Tippy - Simple Patient List Reports

Tippies can be quickly adopted with immediate workflow benefits...

• Simple Patient List Reports

Connect Care's "Reporting Workbench" tool is powerful. It helps users use, create, save and share reports listing patients, encounters or other events matching one or more criteria.

A great way to get started is to customize a very simple report that meets a common need: finding all patients at one or more facilities where one or more physicians serve as the attending provider. We've created a mini-tip showing exactly how this is done (within a few minutes).

• Tip: Creating a Physician Inpatient Report
• Manual: Finding Attached Patients

The technique can be extended to produce more complex reports to answer clinical questions.

Tippy - MD Notifications in Patient Lists

Tippies can be quickly adopted with immediate workflow benefits...

• Prescriber Notifications in Patient Lists

One of the more useful columns that can be incorporated in patient lists is "IP Notifications" (select column 3043401601 or use one of the inpatient MD My List templates).

The resulting cell has a cloverleaf of visual alerts. Clockwise from top left, these are (1) New Labs, (2) New Notes, (3) Orders needing Cosign, (4) Notes needing Cosign.

Hovering over one of the icons will trigger a pop-up display of additional information (e.g., list of notes requiring cosign with links to view the notes without opening the chart). Double-clicking one of the icons will open the chart to an appropriate activity for taking action (e.g., co-signing notes).

These visual cues can help one focus on new information or unfinished work. The new labs and new notes indicators depend upon use of "Time Mark" in Results Review (Chart Tab) or Storyboard, and "Mark All as Not New" in Notes Review (Notes Tab):

  

Making a habit of clicking these review timestamps when rounding can improve the usefulness of patient lists for task management.

Tippy - Fast Sorting

Tippies can be quickly adopted with immediate workflow benefits...

• Fast Sorting

Connect Care often presents clinical information in tabular formats. Columns usually represent properties (e.g., Date of Test, Test Name) and rows usually represent instances (e.g., laboratory test dates, blood glucose samples, survey sittings).

One of the ways to quickly home in on specific information of interest is to scan values appearing in columns. This is easier if the column is sorted. The fastest way to sort a column is to click the column header. Click once to sort in ascending order or twice to sort in descending order.

Tippy - Attaching Files to Charts

Tippies can be quickly adopted with immediate workflow benefits...

• Attaching Files to Charts

The "Media Manager" activity (found via the Hyperspace Epic Menu and via Search) can be used to import files saved to a local or networked hard drive.

Media "objects" may be images, documents or other items important to attach to the medical record. Once attached, they can be linked at a patient, encounter or order level and can be attached to communications or inserted in Notes.

Indeed, Connect Care mobile apps can be used to quickly capture clinical images for insertion into notes or attachment to the chart.... a simple skill well worth learning ("picture worth a thousand words" and all that).  

Useful basics about Media Manager and Image Capture:

• Tip: Importing Objects from a Local Computer
• Tip: Sharing Imported Objects using Media Manager
• Manual: Attaching Objects to Charts

Be sure to delete the file(s) from the local computer once successfully attached to the patient's chart.

Tippy - Linking Personal to System Patient Lists

Tippies can be quickly adopted with immediate workflow benefits...

• Linking System to Personal Lists

The Connect Care clinical information system (CIS) includes powerful tools for accessing, using, personalizing, building and sharing patient lists. One of the most rewarding investments for an inpatient prescriber is time spent learning about and personalizing Patient Lists.

• Manual: Patient Lists

Any personal list (in the "My Lists" section) can be given automated behaviours. The effect is that patients in a particular location, associated with a particular provider team or having a particular relationship (e.g., attending, consulting, primary, team member), are added and removed from the list under system control. This is accomplished by linking a System List to a Personal List.

For example, to ensure that a "My Patients" personal list reflects current inpatient-provider relationships, drag the "System Lists" >> "All My Patients" list to drop it on/in the "My Patients" personal list:

In this way, a personal list can be set to show all patients for whom one is an attending, consultant, etc. The same drag-n-drop can be used to cause a personal list to reflect all the patients on a particular ward (use the Facility Lists) or related to a particular provider team (use "Facility" >> "Provider Teams").

If a "My Patients" or "My Consults" list does not contain the appropriate system list, automated updates will not occur. This can be fixed with the above trick.

Tippy - Changing Context

Tippies can be quickly adopted with immediate workflow benefits...

