Home Forums Discussions Problems Scheduling problems with deactive users

Our clinic uses Locum Tenens physicians and some part time physicians for vacation coverage on the full time physicians. I don't know if anyone has seen this problem yet, but we recently discovered that when we deactivate a provider/user, the schedules for that provider disappear. Its minor in most ways because the chart notes and encounters are still in place, but any patients who were seen on that day no longer have the appointment in their history.

I'm bringing this issue up again, I want to make sure that Tech Support has seen this problem and hopefully will get it fixed in the new version.

I would make a new account named Locum or something like that and change the password for each one. No more new user accounts to manage and no wait for this issue to disappear.

I think the problem is that you want the note to be signed off by a provider with their name at the bottom of the note. This could be addressed by having a template which says - this pt. was seen and treated by ____________,DO/MD functioning as a locum tenens coverage physician. Then use the locums account as noted above so you never lose the appointments, but the note has a physician name on it.

There are a couple of issues really. We can't have a provider named Locum, because it prints out on the prescriptions. So, we have a provider for each locum, and deactivate the user when they are not currently working. The chart notes are signed correctly, labs are done correctly, everything is documented appropriately. When we go back to see when a patient was seen on the schedule .... its gone. When you pull up the schedule for that day, that whole doctor and everyone he/she saw is gone. Its annoying and has some problems administratively when we're doing audits.

Just a thought - could you try instead of deactivating them just moving them to low level - that would make it so they weren't listed as PROVIDER when it comes to check on number of providers you have in AC, but not delete any thing from the past.

Locums here - full provider, after they leave move them to lower level, but not deactivate. If same provider comes for another stint - up their level again.

Just trying to find a workaround that would work.

Or what about changing the name of the provider?

I would have to experiment, but I think if you change the name it may go back and change previous appt lists names also.

I guess the issue is only a problem if it runs up against the number of providers you pay AC maintenance for. If it weren't for that you could just leave them active and change the password so there was no danger of someone using it again.

I recall AC asks you to move the providers schedule to another provider before deactivating an account. Have you tried copying the schedule to one of the other providers to retain the patients history before inactivating the user?

that would make the appointment history inaccurate if we did that. The appointments would then look like they were seen by that physician and unless we dug into the chart note, we wouldn't know otherwise.

Steve, I like your thought about moving to a lower level. I'll have to look at that. We have a locum currently working, so its a good time to try!

Interested to see if that works - let us know if that solves the dilemma and accomplishes what you need.

Ok - that doesn't work. When you drop a provider to a low level, it gave me a run 91 error and crashed AC. I went back into the schedule and the doctor was still there, but the appointments were gone. When I changed the provider back to a high level provider, the appointments reappeared.

Back to the drawing board! If Tech Support is looking at this thread, if you could give some ideas on a work around, or perhaps see if this is something that's being addressed in the PM or version 5 that would be great. I don't want to pay for providers who are only here a few weeks at a time when a full time provider is on vacation.

Perhaps explain again what it is you are trying to accomplish. Are you trying to remove a provider from the schedule?

Leslie, we use locum tenen's physicians when our full time docs take vacations. We deactivate the doctor as a user when they are not working. When we do that, the doctor disappears from the schedule (past) and all appointments that that doctor had and treated patients for, disappear. My goal would be to be able to deactivate the provider and have the appointment history remain. It disappears off the schedule, and off the patients appointment history, but we still have the chart note.

1 You should probably report the crash. although tech support does sometimes monitor the board, don't rely on it.

2)Have you considered doing the scheduling under the provider they are replacing. When the locums tenens doc is done, there are no schedules under their name.

Hmmmm, curious. I am afraid I have no answer for that. I know that to remove a provider from the schedule, you must remove their time slots in the administrator's section.

lol, no you just have to deactivate the provider and they go poof! guess that's a quick work around eh?