Overview

This article goes over how to navigate the Patient Portal Queue (PPQ).  The PPQ pulls in secure messages, questionnaire submissions, and medications/ supplements added or requested by the patient.  From within the PPQ you can review, respond, and archive these submissions (individually or in bulk), as well as do filtered searches when looking for a specific item.


Details

Unreviewed Patient Portal submissions appear as a list in the PPQ block on the scheduling page.  You can see a brief preview of those submissions by hovering over them in the PPQ block.  You can access an expanded view of the PPQ by

  • Clicking the expand icon on the PPQ block, or selecting any items in the list. 
  • Via Pt Portal > Patient Portal Queue


See below for an overview of the PPQ page: 



Completing a Request:


Once you click on the yellow action button, a window will pop up for you to complete the request:

Most requests can be handled directly from the PPQ window. You will have to actually complete the request in this window- in the example above, click "Save" to save the blood pressure reading to the patient's chart.


Once you complete the request the action button will turn black. The request will stay on your PPQ until you archive it. Archive requests by clicking either the green check mark (to mark that it is completed) or the Red X (to indicate you will not complete the request - rarely used):

Assign Request as a task:


If you need someone else in the system to complete a request, you can assign that request as a task for that user. 

Just click the grey "Assign as task to..." button below the yellow action button. 


Secure Message:

Secure Messages in the PPQ are treated differently than other requests. Generally, you probably won't need to start a new encounter note for every secure message that you receive, but instead you will want to click the blue secure message icon to respond:

In the message window, you'll see there an option that is by default checked - to close this request (archive) when you send your response. 


Filter your PPQ View:


Click on the Filter icon to view the filter options. You can limit your view of the PPQ based upon who a request is assigned to (either assigned as a task, or secure messages sent to specific providers), by the patient's preferred provider, and by request type. 


Once you set your filter, you can apply it, apply and save it as a view, or apply and set that as your default view.


Once you have at least one filter saved, you can toggle between views by selecting the "Viewing" Drop down menu


Workflow tip

Multi-user clinics will generally want to have certain staff who are primarily responsible for handling/ triaging incoming requests. In the PPQ, those staff members would set their default view to "View: Myself + Unassigned." They would handle the requests themselves that they could handle independently. They would task requests to other staff members as needed, using the "Assign as task to" button associated with the request.


Providers or other staff members who are NOT primarily responsible for triaging incoming requests would set their default PPQ view to "View: Assigned to Myself." That way, they would only see requests in the queue that require their attention.


Manage your filtered views:

Click the settings icon in order to manage (edit, delete, or make default) your saved views.



Bulk Accept requests:

You have the option to bulk-accept certain types of requests:


 Select the type of request you would like to accept. This will open a new window with all the requests of that type, click to handle each request, no need to archive after. 


View the archive:


If you accidentally archive a request before taking the action requested, you will need to access the archive in order to complete the request. When you hover your mouse over the black bar at the top of the PPQ you will see a rewind icon. 


Click on this icon to view the PPQ Archive. This will show every request that has been archived, you can search by patient at the top or limit by request type

To un-archive it, click where it says "completed". This will bring it back to your PPQ as an open request, which you can then handle and re-archive.


You may need to access the archive if a patient says that they submitted something, but you are not seeing it on their chart. The first place to look would be to see if it is still pending in your PPQ, then to see if it was accidentally accepted before it was completed by looking in the archive.



This article was originally published on May 11th, 2021, and was most recently updated on August 17th, 2021.