• Changing Context

The same user can log in to different Connect Care "departments" or "contexts", affecting things like available lists, schedules and activities. Some users will need to change contexts when working in significantly different settings (e.g., Acute vs. Critical Care).

In Hyperspace, use the drop-down menu at the top right (same as "Log Out"), then select the "Change Context" command to be presented with a list of departments to choose from:

In Haiku, tap the top-right title bar current user image, then select "Change Department":

  

In Canto, tap the top-left Canto menu, then select "Department":

Note that changing contexts is rarely needed. Connect Care prescribers usually log in to zone-wide virtual specialty "departments" that work across many facilities. Thus, selecting one's specialty-zone combination usually suffices for chart work.

Tippy - Documenting with Images

Tippies can be quickly adopted with immediate workflow benefits...

• Embedding and Linking Images in Documents

Images, diagrammatic or photographic, offer a great way to record important clinical observations. A picture of a pressure ulcer, for example, best communicates about the evolution of a wound and its response to treatment. 

There are different ways of working with images in clinical documentation, and the method chosen has implications for note readability and for compatibility with external systems that Connect Care may share with.

• Progress Documentation
  (e.g., progress notes) should use image links unless the reader would benefit from comparing a few fully embedded images. Progress documentation remains within Connect Care, embedded links are easy to use, and the resulting notes are easier to read. 
• Summative Documentation
  (e.g., History & Physical, Discharge Summary, Procedure Note, Consult) should not use image links because these documents are shared with external systems that may not be able to view the links. If it is clinically important to include high-value images, then embed no more than 2 and size each to the smallest dimensions adequate to the documentation need.

Embedding or linking images within documentation is easy, as illustrated in tip sheets:

• Tip: Embedding Images in Documentation
• Tip: Linking Images in Documentation
• Manual: Working with Images

Tippy - Changing Jobs

Tippies can be quickly adopted with immediate workflow benefits...

• Changing Jobs

Some prescribers have more than one role (e.g., sometimes working as a respirologist and sometimes as a critical care specialist), and therefore they may log in to the Connect Care clinical information system (CIS) to access different Epic modules for their different “jobs”. These users will then have available more than one “job” template in the CIS, and are given the ability to change both “job” and “context” when logging in to Connect Care.

Each "job" may provide access to more than one clinical context or "department", selected as the next step in the login sequence. In general, pick the most general virtual department available (e.g., zone general internal medicine):

So, what's the Tip? Happily, once job and context have been selected once, they default to the same value at the next login and one can simply hit the Enter key twice. If one alternates between multiple jobs or contexts, the commonly selected ones are the ones defaulted to pick from.

And, once logged in, it is easy to change both job and context from the top-right "Log Out" drop-down menu:

This Tip applies only to those prescribers with multiple job options in Connect Care.

Tippy - Time Shortcuts

Tippies can be quickly adopted with immediate workflow benefits...

• Date, Time and Interval Shortcuts

Users often encounter fields where a date, time or interval needs to be specified. Examples include start and end dates for orders, visits and other scheduled events.

A few shortcuts make it easy to place common values with minimum effort.

Time Shortcut	Example
N for Now	N is the time right now
T for Today	T-1 is yesterday
W for Week	W-2 is 14 days ago
M for Month	M-1 is this day last month
MB for Month Begin	MB-1 is the first day of last month
ME for Month End	ME-1 is the last day of last month
Y for Year	Y-40 is this day forty years ago

For a reminder about these, use the F1 key, then look to the top drop-down menu in the pop-up that appears and select the "F1 Help" view. 

Tippy - Advanced Chart Searching

Tippies can be quickly adopted with immediate workflow benefits...

• Advanced Chart Searching

The search function (CTRL-Space) in Hyperspace (top right or within Storyboard) is remarkably useful. It can help find an activity or navigator that may not be among one's favourites.

Search also supports clinical discovery when used within an open chart. One can find, for example, all visits where mention was made of a specific symptom or sign.

Searches can be made more specific by using multiple terms joined with "AND", or more sensitive with terms joined with "OR":

If you want to get fancier still, parentheses can be used for more complex logic (e.g., "Refill AND (Ryan OR Robert)").

Tippy - Chart Search

Tippies can be quickly adopted with immediate workflow benefits...

