WELFORD CHART NOTES
NEWSLETTER
Volume 25, No. 6 December, 2004
copyright 2004, Welford Medical Computing, Inc. All rights reserved
SHARE YOUR TEMPLATES (User's Manual, pgs. 836-838)
When you store a Template, by default that Template is available only to yourself. Thus, you can create Templates just the way you like them, without other users changing them on you.However, many users like to share their Templates with other users. In fact, by sharing Templates at a site, you can improve quality by making record keeping more uniform, and by automatically reminding physicians about certain information (such as recent lab results with @LabSinceLastVisit or triggered Rule Reminders with @Rules) simply by embedding that information into Templates.
In some cases, you may wish to collaborate with other users, allowing them to edit further certain Templates that you have created. In other cases, you may wish to forbid users from changing the Templates without your permission, even though they are allowed to use the Templates as is.
1. Press Libraries\Templates\ Add to start a new Template.
2. Give your Template a Template Name, such as Diabetic.
3. You can adjust the Minimum age, Maximum age, Sex, Type of Note, and Topics as you see fit.
4. Press Sharing to control the sharing of this Template. (Note that you can always come back to this spot after storing the Template and adjust the Sharing later).
5. Suppose you wish to permit the nurses (Nancy Barton and Flo Nightingale) and physicians (yourself and John Carter) to use this Template. Under Users who can use this Template, check their names.
6. Suppose you only wish to permit yourself or John Carter to edit the Template. Under Users who can edit this Template, check only those two names. (Actually, the original author of the Template can never forbid himself from using and editing the Template; otherwise, the Template might become "orphaned". Also, any user who is given permission to edit a Template is, by definition, also permitted to use that Template).
7. If you would like to enforce this same pattern of use and editing for all of your Templates (i.e. all but Suzy can use them, and only you and John can edit them), then press Apply this to all of my Templates. This button is very handy if you tend to use the same permission for all Templates (which would be true for most users). You then don't need to go into each Template and set up its Sharing like you did for this one Template. (You can still always go into particular Templates and override these settings for individual exceptions).
8. Press Ok to store these Sharing settings.
9. Press Ok to store the name of the Template and enter the Writer to edit the actual text of the Template.
10. After editing the Template, press <F10> to store it.
UNSHARING TEMPLATES
This Template now appears not only in Beverly's list of Templates, but also in the list of the other users except Suzy Secretary. Note, however, that you can exclude seeing Templates that have been shared with you by other users by pressing Libraries\Templates and unchecking Include Shared. If you uncheck this, the only Templates you will see are the ones you personally created.On the other hand, you can choose to see Templates that have been shared with you in general (by checking Include Shared), but you can choose to not have a particular Template shared with you (even though the author had decided to share it with you) by simply highlighting the Template and then pressing Unshare. This has the effect of removing the check marks next to your name in the Template's Sharing button, as if the author had gone back in and unchecked your name.
COPYING TEMPLATES (User's Manual, pgs. 833-834)
On the other hand, you sometimes might really like a Template that has been shared with you by another user, but you would like to tweak it a little bit to your own liking. However, the author didn't give you permission to edit it, because the author likes it just as it is. You can achieve this by Copying the Template to your own list. Let's try this:1. Log on now as Flo Nightingale.
2. Press Libraries\Templates.
3. Make sure Include Shared is checked. You should see the Diabetic Template that Beverly created and shared with you listed here. Highlight that Template.
4. Press Copy. You are warned that this makes your own separate copy of the Template, and removes your name as a shared user of Beverly's Template Press Yes.
5. Your list still has a Template named "Diabetes", but now it is you own copy. Double-click it or press Edit to edit it.
6. You can change any of its properties, such as Minimum age, Maximum age, Sex, etc.
7. Note that if you press Sharing, it is currently NOT shared with anyone else. (This is your very own copy now, not Beverly's). Of course, you can choose to share it with other users or not, however you wish). Press Ok if you make changes or Cancel to just leave it as your own personal copy.
8. Press Ok to enter the Writer and edit the Template. The text that Beverly had originally written is there, but now you can change it however you like. Any changes you make remain your own; Beverly still has her own separate copy, which you are not affecting.
9. Press <F10> to store your Template.
TEMPLATE TRANSFER UTILITY (User's Manual, pgs. 486-491)
As in previous versions, you can also transfer Templates from user to user using Libraries\Templates\Export or Links\Template Transfer\Export to send Templates to a file, and then Libraries\Templates\Import or Links\Template Transfer\Import to import the exported file. However, this feature is really mainly useful if you are transferring Templates from one installation of Welford Chart Notes to another (e.g. a friend in another practice). Within one installation of Welford Chart Notes, it is much easier and quicker to simply use Template Sharing and Template Copying to share Templates.NEWS ON UPCOMING VERSIONS
We are putting the finishing touches on version 4.7. It has many new features, such as the ability to automatically add a diagnosis of renal failure if the patient's creatinine or creatinine clearance is sufficiently abnormal, and then automatically see drug-disease Alerts related to renal failure.SEND US YOUR TIPS
If you have tips, shortcuts, guestions, or suggestions for future newsletter topics, please send them to us at: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