Let's set up the In-Box and run through some examples of using it:

1. To activate the In-Box feature, press View\In-Box. The In-Box appears on the screen. If you decide you don't want to use the In-Box, simply press View\In-Box again to deactivate it.

2. Note that you can resize and reposition the In-Box anywhere on the screen you want. If you have a high screen resolution, drag your mouse along the right edge of the In-Box to expand it to the width of your screen to see more of the tabs at the top.

3. Notice that the tabs at the side let you quickly jump between the Appointments, In-Box, and (if you have a document open) the Writer.

4. Note that the tabs at the top give you one click access to the most commonly used program functions. This is faster for most users than going to the Main Menu or to the Speed buttons. If there is no name on the highlighted line in the In-Box, the tabs ask you to specify the patient name; otherwise, they default to the name on the highlighted line. Try looking up Kelly Erickson's Medications by clicking on the Medications tab (or pressing <Alt-M>) and then entering Kelly Erickson as the patient's name. Notice that while in the In-Box (when it has the highlighted window focus), your keystrokes don't activate the Main Menu. If you want to go back to the Main Menu, click on it (the bar which reads "Welford Chart Notes") or press the <Alt> key.

5. You can control which program functions are displayed in the In-Box. The simplest way is to click on the icons at the bottom right of the In-Box. (Another way is via the In-Box Options). For example, if you are a physician, you won't need to see the Orders listed, so click on the Orders icon so that it doesn't appear depressed. On the other hand, if you are the secretary who schedules tests, you will want to see the Orders so that you may act upon them; in that case, press the Orders icon so that it is depressed. (All icons start out depressed by default but the program then remembers how each user last set them).

Let's customize the In-Box some more using its Options:

1. Press the Options button on the In-Box.

2. Suppose you want to see your In-Box sorted by date (chronologically) instead of by program function. Choose Date in the Sort by box.

3. Suppose further you want the most recent items listed at the top, so that brand new items are brought to your attention. Choose Descending in the Sort Order box.

4. Decide which program functions you want displayed in the In-Box by checking them. This depends upon your function in the office. All users should keep Messages checked so that they can quickly see messages from other users. Office staff who respond to Orders and Referrals should check these, whereas physicians should generally uncheck them. If you start Provisional Notes (such as a nurse or medical student), you should generally leave this unchecked, whereas the physician who completes them would check this choice, to know when a patient has been seen and is awaiting your confirmation

5. Press the Rx Log Status Options button to adjust which kinds of Prescription Log entries you want to see listed. If you are a physician, you will want to see those that are Requested, but not the others. If you are the office person responsible for calling in authorized prescriptions to the pharmacy, you will want to see those that are Authorized or Changed. (To make multiple selections, hold down the <Ctrl> key while clicking on an item to select or unselect it). Press Ok.

6. Choose the Providers whose patients you want displayed in your In-Box. If you are a physician, choose your own name. (If you are covering another physician today, choose that physician as well). If you are a nurse who covers 3 physicians' practices, choose those 3 physicians. If you are a secretary who answers the phone for all patients, choose all of the providers.

7. If you like the convenience of having the In-Box open to the function of the highlighted name automatically when you press one of the upper tabs, leave Ask Name unchecked. However, if you often are working on many different patients at a time, check it and you will be asked which patient you are working on first (although the highlighted name is filled in as the default answer).

8. You will generally want to see only one days' worth of work at a time, in which case leave Days to Show set to 1. However, if you are gone for a few days, you might wish to set it to show that number of days so you can review things that happened while you were gone.

9. If you are a novice, check Simple Screen Setup. It makes the screen much less cluttered and easier to learn from. If you are an experienced user, uncheck it to have more control over what is displayed.

10. If you have more than one person scheduling appointments on a network system, set Update Appointments Every to a number above 0 (such as 30 or 60). That way, you will know almost immediately if another user has just filled an appointment you were about to use yourself. If you are the only user making appointments, there is no point setting this to something other than 0, because it will only serve to slightly slow down your computer while it checks for any new appointments to refresh on your screen.

11. If you are on a network, set Update Every to a number other than 0, such as 60. This means your In-Box is constantly refreshed with new information, even if you aren't doing anything in the program. If you are the only user of the program, this function does nothing useful, so set it to 0. Setting this to a number other than 0 also slows down the program, but only slightly on most systems. If your system seems to have slowed down too much, increase this to a higher number.

Let's test out the In-Box by writing a message:

1. In the In-Box, click on the Messages tab. The Messages window opens to show you all of your messages.

2. Press New to open the Messages Editor.

3. Fill in the To; field with your own name to write a message to yourself. For Re:, say "This is a test". Leave Patient set to NONE. For the Message, write "Testing the In-box". Press Send to send your message. Press Cancel to leave the Message Editor. The Message is now listed in your Messages Window. Press Quit to leave the Messages Window.

4. Note that the Message is now listed in your In-Box (unless you have unselected the Messages icon at the bottom of the screen). Double-click on it or press Edit to respond to it.

Welford Medical Computing, Inc.

3779 Hermitage Trail

Rockford, IL 61114

or

MEDCOM Information Systems, Inc.

2117 Stonington Avenue

Hoffman Estates, IL 60195

http://medcom@emirj.com