• CTRL + Spacebar = Search

The "Search" tool (top right in Hyperspace) can be a big help. Position your cursor over the magnifying glass icon,

to cause an edit box to appear,


where a search term can be entered (start typing the letters, e.g., "phone", and note the completion matching options that appear, e.g., "Phone Book") to find and click-activate:

• Most activities, commands or functions that otherwise need to be found in the Epic Menu
• Many settings, such as user interface settings and themes
• Other menu-accessible functions that otherwise may take many clicks to find

When a patient chart has been opened, Chart Search can be found within the patient Storyboard (leftmost column). Here one can additionally search for specific entries within a chart (e.g., "diabetes"). Hovering over a search result gives more information; double-clicking jumps to the activity or information.

The keyboard shortcut (Control key plus Spacebar) is worth remembering.

If mouth is to microphone (Dragon Medical One), pause and say "chart search" or "search chart".

Tippy - Keyboard Shortcuts

Tippies can be quickly adopted with immediate workflow benefits...

• Useful Hyperdrive Keyboard Shortcuts

A few keyboard shortcuts can speed up common Hyperdrive workflows and tasks. For a reminder about these, use the F1 key, then look to the top drop-down menu in the pop-up that appears and select "F1 Help" view.

Action	Shortcut
Open Chart Search	CTRL+Space
Log out	CTRL+ALT+L
Secure	CTRL+ALT+S
Close Workspace / Patient	CTRL+W
Close Activity	CTRL+Q
Toggle Workspace	CTRL+Tab
Home Workspace	CTRL+ALT+1
Second Workspace	CTRL+ALT+2
Nth Workspace	CTRL+ALT+number
Epic Button	ALT
More Activities	CTRL+D
Toolbar Actions	ALT+T

Prescribers can get a big efficiency boost from less mouse-work. To see this in action:

• Here's How: Keyboard Shortcuts, Part 1 (general navigation)
• Here's How: Keyboard Shortcuts, Part 2 (chart navigation)
• Crib-Sheet: Hyperdrive Keyboard Shortcuts

Tippy - F1 Help

Tippies can be quickly adopted with immediate workflow benefits...

• F1 = Quick Help

With Hyperdrive open, the F1 key can be pressed within any activity or workflow to gain rapid access to Connect Care tips, guides and learning resources. 

The same screen can be opened via the main Epic menu in the "help" section.

The associated "Universal Connect Care Links and Information" dashboard can also be found in the "My Dashboards" activity. 

Consider the F1 key for rapid-access to a general purpose learning home dashboard. Note that links to help for prescribers appear in a small box at the top of the middle column (just below first row).

Tippy - Updating Primary Care Provider Associations

Tippies can be quickly adopted with immediate workflow benefits...

• Updating a Patient's Primary Care Provider

Connect Care uses information about a patient's primary care provider (PCP) to facilitate a number of automated communications. These can include:

• admission, discharge and death notifications
• consultation and referral tracking
• alerts to key test results, and 
• sending copies of summative documents (e.g., operative reports, discharge summaries) 

Although patients are asked to confirm their primary care provider at every Connect Care registration, changes can occur between the start and end of an encounter. It is important for providers to know how to change the primary care provider name (or clinic) associated with a patient chart.

Editing PCP information is easy. Either select (click on) the Storyboard (leftmost column of any open chart) row where provider names appear, or use chart search to jump to the "Care Team" chart activity. A "Patient Care Team" section has a tool for adding a PCP. 

This is used to identify a PCP when none was previously specified. The same tool is used to enter a new PCP name to replace a previous outdated PCP association.

For more information:

• Manual: Shared Documents

Tippy - Completing Consult Orders without Consult Notes

Tippies can be quickly adopted with immediate workflow benefits...

• Completing Consult Orders from Patient Lists

Admitting services may elect to complete an admitting H&P note and use this to fulfill documentation requirements for consultation requests from emergency departments. In this case, a Consult note is not prepared and the usual method for closing the consult order is not available. If the consult order is not "completed", the patient remains in the admitting service's unfinished consults list. 

A simple workflow can be used to complete the consultation order from within an inpatient list. This is done by using a "Physician Consults" report when a patient in a list is selected. The report has a link to "complete" the consult (simultaneously removing it from the list of unfinished consults).

• Tip: Completing Consultation Orders from within Patient Lists
• Manual: Consultation Workflows

Tippy - Routing Documents to External Systems When There Is No Primary Care Provider

Tippies can be quickly adopted with immediate workflow benefits...

• Sharing when there is no Primary Care Provider

When prescribers see patients in outpatient settings (office, clinic, etc.), a "Communications" workflow and "letter" typically is used to share findings with the primary care provider (PCP) and/or referring provider. The same workflow can be used to copy the communications letter to external systems, including the Netcare electronic health record. 

