Let's see how this works in action. Suppose you have written the following note on Kelly Erickson:

2. For Name, enter KELLY ERICKSON.

3. For Start Date, enter the first date that pertains; in this example, 11/27/2000. (You can choose a very early date and send the entire patient's chart, but you might only wish to send the recent, relevant visit(s) instead).

4. For End Date, use today's date. (If the patient has subsequent visits that don't pertain to this problem, you might wish to choose an earlier date, such as the date of the above visit).

5. For Type of Document, you usually will want to just keep the default setting of all documents. However, you might wish to exclude certain document types from this list, such as Charted Message and Internal Message, since you might not want consultants reading this information. To exclude certain choices, hold down the <Ctrl> key while clicking on those choices.

6. For Send To, choose File. This then activates the Batch Importer Format choice. Check this choice to send the information in that format.

7. You don't need to choose the More choices, as they are not going to be imported by the Batch Importer.

8. Press Ok to save the patient's notes to a file.

9. For the name of the file, you can use the default choice of BATCHPR.FIL, unless you plan on keeping separate files on different patients, in which case you might wish to name it something else, such as KELERIC.FIL. (If you don't add the ".FIL" ending to the name of the file, the program does this for you automatically). Press Open. This stores the information to the file.

10. Send the file you just named to Dr. Scoper.

Here are the steps Dr. Scoper should follow (assume you are now Dr. Scoper):

1. Press Links\Batch Importer.

2. For Import File Name, enter the name of the file in step 9, e.g. BATCHPR.FIL.

3. In general, you should check both Parse and Verify. Checking Parse causes the Parser to update the rest of the program off the notes (such as allergies, medications, diagnoses, Expanders, Lab Book, etc., depending upon the settings of the Parser Options). Verify causes the program to ask about each item it is going to update before it does it. If you don't wish to answer all of these Parser questions, you can turn Verify off.

4. You may or may not wish to check Store Provisionally. Check it if you wish to only view the notes without ever storing them in your own database.

5. You should adjust the Options to your preference. In general, it is best to match patients by all three variables (Birthdate, Code Number, and Name) to make sure you are talking about the same patient.

7. You will be asked to add Kelly Erickson to your list of patients if she is not already listed. (We are assuming Dr. Scoper has never seen her before). Press Yes. The Name Editor opens. Press Ok to store her demographic information.

8. You are then asked various questions about parsing. In general, you should press Ok to store the corresponding information.

9. When you have completed the Batch Import, you can use the Visiter to view the note(s) sent from the other physician, and use the Writer to open the patient's chart. The medications, allergies, etc. will also be listed if you stored them during the parsing step.