Changelog v1.38 - July 15, 2026

Summary

  • The Oystehr AI ambient scribe is now available for telemed visits, automatically generating chart recommendations from the visit recording without requiring manual start or stop.
  • Diagnosis searches now support synonyms and semantic matching. Searching "shingles" returns results for "herpes zoster," and searches combine lexical and conceptual matches.
  • DOT vision screening fields were added to the Vision section of the exam, supporting the structured documentation required for commercial driver physicals.
  • Patient education materials can now be generated and stored in Spanish alongside English.
  • The Admin navigation was redesigned as a sidebar, replacing a horizontal tab bar that was overflowing off-screen as the number of admin sections grew.
  • The credit card collection requirement during paperwork is now configurable per practice, with options to always require, never require, or require conditionally based on the patient's payer type.
  • BMI is now calculated automatically from height and weight entered on the vitals screen and displayed as a read-only field.
  • Staff can now subscribe to task notifications by category, so they only receive alerts for task types relevant to their role.

Staff Efficiency Improvements

  • Clicking New Visit from the Patient Detail page now automatically pre-fills the current patient, skipping the phone number search step (#1155 (opens in a new tab)).
  • Multiple lab tests can now be selected from the test dropdown in a single interaction. The dropdown stays open while staff make additional selections, and closes when clicking outside. Standard trash can deletion applies if a selection needs to be removed (#7053 (opens in a new tab)).
  • Procedure CPT code AI recommendations can now be accepted with a single click from the Assessment page, consistent with how HPI and medical history AI suggestions work (#7794 (opens in a new tab)).

Oystehr AI

  • The ambient scribe is now available for telemed visits. When a provider is in a virtual visit, the telemed service's built-in audio recording is used to generate AI chart recommendations after the call, following the same flow as in-person ambient scribe. No manual start or stop is required. The recording is managed automatically by the telemed service (#4489 (opens in a new tab)).

Diagnosis Search

  • The ICD-10 diagnosis search now supports synonym and semantic matching alongside the existing lexical search. Searching for a colloquial or lay term returns results for the corresponding clinical term. For example, searching "shingles" suggests herpes zoster, and searching "pink eye" suggests conjunctivitis. Search results now combine both lexical and semantic matches (#8047 (opens in a new tab)).

DOT Vision Screening

  • A DOT Vision Screening subsection was added to the Vision exam, supporting the additional measurements required by the FMCSA Medical Examination Report (form MCSA-5875) for commercial driver medical certification. The section is collapsed by default and can be expanded during any visit where DOT physical documentation is needed (#7449 (opens in a new tab)).

    When expanded, the section captures horizontal field of vision per eye (in degrees), color recognition (red, green, and amber), monocular vision status, specialist referral status, and whether documentation from a referral was received. A file upload is available if the last question is answered yes. All completed DOT fields appear in the progress note, visit note PDF, and discharge summary.

Patient Education Materials in Spanish

  • Patient education content can now be generated and stored in Spanish. When creating or editing a patient education entry in Admin, providers can generate a Spanish-language version alongside the existing English content. Both versions are available for printing and are included in the discharge summary (#7807 (opens in a new tab)).

Admin Navigation

  • The Admin section navigation was redesigned as a vertical sidebar. The previous horizontal tab bar was overflowing off-screen as more admin sections were added over recent releases. The sidebar accommodates all tabs without truncation and remains accessible regardless of screen width (#7552 (opens in a new tab)).

Credit Card Requirement Options

  • The credit card collection step during patient paperwork is now configurable per practice. Three options are available: always required, never required, or required unless the patient's payer is Medicaid or Medicare. When the third option is active, a checkbox appears on the credit card screen allowing patients to indicate they have Medicaid coverage, at which point the card entry is skipped. The option is configured at deployment and not user configurable in Admin (#4912 (opens in a new tab)).

Vitals

  • BMI is now calculated automatically from the height and weight entered on the vitals screen and displayed as a read-only field. BMI is shown in both imperial and metric units, consistent with how height and weight are displayed. It updates whenever height or weight is saved. If either measurement is missing, a helper message prompts staff to enter both to calculate BMI. When weight is marked as "Patient Refused," the BMI field shows an informational message rather than appearing blank. BMI appears in the visit history alongside other vitals and is included in the progress note PDF and discharge summary (#7912 (opens in a new tab)).
  • Both metric and imperial vital values are now bolded in vital alerts, not just the metric value (#7885 (opens in a new tab)).

eRx

  • The pharmacy the provider sent the prescription to is now shown in the progress note above the prescriptions section, in the discharge papers, and in the progress note PDF. This is distinct from the patient's preferred pharmacy. If a patient has multiple pharmacies, each one is listed above its associated prescription (#6727 (opens in a new tab)).
  • The preferred pharmacy's phone number is now displayed alongside its name and address on patient paperwork, visit details, the patient profile, and the eRx screen. If no phone number is on file, "Phone Number not on file" is shown in its place (#7913 (opens in a new tab)).

Immunizations

  • A standard set of common US vaccines was added to the vaccine list in every Ottehr instance, sorted alphabetically. Additional configuration, including quick picks for common administration details, can be done in Admin (#7653 (opens in a new tab)).

Telemed Paperwork

  • The medical history screens (current medications, current allergies, medical history conditions, and surgical history) were removed from the telemed paperwork flow. These fields were optional before and remain optional. This information is now collected by the HPI chatbot. The result is a shorter paperwork flow for telemed patients (#7884 (opens in a new tab)).

Clinical Documentation

  • Procedures are now included in the discharge summary PDF, consistent with their current appearance in the visit note PDF and the progress note (#6222 (opens in a new tab)).
  • A Radiology Reports folder was added to the patient documents section for storing radiology studies received from external sources outside the automated ordering and resulting system (#3275 (opens in a new tab)).
  • The radiology consent checkbox on the order detail screen is now editable at any time, not just during initial order creation (#6709 (opens in a new tab)).

Patient Records

  • The PCP fax number field was added to the patient profile screen and now also appears on the Visit Details PDF and the patient paperwork PDF, giving receiving providers a direct fax number for follow-up correspondence (#3962 (opens in a new tab)).

Tasks

  • Staff can now subscribe to task category notifications. From the notification preferences screen, staff can select which task categories they want to be alerted on, and whether those alerts come via computer, phone, or both. Previously all task notifications were delivered regardless of category (#7696 (opens in a new tab)).
  • When a clinical task is assigned, a toast confirmation now appears at the bottom of the screen confirming it was moved to In Progress status (#4807 (opens in a new tab)).

Group Scheduling

  • The service dropdown in Add Visit is now filtered to show only categories compatible with the selected visit type and mode. Previously all categories appeared regardless of compatibility (#8337 (opens in a new tab)).
  • The slot selection screen now shows the location name rather than the group name, making it clearer to patients where their appointment is (#8338 (opens in a new tab)).
  • When a service is selected before a compatible visit type in Add Visit, the form now handles the conflict gracefully rather than silently carrying forward an incompatible selection (#8555 (opens in a new tab)).

Miscellaneous

  • The "Information to the patients" block was removed from the Schedules > General tab. It served no active function (#1163 (opens in a new tab)).

Bug Fixes

Changelog