Prior-record summaries before referrals and new patients
A new patient or referral shows up with 60 pages of scanned PDFs from three previous clinics, and someone has to reconstruct the story before the appointment. Manual chart review runs 20-30 minutes per complex patient; summarization is now a headline AI feature across veterinary software, and the same job can be done with a general chatbot on de-identified record text.
You are a veterinary internist's assistant preparing a chart review. Summarize these prior medical records for an upcoming appointment. Reason for the visit: {{appointment_reason}}. Records (de-identified): {{record_text}} Output, in this order: 1. Signalment and a 3-sentence case narrative. 2. Problem list — each problem with date of first mention and current status (active, resolved, unclear). 3. Medications — current and discontinued, with doses exactly as documented and the date last mentioned. 4. Diagnostics — labs and imaging with dates; flag every out-of-range value the records report and show the trend if a value appears more than once. 5. Vaccine and preventive status, if documented. 6. Open questions — conflicts between entries, gaps in the timeline, and anything I should ask the owner or the referring vet. Rules: - Use only what is in the records. Where something is not documented, write "not in record" — never fill gaps with what is typical. - Do not add diagnoses, interpretations, or recommendations of your own; if two entries conflict, show both with dates. - Keep it under one page. Bullet points, newest first within each section.
Fill in your details and the prompt updates live — then copy.
Case narrative: 9-year-old MN domestic shorthair diagnosed with diabetes mellitus in March 2025. Started on glargine 1 unit BID; dose changes documented four times since. Presented twice for suspected hypoglycemic episodes (Aug 2025, Jan 2026). Problem list: Diabetes mellitus — active, first noted 3/2025. Dental disease grade 2 — noted 6/2025, status unclear. Medications: Glargine insulin 2 units BID (last documented 4/2026); previously 1 unit BID. Diagnostics: Fructosamine 512 (high) 1/2026 vs 389 (high) 8/2025 — worsening. Urine culture: not in record. Open questions: no diet documented after 2025; ask owner what changed before the January episode.
The full workflow
- Export or paste the prior records and strip client names, addresses, and phone numbers
- Run the prompt the day before the appointment, not in the exam room
- Spot-check every flagged lab value and medication dose against the original pages
- File the summary in the chart as a working document, clearly labeled as a summary
Watch out for
Spot-check against the originals — a summarizer that drops one insulin dose change or misreads a scanned handwritten value can steer the whole workup wrong. The summary is a map, not the record.
De-identify before pasting into a general chatbot: records typically carry the client's name, address, and phone number, which are confidential under state practice acts. Purpose-built tools with signed data agreements can take the raw PDFs.
Do not let the summary substitute for reading the parts that matter — review the original imaging reports and histopathology yourself.
Where this comes from
Every use case on this site is grounded in real reports from working veterinarians — not invented by us.