WELFORD CHART NOTES
NEWSLETTER
Volume 19, No. 3 September, 2001
copyright 2001, Welford Medical Computing, Inc. All rights reserved
PARSER QUICK SUMMARY (User's Manual, pgs. 657-659)
The Parser Quick Summary lets you see all of the items that the Parser is identifying in your note in a single, well-organized list. You can click on any item on the list to see its detailed information and to edit or store that item. Best of all, you can press the Do All button to activate all of the checked items with a single click. You can also have the Parser Quick Summary add items as each sentence is parsed, then respond to it when the document is completed; or you can have it parse the entire document only when you have finished the document.
Let's activate the Parser Quick Summary and see it in action:
1. Press System\Parser Options.
2. Check Quick Summary to activate the Parser Quick Summary.
3. If you want the Quick Summary to keep adding items until you finish the note, check Incremental. Otherwise, it clears itself after each sentence (if Parser On is set to Yes) or at the end of the document (if Parser On is set to Draft Mode). If you don't like using Draft Mode, we recommend checking Incremental. You should also uncheck the Summarize box, or the original Parser Summary will continue to appear, showing you information twice.
4. Now, let's write a note. Press Write\New Note\Note. Enter Kelly Erickson as the patient and today's date.
5. Click on the Allergy Editor and add an allergy to penicillin, causing hives.
6. Back in the Writer, type in the following sentence: "Ampicillin 500 gm po qid x 10 days. ".
7. Notice that the Parser Quick Summary window opens automatically. Note that you can change its position and adjust its size with your mouse (unless you have activated the Simple Screen Setup in your In-Box Options, in which case the location and size are fixed).
8. Different kinds of warnings show up in different colors to distinguish them.
9. Notice that there is an allergy warning in red. Click on the red Ampicillin to see this warning.
10. Notice the dosage warning in purple. Click on that to read it.
11. The program also offers to print an ampicillin brochure, in green. You can click on it if you want to pursue this.
12. The program offers to print a prescription in blue. Click on it if you want to do this now.
13. It also offers to update the Medication Editor with ampicillin. However, you don't want to use ampicillin, because the patient is allergic to it. Uncheck the line which reads "Ampicillin 500 mg po qid x 10 days". Notice that when you do this, all of the other lines pertaining to ampicillin are also automatically unchecked. This means that later, if you press Ok or Do All, none of the lines pertaining to ampicillin will be activated, which is just what you want to have happen. (Had you wanted to give the patient ampicillin anyway, you could have left them checked).
14. If you aren't sure what sentence in the document came up with ampicillin, press the See button to view that sentence.
15. If you don't want all of the items checked by default, press the Options button and uncheck those that you don't want checked. For example, if you never use the Prescription Writer, uncheck Prescriptions.
16. Now let's add another sentence. In the Writer, type in "Gout. ".
17. Note that the Parser Quick Summary has added Gout for both Disease Brochures and Update Diagnoses. Since we want to do both of these, leave them both checked.
18. Now let's add a sentence with a lab result. In the Writer, type in "CXR shows cardiomegaly".
19. Note that the Parser Quick Summary has added Cardiomegaly under Update Diagnoses", and "CXR: cardiomegaly" under Add Lab Results. Since we want both of these, we leave them checked.
20. Notice that you can uncheck or check all of the items under a heading by unchecking or checking that heading. For example, if you decided you didn't want to update either diagnosis, if you uncheck Update Diagnoses then both cardiomegaly and gout are unchecked. If you once again check Update Diagnoses, both of them are automatically checked.
21. Press <F10> to store your note. The Parser Quick Summary may pick up some additional items at this step.
21. Notice that the Parser Quick Summary becomes the highlighted window. It is requiring that you press either Ok, Cancel, or Do All before the note is stored completely. If you look it over and decide you want to change something in your note, press Cancel, then Cancel again when asked to specify the Type of Visit, and you will return to the Writer, where you can make further changes, then store your note. If you want to be asked about each item that you have checked on the Quick Parser Summary to verify it before storing it, press Ok. If you know you want to do all of the things you have checked and don't want to be asked about each on individually, simply press Do All (Do not confuse the Do All button with the All button. The All button simply checks all of the boxes on the list). In using the Quick Parser Summary for the past several months, I have found that the Do All feature is a tremendous time saver.
PARSER QUICK SUMMARY BUG
There is a bug in the Parser Quick Summary in version 4.0. When it adds medications or diagnoses, it checks these against the medications in the patient's Medication Editor and diagnoses in the patient's Diagnosis Editor for drug interactions and Alerts, but it doesn't check them against other medications or diagnoses listed elsewhere on the Parser Quick Summary but not yet recorded in the Medication Editor and Diagnosis Editor. This bug has been fixed in version 4.01. If you would like a copy of version 4.01, contact MEDCOM Information Systems.LAB BOOK PREVIOUS BUTTON
(User's Manual, pg. 655)
One of the handiest new features in version 4.0 is the Previous button in the Lab Book Edit window. Once you fill in the name of the test and the patient's name, the most recent time this patient had this test recorded is automatically displayed on the screen (which is a handy way to find this information quickly; another handy way is to use the @LastLabTest @function), but if you press the Previous button, you can see a reverse chronological list of all of the previous times the patient had this test. If the test is a numeric one (such as a BUN), the program automatically shows you the mean and standard deviation. You also can press the Graph button on the Previous window and see an instant graph of that particular lab test for that patient. I find this feature invaluable when deciding the significance of a new lab result.
NEWS ON UPCOMING VERSIONS
We are hard at work on version 4.1. Please let us know if there are features you would like to see added in version 4.1. Version 4.1 includes Orders in the Parser Quick Summary and shows the current time of day on the main title bar of the program.SEND US YOUR TIPS
If you have tips, shortcuts, questions, 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