Template management in tomedo®: three tricks that pay off in daily work

Out of the box, tomedo® ships with an extensive collection of letter templates, forms and text snippets. With a few basic rules, you avoid the two most common practice problems: templates that suddenly look “original” again after an update — and an endless template menu where nobody can find anything. Three small tricks from experience that work in any practice.

Trick 1: never edit zollsoft templates directly

In the template management view you can tell from a blue “Z” in the “Type” column that a template was shipped by zollsoft. These “Z templates” get refreshed during tomedo® updates — fine for a default template, frustrating for one you’ve customised: your changes vanish with the next update wave.

The fix is right there in the official tomedo® online help: “If you want to edit the supplied zollsoft templates, we recommend creating copies of these templates and editing the copies.” That way the original and your customised version stay cleanly separated. On updates, zollsoft gets its template back, and your practice version remains untouched.

Practice tip: use a consistent naming convention — e.g. prefix “PRX_” or your practice abbreviation in front of the original name. That lets you filter your own templates with a single search string.

Trick 2: name text snippets systematically

Text snippets (“macros”) in tomedo® are triggered through a shortcut — you type !befund and the snippet is inserted automatically. In daily dictation, documentation and letter writing, that’s a huge time saver — provided the shortcuts follow a recognisable logic.

• Prefix by category: !b for findings, !d for diagnoses, !t for therapy snippets, !a for cover letters.
• Speaking suffixes: !b-thorax, !b-abdomen — instead of !bef1, !bef2.
• Avoid overly short shortcuts: !an gets hit accidentally during normal typing. Three characters is a good compromise.

In the snippet management view, each entry has a “long text” field for the actual content and a “button text” field for the UI. Filling both consistently pays off after two weeks.

Trick 3: custom forms instead of ten near-identical templates

If you notice you’re always filling in the same three or four spots on a template, custom forms are often a better path than ten almost identical letter templates. A custom form bundles the recurring fields into a single mask; the actual letter is filled dynamically from it.

Typical use cases where we often see custom forms:

• referrals with standardised questions (especially specialty-specific);
• structured reports (e.g. standard ultrasound findings);
• internal documentation for quality management;
• patient information sheets before consent conversations.

Custom forms are well documented in the official online help — and they are usually implemented by zollsoft during setup or as part of a technical customisation. If you have an idea for a sensible workflow, it’s worth talking to them directly.

Bonus: tidy up without deleting

The template management view has a “visible” column. Instead of deleting a rarely used template (and losing version history), you can simply hide it. It no longer appears in the daily menu — and you can make it visible again with one click.

You can show and hide letter templates and forms in tomedo® via the “visible” property.

Where our role ends — and where you need zollsoft

The tips above largely work on your own. As soon as it gets to deep technical configuration — new custom forms, individual workflows, complex template adjustments — that’s handled directly by zollsoft. Our role as a tomedo® partner is the hardware, network and installation layer; in operations we’re available for user questions and small adjustments.