Software for orthopaedic OPD clinics
Orthopedic clinic software for the surgeon's own OPD
Vitels is orthopedic clinic software for an orthopaedic surgeon's standalone OPD or consulting room in India: the queue, the consultation, the prescription and the fee for a clinic the surgeon runs between hospital rounds. It is built for the walk-in and referral crowd, the plaster follow-ups on fixed dates, the injections and dressings that come back weekly, and the elderly patients whose children book for them. It works offline and has no licence fee. It does not store x-rays, schedule surgery or run an OT.
What does an orthopaedic OPD clinic need from software?
An orthopaedic surgeon's OPD needs software that copes with a crowded evening: a token queue that patients can follow from outside the hall, a way to move a patient in acute pain up the line, a desk that finds an elderly patient from the son's phone number, and a prescription pad fast enough for a two-minute plaster check. It needs follow-up dates that stick, since cast removal and suture removal fall on a fixed day, and a fee recorded at the desk in cash, UPI or card. It does not need an x-ray viewer, an OT list or implant stock for the consulting room, and Vitels does not have them.
- Built for
- The surgeon's standalone OPD
- Queue
- Priority token for a patient in pain
- Tokens
- On WhatsApp and SMS
- Follow-ups
- Fixed date, due list in reports
- Billing
- One amount per visit, editable
- Price
- No licence fee
What an orthopaedic surgeon's OPD looks like
Most orthopaedic surgeons in India operate at one or two hospitals in the morning and see outpatients in their own clinic in the evening. The OPD fills in a short window. Fresh injuries come in from the road or the playground, referrals arrive from general physicians with a film in an envelope, and regulars come back for a check on a cast, a dressing change, an intra-articular injection or the next physiotherapy review. Many of the patients are elderly, and most of those arrive with a son or daughter who did the booking, holds the papers and answers the phone.
That mix sets the job for software. The desk has to issue tokens fast and keep the hall calm, which is hard when a patient in a wheelchair cannot wait inside and a child with a wrist fracture is crying. The surgeon has to move through two-minute cast checks and ten-minute new consultations in one list, write a short prescription without leaving the keyboard, and fix the next visit to a date that will not drift. Reception has to collect a fee that varies between a consultation, a dressing and an injection, and account for it at closing.
The queue, the priority token and the hall outside
In Vitels, reception issues a token from the day's queue the moment a patient is found or registered. Each token carries a status: waiting, called, in consultation, done, skipped or stepped out, and a patient who has gone down for an x-ray and comes back keeps their place. A patient in acute pain is marked priority and moved up the list, and the surgeon's screen reflects the change within seconds. An optional 80 mm token slip prints the number, the patients ahead and the approximate wait.
The token also goes to the patient on WhatsApp and SMS, which matters in a clinic where the waiting area is six chairs and a corridor. Families wait in the car, the son brings the parent in when the number is close, and the hall stays clear for the people who need a seat. Front-desk appointments with sessions, leaves, check-in, reschedule and cancel sit alongside the walk-in queue. Statuses, reorder and slips are described on the patient queue page.
Elderly patients, their children and the patient app
An orthopaedic patient's phone number is often not their own. Vitels registers several patients on one mobile number, so a mother and father can both sit on the daughter's number with their own histories. Reception searches by phone or name before creating anyone, which stops the duplicate records that build up when the same patient is brought by different children on different days. The registration notice is in English and Hindi, and a guardian is recorded for patients under 18, which covers the school fracture brought in by a parent.
Through the patient app, a patient or a family member scans the clinic's QR code, chooses the surgeon, books and follows the booking status. A daughter working in another city can book her father's follow-up and see when he is called. Those bookings arrive in the same queue as the walk-ins, so the surgeon still works from one list. The app does not take payments and Vitels does not send appointment reminder messages.
Injections, dressings and plaster follow-ups
Repeat visits are the bulk of an orthopaedic OPD, and they are short. For a dressing change or a cast check, the surgeon starts the visit, presses F4 to copy the last prescription, edits a line if anything changed and presses Ctrl+Enter to save and print. Every version is kept in the patient's history, including same-day corrections, so the record of a tapering analgesic course stays intact. Each surgeon builds their own favourites and multi-drug templates in Vitels; nothing orthopaedic is shipped in the box, and the first week is spent saving the sets you write most.
The follow-up date is the part that has to be exact. Cast removal at six weeks, suture removal at twelve days, the next injection in three weeks: the surgeon picks a chip or types the date at the end of the consultation, and the follow-up due list in reports shows who is expected on each day. Reception can check it in the morning and call the families who have not turned up. The consultation screen shows allergies, existing conditions, the last visit and earlier visits in the rail, and complaint and diagnosis autocomplete learn from this surgeon's own completed visits only. Vitels records what the surgeon decides; it does not suggest drugs, doses or diagnoses.
Films, reports and the fee, honestly
Orthopaedics runs on imaging, and Vitels has no place for it. There is no x-ray or MRI storage, no viewer and no way to attach a report to a visit. In practice the patient carries the film and the radiologist's report, the surgeon reads them on the view box as before, and the finding goes into the complaint and diagnosis fields as free text. Clinics that want a digital copy keep one on the hospital PACS or in a folder outside Vitels. There is also no OT or surgery scheduling, no implant inventory and no IPD; those belong to the hospital where the surgeon operates, and Vitels is for the consulting room.
