, follow-up, and checkout, which makes the clinic easier to support with AI tools.

Who should learn Avimark combo hot key moves?

Veterinarians, technicians, CSRs, practice managers, and hospital leaders can all benefit from learning Avimark combo hot key moves. The goal is not for every person to memorize every shortcut, but for each role to learn the combinations that support their part of the visit.

What is the best way to train a team on Avimark shortcuts?

Start with one workflow, such as pre-visit context, SOAP capture, treatment planning, follow-up, or checkout. Teach three to five shortcuts that support that workflow, practice them for one week, and ask the team where the combo reduced clicking, duplicate entry, or memory-based handoffs.