NOVA Latest Release - What's New? :

This document contains the latest NOVA changes

View previous changes by clicking here

Release Due: TBC

Enhancements

Category

Summary

3798

Patients

It is now possible to generate a comprehensive response to a patient Subject Access Request (SAR).

Patient data held within NOVA can be exported as a PDF report and supplied within a password-protected ZIP file. The report includes:

Patient information
Appointment history
Recall dates and recall history
Examination history
Dispense summary
Contact lens product summary
Transaction history
Patient account movements
Scheme summary
eGOS claim history
eReferral history
Patient notes
Correspondence history
Px Portal message history
Patient form data
Patient files
Stored electronic signatures

Any patient files associated with the record are also included separately within a dedicated subfolder inside the ZIP file.

This feature provides a single, secure export containing the patient's data held within NOVA, helping practices respond efficiently to Subject Access Requests.

4862

Stock

A new stock refresh feature has been added for frames, lenses, and contact lenses downloaded from OpticalCats.

Users can now:

Refresh an individual stock item directly from the stock item record using the inline Check for Updates button.
Refresh entire supplier or brand catalogues using the Check for Updates drop down menu item under the Optical Cats. button located at the top of the Stock page.

This enhancement ensures stock information remains up to date and simplifies the process of synchronising catalogue changes from OpticalCats.

5886

Recall / Notes

The system will now automatically create a system note whenever a patient's recall is modified.

System notes are generated when recall changes are made:

Through an Examination Record.
Directly through the Recall component on the Patient Record.

This enhancement provides a clear audit trail of recall updates, helping users track when recall information has been changed and improving patient record transparency.

6282

Appointments
Online Booking

The ability to change the appointment reason for bookings made online has been added.

When viewing an online booking, the appointment reason originally requested by the patient is displayed. A new Switch button allows the appointment reason to be changed if required.

Selecting Switch opens a window displaying all appointment reasons available for the requested branch, enabling staff to choose an alternative reason and update the booking accordingly.

6387

Examinations

It is now possible to copy Medical Assessments and Ocular Measurements between all examination types.

The existing Generic Exam History option has been replaced with a new Exam History setting, providing greater flexibility when viewing previous examination data.

Exam History can now be configured to display data from:

Any Exam Type – showing historical information from all examination types.
Same Category – displaying data from examinations within the same category (for example, Sight Examinations).
Same Exam Type – restricting historical data to previous examinations of the same type.

This enhancement makes it easier to review and reuse relevant clinical information across examinations while allowing practices to control exactly which historical data is displayed.

6450

Stock

A new Delivery In option has been added to make it easier to update frame stock records from a single window.

Use the frame search facility to locate a frame.
Matching frames are displayed in a results table.
Click +Add to increase the stock quantity for a selected frame.
The default quantity added is 1, but this can be changed using the Qty to Add field.
Selecting Confirm Delivery updates the frame stock records with the delivered quantities.

Benefit: Faster and more efficient updating of frame stock levels when receiving deliveries.

6455

Appointments

A new setting has been added to Branch Settings (Settings > Branch > Settings > Appointment Settings) that allows appointment reminders to be sent at 9:00 AM on the scheduled reminder day.

This setting applies only to reminder schedules that use the frequency types:

Days
Weeks
Months

When enabled, reminders are sent at 9:00 AM regardless of the appointment time. For example, an appointment scheduled for 5:00 PM tomorrow would normally generate a reminder at 5:00 PM today, leaving limited opportunity to fill the slot if the patient cancels. With this option enabled, the reminder is sent at 9:00 AM today, providing staff with more time to rebook any cancelled appointments.

Benefit: Increases the time available to fill appointment slots that become available following late cancellations.

6475

Online Booking

A warning has been added when confirming online bookings if the booking belongs to a different branch than the one the user is currently logged into. An additional confirmation dialog is displayed when confirming or rejecting the booking to help prevent bookings being processed by the wrong branch.

6477

The Active Transaction header has been updated to match the styling used for All Transactions.

To provide a clearer visual indication of outstanding payments, transactions with an outstanding balance are now highlighted with a red background. Once the balance has been paid in full, the background automatically changes to green, making it easy to identify settled transactions.

6483

Dispense
Orders

A rollover popup has been added to the Dispense and Order tables on the patient record and to the Orders (WIP) screen. Hovering over an entry now displays the associated item & discount details directly within the table, allowing information to be viewed without opening the record or leaving the current screen.

6492

Examinations

When changing the recall date or recall period within the Recalls component of the examination page, the system now automatically performs an age range validation check. This ensures that the selected recall period is appropriate for the patient's age and complies with the configured recall settings.

6493

Patient Record

A new patient tag, FH GLAUC, has been added. This tag is automatically displayed when the Over 40 and Family Glaucoma History entitlement is selected.

Existing glaucoma-related tags are unaffected and will continue to be displayed alongside FH GLAUC where applicable, ensuring all relevant glaucoma indicators remain visible on the patient record.

6494

Patient Record

Clicking anywhere on the Expand/Collapse header will now trigger the component to open and close.

6498

Patient Record
Settings

Surgery information can now be downloaded directly into NOVA.

Within Branch Settings, surgeries can be searched for individually or by specifying a radius (in miles) around the branch postcode. Matching surgery records can then be downloaded and added to NOVA.

When editing an existing surgery record, a new lookup option allows the details to be verified against the latest available information. If a matching surgery name is found, the record in NOVA is automatically updated, including the ODS code and other surgery details.

The same search and lookup functionality is also available within the Patient Record when adding or editing GP and surgery information, providing quick access to accurate and up-to-date practice details throughout the system.

6522

eGOS

The border of the signature box on the eGOS signing page has been darkened to make it more visible. This makes the signature area easier to identify and helps guide users when completing electronic signatures.

Fixes

#	Category	Summary
4971	Examinations	Addresses an issue where the final Rx wouldn't display if the last examination type was set as both 'Sight Exam' and 'Contact Lens'.
5555	Appointments	Addresses an issue where an appointment confirmation is not sent if an appointment is updated (specifically the appointment type or notes).
6448	Reports	Addresses an issue where the export option for the sales by supplier & brand report created an empty csv file.
6488	Examinations	Addresses an issue where pasting into the visual acuity boxes could cause a database error.
6490	Examinations	Addresses an issue where the recommendations label didn't display correctly when viewing in read only mode.
6499	Merge Fields	Addresses an issue where the online booking merge field may not be constructed correctly.
6501	Report Templates	Addresses an issue where choosing 'Staff' as the table for merge fields returns an error.
6503	Zebra Templates	Addresses an issue where carriage returns weren't being respected in patient address.
6518	Patients	Addresses an issue where the order of the active patient list would change when a patient was dismissed.
6519	Dashboards	Addresses an issue where the appointment dashboard was including cancelled / failed appointments.
6526	Report Templates	Addresses an issue where the order search box was using order id instead of reference.
6529	Orders	Addresses an issue where the order status history could display in the wrong order for data converted from other systems.
6536	System	Addresses an issue where the styling of toggle on record views had changed and become hard to see.