These settings control the appearance, layout, and default behavior of Encounter screen. 

The screen is highly configurable, and most of the system-wide settings can be and often are overridden to reflect the preferences of individual EHR users. See Customizing your Encounter Screen Layout. 

For more information, see the Help section on Encounter/SOAP Notes

General

The following flags enable or disable specific behavior and defaults.

  • When an appointment is marked as "Checked In" status in the calendar, automatically create an encounter note for that patient with the same title [Enable | Disable]
                The system-wide setting can be overridden per-user.
  • Make it possible to manually assign SOAP note "ownership" [Enable | Disable]
                See Encounter Note "Ownership"
  • Pre-populate the encounter note title with the name of the encounter type [Enable | Disable]
                The system-wide setting can be overridden per-location and per-user.
                See Add New Encounter Types  

The following settings can be overridden per-location and per-user.

  • Default encounter note type [None (will manually select) | defined types]
                See Add New Encounter Types
  • Prepopulate the encounter note text area (regardless of encounter type) with the following text
                The default text prepends the date-and-time variable. You can edit or replace the text.
  • Which plan types should have "quick-links" on the plan block header when charting
                What is plan block header? quick-links?  ??screenshot??
                **default value is a text box w/some internal code
                   - probably meant to be a checkbox list of defined plan types

Chart Parts

These settings control whether and how a user can use the arrow keys on the keyboard to navigate among the Chart Parts that are included in that user's Encounter Note template. When either option is enabled, the relevant arrow selects a Chart Part to move to automatically, if any are suggested based on the text currently being typed. 

  • Pressing the up-arrow key on the keyboard should select the top-most suggest (typo) Chart Part [Enable | Disable]
  • Pressing the down, left, or right arrow keys on the keyboard should navigate to or within the suggested Chart Parts list [Enable | Disable]

When either option is disabled, the relevant arrow moves the cursor within the current text, rather than navigating to a different Chart Part. The user would then use the mouse to navigate to other Chart Parts, if any are suggested.

System-wide settings can be overridden by individual EHR users according to their own preferences.

NOTE: Context-specific medication and supplement information can be included automatically in charts by using the [[pt_rxs]] or [[pt_supplements]] variables in a Chart Part template. Settings control whether specific information is included or omitted. 

  • The settings for medications are on the System Settings>Prescription Medications page
  • The settings for supplements are on the System Settings>Supplements/Nutraceuticals page

Signing a Note

The following system-wide settings control your practice policy on what is required before an Encounter Note can be signed. 

  • A diagnosis should be required before an encounter note may be signed [Enable | Disable]
  • A charge should be required before an encounter note may be signed [Enable | Disable]

The encounter summary for a visit is automatically shared with the patient on the portal (if that is turned on for the selected encounter type) when the encounter note is signed (see Signing Encounter Notes & Sharing the Visit Summary). The following settings control the default choices for whether the summary is sent automatically, and what information is included. These can be overridden per-location and per-user.

  • When a SOAP note is signed, the option to send an email notification to the patient that they have a new encounter summary on is
                Unchecked by default (not sent unless manually checked)
                Checked by default (sent unless manually unchecked)
  • By default, when signing the encounter note, the option to share the text in the main text area of the encounter note as part of the encounter summary should be set to
                Share full text
                Share custom part(s) of the note that you specify when signing
                Do not share any of the text

Printable Encounter Summary

When an encounter note is signed, you can also generate a printable encounter summary. See Signing Encounter Notes & Sharing the Visit Summary. These settings apply to the PRINTABLE encounter summary that you can generate from within the EHR, using Generate > Encounter Summary for Patient.

The printable Encounter Summary generally includes any information entered into the Assessment and Plan boxes at the right of the encounter note text area. [link to "My Visit Summaries" settings]

The settings in this section customize the appearance of the summary document, and control what specific information should be included. 

  • The system-wide appearance choices can be overridden per-location and per-user
  • The system-wide choices for what information to include can be overridden per-user

Wellness Plan

These settings control the appearance and contents of a Wellness Plan document. See Wellness Plan and Supplement Plan.