Billing in Vitels is one consultation amount per visit. It defaults to the surgeon's fee and reception edits it before saving, so a dressing visit at a lower charge or an injection visit at a higher one is a single changed number. Cash, UPI or card, an A5 receipt for the patient, and an A4 day book with totals by payment mode at closing. There is no procedure-wise bill, no line items and no packages. A saved amount cannot be edited; it is voided with a reason the same day and re-issued, which keeps the day book clean. Prescriptions print on your own letterhead with your qualifications and registration number, and the free medical certificate maker and fitness certificate maker follow the Appendix 2 form of the 2002 conduct regulations for the sick-leave and return-to-work letters a fracture clinic writes every week.
An orthopaedic OPD evening, mapped to Vitels
Every card describes a feature that is live today. Imaging, surgery and implants are listed further down under what Vitels does not do.
Patient on the son's number
Several patients can sit on one phone number, so a 70-year-old with a knee problem is registered on the number of the son who brings her. Reception types the number and picks the right person.
Queue with priority
Walk-ins, referrals and app bookings share one daily token list. A patient who has just fallen can be marked priority and moved up. Stepped out keeps a place; reception and the surgeon see the same list.
Tokens on WhatsApp and SMS
The token reaches the patient's phone with the number of patients ahead, so a family can wait in the car or at a tea stall instead of standing in a cramped hall on a bad hip.
Children book for parents
Patients scan the clinic's QR code in the Vitels patient app, pick the surgeon and book. A son in another city can book for a parent. App bookings land in the same queue as walk-ins.
Pad and letterhead print
Drug search as you type, with frequency and duration in one line. F8 opens your favourites, so a standard analgesic and antacid set is one keystroke. Prints A4 or A5 on your letterhead with your registration number.
Plaster and suture dates
Pick a follow-up chip or type the exact date for cast removal, suture removal or the next injection. The follow-up due list in reports shows who is expected on which day.
One amount per visit
The fee defaults to the surgeon's consultation charge and reception edits it when a dressing or injection visit is charged differently. Cash, UPI or card, A5 receipt, A4 day book.
Works offline
Queue, consultation, prescription print and billing carry on through a broadband cut and sync later. Only a brand-new patient registration needs a connection.
What Vitels does not do for an orthopaedic clinic
We would rather you find this out here than after you have moved your patients in.
- X-ray, MRI or other imaging storage, a viewer, or attaching reports to a visit
- Clinical photos or any image upload
- OT or surgery scheduling, operation notes or pre-anaesthetic checklists
- Implant or consumable inventory
- Procedure-wise billing, line items or packages (one amount per visit, editable)
- In-patient admission, beds or discharge summaries
- Exercise plans or physiotherapy protocols
- Teleconsultation or video visits
- ABHA or ABDM record linking
- Orthopaedic templates or fields shipped by Vitels (the surgeon builds their own favourites and templates)
Straight answers
Can I attach x-rays or MRI reports to the patient's record?
No. Vitels has no imaging storage, no viewer and no report attachment. The patient keeps the film and the report, you read them as you do now, and the finding goes into the complaint and diagnosis fields as free text. Keep digital copies on the hospital system or a folder outside Vitels.
Can I move a patient in severe pain ahead of the queue?
Yes. Reception marks the token as priority and it moves up the list, or drags it to a chosen position. The surgeon's screen updates within seconds. The other patients keep their tokens and the WhatsApp and SMS message they already received still shows their number.
My patients are mostly elderly and their children carry the phone. Does that work?
Yes. Several patients can be registered on one mobile number, so both parents can sit on a son's or daughter's number with separate histories. Reception finds them by typing that number. The child can also book for the parent through the patient app and follow the booking status from anywhere.
Can I charge differently for a consultation, a dressing and an injection?
Partly. Each visit has one amount, which defaults to your consultation fee and can be changed by reception before saving, so a dressing visit or an injection visit can be charged at its own figure. There is no procedure list, no line items and no packages. A saved amount can be voided with a reason the same day and re-issued.
How do I keep track of cast removal and suture removal dates?
At the end of the consultation, pick a follow-up chip or type the exact date. The follow-up due list in reports shows every patient expected on a given day, so reception can check it in the morning and phone the ones who have not come. Vitels does not send reminder messages itself.
Does it schedule surgeries or track implants?
No. Vitels is for the surgeon's OPD or consulting room. OT lists, operation notes, implant stock and inpatient beds stay with the hospital where you operate. What Vitels keeps is the outpatient record: visits, prescriptions, follow-up dates and fees, with a CSV export the clinic admin can take any time.
What does it cost for a single orthopaedic surgeon?
Core Vitels has no licence fee, no per-doctor fee and no per-patient fee, and you can get started for free. If a second surgeon or a visiting physiotherapist consultant joins with their own queue, fees and templates, that is Vitels Pro at ₹999 per clinic per month with a 14-day free trial, cancel any time. No GST is charged at present.
Sources
Related pages
Patient queue management
Tokens, priority, stepped out, slips and WhatsApp and SMS messages.
ReadDoctor appointment software
Front-desk appointments, sessions, leaves and the patient app.
ReadClinic billing software
One amount per visit, receipts, voids and the day book.
ReadClinic software by specialty
Every specialty page, with what Vitels does and does not do for each.
Read
Run your orthopaedic OPD from one queue.
Priority tokens, families on one number, plaster follow-up dates and your own letterhead. Works offline. No licence fee. No imaging, OT or implants, and we say so.