OpemPiMS - v9.0.0 - Release Notes 21/05/2026
Syndesis, Theatre & Procedures, redesigned booking workflows and expanded operation managementOpenPiMS v9.0.0 is a major release focused on improving referral collaboration, appointment and operation booking, theatre visibility, operation documentation and reporting. This version introduces Syndesis, a dedicated referral and clinical collaboration workflow, alongside a redesigned booking experience for both Clinic Appointments and Theatre & Procedures.
This release also introduces a new Theatre list, an electronic whiteboard, configurable operating theatres, configurable Operation note templates, improved reporting for operations, and several calendar and availability improvements.
At a Glance
- Syndesis introduces a dedicated referral and clinical collaboration workflow.
- Clinic Appointments and Theatre & Procedures are now clearly separated from the calendar toggle.
- Appointment booking has been redesigned with a patient-first workflow and clearer Booking Summary.
- Operation booking now has a dedicated structured workflow for procedures, theatre availability, pre-assessment, inventory, billing, communications, attachments and confirmation.
- Operating theatre management has been added under Admin → Organisation.
- Theatre list provides a daily operational view of theatre activity.
- Electronic whiteboard gives theatre teams a live theatre-facing view with FlowTrack, readiness, notes, attachments and quick actions.
- Operation note templates can now be configured under Admin.
- Reports can now be extended to support operations / surgeries as well as Clinic appointments.
- Site-wide unavailability can now be added from the calendar.
- Cancelled reserved appointments can now be deleted from the calendar.
Syndesis: Connected referral management and collaboration
OpenPiMS v9.0.0 introduces Syndesis, a new referral management and collaboration module designed to help clinics receive, review, triage, update, and close referrals in one connected place.
Syndesis supports referrals from the dedicated portal and from a configured referral email address, helping clinics move away from disconnected inboxes, manual tracking, and fragmented communication. It also introduces real-time referral updates, referral messages, internal notes, configurable KPI rules, and closer integration with the clinical Examination Event.
Branded portal for external referrers
Syndesis includes new branded portal pages that can display the client’s logo, giving external referrers a more familiar and professional experience.
External referrers can use the portal to submit referrals, provide referral details, upload supporting documents, and follow the referrals they are permitted to access.
Improved external referrer registration
External referrer registration has been improved to provide a safer and more controlled onboarding process.
When registrations are enabled, an external referrer can request an account through the Syndesis portal. They are asked to validate their email address, and once validation is complete, the registration is sent to the clinic for review and authorisation.
After the clinic activates the referrer account and saves the record, the referrer receives an email confirming that they now have access and can start using their account.
Central Syndesis settings
Syndesis settings are managed under:
Admin → Site settings → Syndesis
From this area, clinics can configure the dedicated referral email address, enable or disable external account registrations, and decide whether external referrers are allowed to search for already registered patients.
This gives each clinic control over how referrals are received and how much access external referrers have during the referral process.
Dedicated referral email address
Clinics can now configure a dedicated referral email address for Syndesis. This allows referral information received by email to be handled through a more controlled referral route, alongside referrals submitted directly through the portal.
This is particularly useful for clinics that still receive some referrals by email but want to manage them in a more structured way inside OpenPiMS.
Configurable referral KPI and waiting-time rules
Syndesis includes configurable referral KPI and waiting-time rules to help clinics monitor referral progress against defined targets.
A set of NHS-style KPI rules is preloaded, but these rules can be edited and adapted to match each organisation’s own requirements. Clinics can define their own pathways, rule types, labels, target values, time units, and warning thresholds.
This flexibility is particularly useful for private clinics, international organisations, and services operating outside standard NHS pathways, where local referral targets or internal performance indicators may apply.
Referral review, triage, and updates
Syndesis provides a structured area for reviewing and managing referrals. Internal users can review referral details, supporting documents, priority, messages, and status updates from the referral record.
Referrals can be progressed according to the clinic’s process, including accepting, rejecting, placing on hold, requesting more information, redirecting, updating, or completing the referral.
Real-time messages and referral updates
Syndesis supports real-time referral messages and updates, helping clinics and referrers stay aligned without relying on separate email chains.
Messages are linked directly to the referral record, making it easier to follow what has been discussed, what information has been requested, and what actions have been taken.
Separate internal notes
Syndesis separates shared referral messages from internal notes.
Clinic users can keep internal notes that are visible only to internal users. Referrers can also keep their own internal notes, visible only to their side. This allows both parties to record private operational comments while keeping shared communication clear and appropriate.
Referral section inside the Examination Event
A new referral section has been added inside the Examination Event for patients with open referrals.
