Buyer's checklist
EMR software for eye clinics in India: what it has to do.
A general EMR records a visit. An eye visit is two eyes, a refraction, a pressure and a slit-lamp examination, read by two or three people in turn, and it ends with a prescription the patient has to follow at home. Below is the list we would use to judge any ophthalmology EMR, and how Foveal handles each item. Where something needs the Pro plan, it says so.
01Refraction as data, not a notes box
Ask for: each kind of refraction kept separately, per eye, with last visit's numbers in view while you write today's.
- Objective, subjective, cycloplegic, post-mydriatic and final rows, each recorded for the right and left eye.
- The patient's current spectacles or contact lenses recorded as their own entry, and the previous refraction shown beside today's.
- Retinoscopy, keratometry and colour vision as optional sections, for the clinics that record them.
- Glasses orders (Pro) start from the final prescription and refuse to start without one.
02IOP with the method attached
Ask for: a pressure that says how it was measured, so a glaucoma trend compares like with like.
- Each reading carries its method: non-contact, Goldmann, iCare, Schiøtz, Perkins or Tono-Pen.
- Repeat readings in the same visit, and whether the pressure was taken before or after dilation.
- A target pressure can be recorded for each patient.
03Slit lamp and fundus you can read back
Ask for: findings stored structure by structure, and shortcuts that never overwrite what the doctor typed.
- Anterior segment: lids, conjunctiva, sclera, cornea, anterior chamber, iris, pupil, lens. Posterior: vitreous, optic disc, C:D ratio, macula, foveal reflex, periphery.
- "Mark normal" and saved templates fill only the fields that are still blank. Bringing last visit's findings forward is shown for review first.
- Eye diagrams you can draw on, and ICD-10 diagnoses recorded with the eye they belong to.
04Laterality in words
Ask for: the printed eye written out. "OD" means both right eye and once daily, on the same medicine line.
- Every eye medicine on Foveal's printed prescription names the eye in words first: "Right eye (OD)", "Left eye (OS)", "Both eyes (OU)". Tablets and injections, which go to no eye, carry none.
- Frequency prints the same way: "Once a day (OD)", "Twice a day (BD)". The abbreviation stays for the pharmacist; the words are for the patient.
- On screen, the left and right eye are separate panels with their own headings, not a suffix on each field.
05A prescription the patient can follow
- Printed on your letterhead: your own banner, or one composed from your clinic name, doctor's name and registration number.
- Instructions in English, English + Hindi, or English + Marathi, set per patient or as the clinic default.
- Type a medicine once and Foveal remembers the strength, frequency and instructions you used, so the next prescription is a few keystrokes.
06The operation theatre (Pro)
- Surgery scheduling, a pre-operative checklist, procedure consent, IOL models and a printed cost estimate.
- Op notes checked against the operated eye at sign-off and locked once signed; corrections are dated addenda, not edits.
- Discharge summaries, a monthly surgery register, and insurance claims for surgeries.
07Optical and pharmacy (Pro)
- Glasses orders with job cards and a history of each order.
- Counter sales and stock, with GST bills.
- Dispensing straight from the prescription, with expiry tracking and the Schedule H1 register.
08Billing the way the desk is paid
- The consultation fee is raised when the patient checks in, at your new-patient or follow-up rate. Tests and procedures are added from your own price list.
- Cash, UPI or card, and part-payments. Totals and balances are worked out on the server, so two screens never disagree about what is owed.
- Add your UPI ID and the printed bill carries a QR code for the amount still due.
- Write-offs need the clinic head or manager and a reason, and are recorded.
09WhatsApp to patients
- Appointment confirmations, and a reminder two hours before for patients who tap "Remind me".
- After the visit, a link to the prescription, report and receipt. The patient opens it with the last four digits of their mobile number, and it works for three days.
- On the review date the doctor set, one message to a patient who has not come back or booked. The morning after a missed appointment, one message asking them to call.
- WhatsApp is part of the plan, for a monthly number of patients. A busier clinic can buy more from its settings.
10A front desk that survives a cut
Foveal works best online. If the internet drops, the desk keeps working: registrations, check-ins and payments are saved on the machine for up to 72 hours and sync on their own, and consultation drafts are kept on the machine too. Your stored data is unaffected.
11DPDP, by design
Records your assessor can read — every action audit-logged and never deleted, consent captured and versioned, op notes locked once signed, prescriptions that name the eye in words.
- Consent recorded at registration, with the time and the staff member who took it.
- Data stored in Mumbai, India. Encrypted in transit and at rest.
- Each clinic walled off inside the database. Foveal's admin accounts are blocked from patient records.
- Export your records as CSV whenever you like, including after your subscription ends.
The details, and what we deliberately don't claim, are on the security page.
What Foveal is not
- Not an inpatient system. IPD is not available yet.
- Not a phone app for consultations. It runs in the browser on the desk PC and on a tablet in the consulting room; the queue can be checked from any browser.
- Not a clinical decision tool. It records what the clinician decides.
Questions clinics ask
Do I need to install anything?
No. Foveal runs in a web browser on the PC at reception and a tablet or PC in the consulting room. There is no server to keep in the clinic.
Where is patient data stored?
In a data centre in Mumbai, India (AWS ap-south-1). Encrypted backups are kept off-site, and voice dictation, if switched on, is processed outside India. The privacy policy names every provider.
Which plan do I need?
Lite covers the OPD: registration, queue, examination, prescription, billing, print and WhatsApp. Pro adds the operation theatre, optical and pharmacy. The launch price starts from ₹12,000 a year.