What if the patient has no PCP? Any of the following actions will result in a Netcare share:

• Emergency Provider
  The patient may have been referred from an emergency encounter, and the emergency provider can be entered as a "referring provider" before the communications activity is initiated. Communications can be routed to referring providers when there are no PCPs.
• Patient has no PCP
  Connect Care allows "Patient has no PCP" to be entered as the PCP for a patient. "Patient has no PCP" can also be selected as a letter recipient even when not set as the patient's PCP. Use of a Netcare letter template will work, but Connect Care will attempt a local print of the letter as well; this is avoidable by selecting "Print to PDF" and then not following through on the "save" part of the printing workflow.
• Copy to self
  Letters can still be routed to Netcare without primary care or referring providers identified. One can send or copy the letter to oneself (use ".ME" SmartLink in the recipients box). The letter will go to Netcare and be copied to the Connect Care prescriber's In Basket. 
  
  
  

When using letter templates that copy the information to Alberta Netcare where a primary care provider is not defined, providers should edit the default cover letter text to make it clear whether they participate in ongoing care or not. For example:

For more information:

• Manual: Shared Documents

Tippy - Adding or Updating Referring and Primary Care Providers in Clinic Schedule Lists

Tippies can be quickly adopted with immediate workflow benefits...

• Updating a Patient's Referring and Primary Care Providers in Outpatient Lists

Connect Care uses information about a patient's referring and primary care provider (PCP) to facilitate a number of workflows. 

Ensuring that both the referring provider and PCP are correctly identified prior to starting an outpatient encounter is essential to some communications and billing actions. While this information should be entered when visits are scheduled, prescribers should confirm its presence before initiating an actual visit. 

An appointment list column makes this easy to do. 

Note the column with "Ref/PCP Info" in its header. Missing information will be apparent within the column as a blank space. Users can double-click within that blank space to open an editing tool that facilitates rapid entry or revision of the correct referring or PCP provider name.

• Tip: Identifying/Modifying Primary Care and Referring Providers in the Clinic Schedule

Tippy - Optimize Your Screen Resolution

Tippies can be quickly adopted with immediate workflow benefits...

• Make Room for More Hyperdrive

Connect Care Hyperdrive can be accessed via AHS facility workstations, laptops-on-wheels and tablets. Hyperdrive can also be accessed via AHS or personal laptops or tablets outside of AHS facilities. 

Sometimes the screen size of a portable computer causes Hyperdrive content to appear crowded, with loss of sidebar space or other useful user-interface features.

When using computers with smaller (LCD) screens, it is best to maximize the screen resolution, and so maximize the amount of Hyperdrive that can be displayed all at once.

• Windows 10 - Changing Screen Resolution
• Windows 11 - Changing Screen Resolution
• Macintosh OS - Changing Screen Resolution

Tippy - In Basket Notification for Inpatient Lab Results

Tippies can be quickly adopted with immediate workflow benefits...

• Get Notification for Selected Inpatient Test Orders

Results relating to orders placed within an inpatient encounter are, with few exceptions, managed within that encounter. There is no default routing to In Basket or other communication channels. The assumption is that results are routinely reviewed by the inpatient team.

 
Sometimes high-stakes results need clinician attention as soon as available. In such cases, inpatient prescribers can mark specific tests for In Basket notification.

Within an opened inpatient chart, go to the "Orders" activity and find the ordered investigation (e.g., imaging, laboratory test). Hover over the order of interest, looking to the far right of the row holding the order where a pick-list icon (q) will appear. Select this, then the "Notify Me" menu option:

The prescriber selecting the notify option will receive an In Basket message as soon as the requested result is available.

• Manual: Inpatient Results and Reports Routing

Tippy - Compare 2 or More Radiology Images

Tippies can be quickly adopted with immediate workflow benefits...

• Comparing Studies with PACS Image Viewer

Clinicians can view diagnostic imaging test results within the Chart Review activity that appears as a main tab in all opened charts. On reviewing study results in the "Imaging" tab in Chart Review, a "PACS Images" section provides links to relevant images. Selecting a link opens the "Xero Viewer" in a pop-up window.

Comparing new to old images for a particular study type (e.g., Chest Xray) helps clinicians recognize important changes. A short demo shows how to do this with ease.

• Demo: Using Image Viewer to Compare Multiple Studies