This allows clinicians to see active referral information during the consultation, update the referral, or refer back to the referrer when needed. This helps bring the referral into the clinical workflow and supports closing the loop with the referrer after the patient has been reviewed.
Calendar toggle renamed to Clinic Appointments and Theatre & Procedures
What’s new
The calendar toggle has been renamed to make the two booking areas clearer:
- Clinic Appointments replaces the previous Clinic label.
- Theatre & Procedures replaces the previous Surgeries label.
This helps users distinguish between standard clinic appointments and operation / procedure bookings.
How to use it
Use Clinic Appointments for standard appointment booking workflows. Use Theatre & Procedures for operation, procedure and theatre-related bookings.
Redesigned Clinic Appointment booking workflow
What’s new
The Clinic Appointment booking workflow has been redesigned to make the process clearer, more structured and easier to follow.
The new workflow starts with the patient first. Users search for an existing patient, select the correct record or add a new patient before continuing with the booking details.
This is particularly useful for telephone bookings. If the call is interrupted before the appointment is confirmed, the booking team has already captured or verified the patient’s details.
Key improvements
- Patient-first booking process.
- Recently opened patients for faster selection.
- Clearer appointment details section.
- Improved service selection.
- Slot search within the booking workflow.
- Booking Summary visible throughout the process.
- Billing, communications, notes, forms and confirmation grouped into clearer sections.
- Reduced need to scroll up and down repeatedly.
How to use it
Go to Clinic Appointments, select + Appointment, then:
- Find or add the patient.
- Complete the appointment details.
- Select the service.
- Use the slot search to select a suitable appointment time.
- Complete billing details.
- Review communications, forms, leaflets and notes.
- Check the Booking Summary.
- Reserve or confirm the appointment.
Resources
- Appointment booking video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHs7VfKZC-k
Dedicated Operation booking workflow
What’s new
Operation booking now has its own dedicated workflow for theatre bookings, operations and procedures. Previously, operation booking followed a similar approach to appointment booking. In this release, it has been redesigned to better support theatre and procedure-specific requirements.
The new Operation booking workflow includes:
- Patient selection.
- Surgery details.
- Procedure / operation selection.
- Theatre availability.
- Pre-assessment.
- Inventory.
- Billing.
- Communications.
- Attachments.
- Confirmation.
A live Overview panel remains visible throughout the process, helping users check key details before reserving or confirming the operation.
How to use it
Go to Theatre & Procedures and start a new operation booking. Then:
- Find or add the patient.
- Complete surgery details, including surgeon, theatre, anaesthetic type and related fields.
- Select one or more procedures.
- Review theatre availability and choose the appropriate slot.
- Manage pre-assessment requirements.
- Review required and additional inventory items.
- Complete billing details.
- Review communications, forms and materials.
- Add attachments or link referral information where required.
- Reserve the operation or save and confirm the booking.
Resources
- Operation booking video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkwBPOknTMM
Pre-assessment during Operation booking
What’s new
Pre-assessment can now be managed as part of the Operation booking workflow.
If pre-assessment is required, users can choose whether to book it immediately or add it to the Smart List. If the user chooses to book it during Operation booking, the Clinic Appointment booking modal opens as part of the process, with the patient details already available.
This helps teams manage pre-assessment more efficiently and reduces the risk of missing pre-operative requirements.
How to use it
During Operation booking, go to the Pre-assessment section and select whether pre-assessment is required. Choose the appropriate next step, either booking it now or adding it to the Smart List.
Operating theatre management
What’s new
A new Operating theatres management section has been added under Admin → Organisation.
Admin users can now configure operating theatres and define theatre capacity rules. This supports the new Operation booking workflow and helps the system calculate theatre availability more accurately.
Settings include
- Operating theatre name.
- Working schedule.
- Maximum number of cases per day.
- Maximum number of cases at the same time.
How to use it
Go to Admin → Organisation → Operating theatres to create and manage operating theatres and theatre schedules.
Theatre list
What’s new
A new Theatre list has been added under Appointments → Theatre list.
This gives theatre and operational teams a clearer view of the day’s theatre activity. Users can review booked operations, patient details, procedure details, theatre team information, readiness, blockers, notes and actions.
Key features
- Date filter.
- Theatre filter.
- FlowTrack status filter.
- Readiness filter.
- Patient, MRN, procedure and surgeon search.
- Summary widgets for theatre activity.
- FlowTrack buttons directly from the list.
- Readiness and blocker indicators.
- Quick actions for each operation.
- Privacy mode for shared environments.
- Print list option.
How to use it
Go to Appointments → Theatre list. Select the date and filters required, then review the theatre activity list. Use FlowTrack buttons and quick actions to update the status of each operation.
Electronic whiteboard
What’s new
The electronic whiteboard provides a theatre-facing view of the selected operation. It is designed to show key operational information at a glance, without replacing the full patient record.
The whiteboard includes:
- Patient information.
- Procedure details.
- Anaesthesia information.
- Theatre team.
- Readiness status.
- FlowTrack status.
- Consent and checks.
- Equipment / inventory.
- Operation notes.
- Booking notes.
- Procedure-specific information.
- Booking attachments.
- Timeline.
- Allergies.
- Risks.
- Blockers.
- Quick actions.
Quick actions include
- Open Patient Record.
- Open Booking.
- Post-op Booking.
- Operation Note.
- Print wristband.
- Update Inventory.
- Edit Procedure-Specific Tile.
- Add Delay Reason.
How to use it
From the Theatre list, select Open whiteboard for the relevant operation. Use the whiteboard to review key theatre information, update FlowTrack, view booking attachments, update inventory or access related actions.
Procedure-specific information tile
What’s new
The electronic whiteboard includes an editable procedure-specific information tile. This allows teams to record key information relevant to the procedure, such as clinical considerations, equipment requirements, lens information, special instructions or other operational notes.
This provides flexibility while keeping important information visible to the theatre team.
How to use it
Open the electronic whiteboard and use the edit option on the procedure-specific information tile to add or update information.
Booking attachments visible from the whiteboard
What’s new
Attachments added during Operation booking are now available from the whiteboard. This allows theatre teams to access relevant booking documents directly from the theatre-facing view.
Examples may include referral letters, lens confirmation documents, consent-related documents or other booking attachments.
How to use it
Open the electronic whiteboard and review the Booking attachments section. Select the relevant attachment to open it.
FlowTrack for theatre activity
What’s new
FlowTrack is now available for theatre activity, helping teams track progress across the operation pathway.
Supported statuses include:
- Arrived.
- Ready for theatre.
- Operation started.
- Operation completed.
- In recovery.
- Completed.
- Cancelled.
- Did not attend.
The system can also infer earlier statuses when a later status is selected. For example, if a user marks a patient as Ready for theatre, the system can assume the patient has arrived if an arrival timestamp is missing.
How to use it
Use the FlowTrack buttons from the Theatre list or electronic whiteboard to update the patient’s operation status.
Configurable Operation note templates
What’s new
Operation note templates can now be configured under Admin.
Previously, the system supported only one Operation note template. This was limiting because different procedures, specialties, clinicians and clinics may require different Operation note structures.
This release introduces configurable Operation note templates, following the same logic used for Examination Event templates.
Key improvements
- Admin users can create Operation note templates.
- Templates can be searched and managed.
- Template names must be unique.
- Users can select the appropriate template when adding an Operation note event.
- Iris can populate the selected Operation note template.
How to use it
Go to Admin → Operation note templates to create or manage templates. When adding a new Operation note event, select the appropriate template for the procedure or workflow.
Reports extended to support operations / surgeries
What’s new
Relevant reports can now be extended to support operations / surgeries as well as Clinic appointments.
Previously, reports were based only on Clinic appointments. This meant users could not generate equivalent reports for operations, even though operations follow a similar booking and patient workflow.
Where applicable, reports can now allow users to choose whether the report should be generated for:
- Clinic appointments.
- Operations / surgeries.
The report structure should remain consistent where possible, while the data source and field mapping change based on the selected option.
How to use it
Open the relevant report and select whether the report should be generated for Clinic appointments or Operations / surgeries, where this option is available.
Site-wide unavailability
What’s new
Users can now add unavailability for the whole site. This is useful when the clinic or site is closed for a specific interval.
Examples include:
- Planned closure.
- Staff training.
- Maintenance.
- Emergency closure.
- Public holiday or local closure.
- Site-wide operational disruption.
How to use it
From the calendar:
- Click the down arrow next to + Appointment.
- Select Unavailability.
- Choose Site instead of Clinician.
- Enter the start and end time.
- Add notes if required.
- Save.
The selected site will then be unavailable for the chosen interval.
Delete cancelled reserved appointments
What’s new
Users can now delete reserved cancelled appointments from the calendar.
This helps teams keep the calendar cleaner when a reserved appointment has been cancelled and no longer needs to remain visible.
How to use it
Click on the cancelled reserved appointment in the calendar, then select Delete.
Final note
OpenPiMS v9.0.0 introduces important workflow improvements across referrals, booking, theatre management, operation documentation and reporting.
Because the booking process has changed significantly, we strongly recommend that all booking teams and administrative users review the booking guide and videos before creating new bookings.
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