Home Forums Discussions General Discussion What's the # sign in front of the diagnosis?

Just out of curiosity, what is the # sign in the assesssment when entering a diagnosis through the problem list. I'm just starting to attempt to use this and that little thing is odd. Just looks weird when I send a note to referring providers.

Is it supposed to automatically update with a number like a list? So if I have #Gallbladder Problems and #Dysphagia what's the purpose?

This mystified me several years ago when I began using AC. I though that maybe the "#" would change to a numbered list in order of the diagnoses. After saving the encounter note however, or printing or opening it from prior encounters, it never changed to numbers. So I'm still mystified.

I think it is nothing more than what you see in Word when you do a bulleted list and you can choose from open circles, to solid black circles to lines to arrows and then to those ridiculous orange blue and yellow abstract blobs.

I think it is just the same as

_ Something one

- Something two

- Something three

> Something four, etc.

OK. So it is just a simple placeholder so things don't run together. Now I can move on to something else to bitch about.

Of all the symbols to pick? How about an ampersand or percent sign? kidding of course. An asterisk might have been better or just a dash like Bert has shown. Solid black squares or circles would have been the best.

How about smiley faces. Nah...probably wouldn't look good next to bad diagnosis. Then, again, you could use appropriate smiley faces. Even one with red cheeks for someone with an STD.

Ha! That's great. But we could take it even further...

Years back I attended a conference and there was a vendor selling neckties with little emblems of various gastrointestinal diseases replicated all over. I bought one for irritable bowel disease that had lots of little colons sprinkled tastefully all over it. I'll bet we could get that company to make up all kinds of meaningful and attractive placeholders.

I always expected it was a marker which AC used to pull the ICD code into the billing/sign-off window. You might try changing the ICD code number by a point before clicking sign-off.

Interesting. So you can click something in the problem list, it adds it to the assessment and Benjamin is correct in that the ICD-9 is added to billing sheet. If you change the number in the parenthesis, it will add that number. I'm trying to figure out if I can manipulate that somehow with templates. It must be adding some background code in the box when selected from the drop-down problem list or diagnosis list.

Benjamin is always correct.

Nope. Gotta use the find diagnosis button. The orders section uses the diagnosis too but if you change one number it won't put a diagnosis in at all. I need to know that underlying code.

Wow, thank you for such a compliment.

Travis, if you want to include the ICD code in your assessment templates you can do that, just make sure it follows the following rules.

<text or spaces>#<text or spaces>(<spaces><valid ICD-9><spaces>):

That's right. The colon _must_ follow the close paren.

The most important part of that is the ICD-9 be valid, which means it needs to be in your ICD-9 db. Of course you can add anything to your ICD-9 db, and the orders window will check and pull in the ICD code name from the db.

This is true as of 5.0.24

So that works when you want the ICD-9 code to be transferred to the billing section. It doesn't transfer the ICD-9 code when you click on "write orders". Is there a reason for that? It seems that I have to search the diagnosis and click on it from there instead of using a template. Am I missing something?

I've tried to free text exactly like you say and it will drag the icd-9 to the billing section but for the life of me I cannot get it to drag it to the orders sections.

What version are you on? And maybe more importantly what code are you trying to use? I just created a new patient from scratch, entered "# (v20.2):" in the Assessment and clicked Write Orders. It showed up in the list at the top, and was correctly moved to the plan when I sent it to myself.

Well, I have been following this just for fun, and I would have to say that Travis must be on the same version I am, we both must be on different versions than you, and we must be using Morse Code.

Since, I came in late and don't know what you guys are attempting, when you send the chart to yourself and when you write orders, do you get V20.2 in the chart or does it convert to #Well Baby?

I know from doing code and command lines and queries, that sometimes it is just easier if someone says write exactly what I write instead of describing it such as text or spaces, etc. So, would it be correct to write:

# ( V20.2 ): which seems kind of odd anyway. I would have written:

# (V20.2):

I wrote it exactly as I have in the quotes and as you have in your second line. You're right that I should have put it on its own line.

I think we're trying to make it so one or more ICD-9 codes can just be entered at the top or bottom of an Assessment template, then click on the orders tab to write an order. I can do that on 5.0.24 as it moves to the order window, and the order is dropped into the Plan.

What version are you on? Try entering
on the first line of the Assessment box. After clicking orders it should show up in the Reason for Orders box.

(Oh, and the odd version works for me too. I just got carried away, getting too exact.)

Well, I can't get it to work, although I haven't tried long. It does give me some ideas.

I had issues with how you use the template after you go into Orders. But, I am probably way off.

If you get a chance, write a long detailed explanation, BUT for now just help Travis, as 1) he seems to have more of a need for this than I and, 2) he is much closer to understanding it than I am.

I'm on v5.029. Now if the code is in the problem list already (maybe from previously choosing this on a patient from the diagnosis list) then it will work.

But from scratch, brand new patient. I would love to never have to click the diagnosis box and search for a diagnosis. I would like to have all my "right click assessment templates" coded exactly as they are supposed to appear so I can just right click in the assessment box like I do now, pick the diagnosis template, and off I go.

I'll try it again but I can't get it.

<text or spaces>#<text or spaces>(<spaces><valid ICD-9><spaces>):

http://www.box.net/shared/static/arqgxs4trc.doc

Travis,

I am confused, because above what I wrote and what Ben quoted didn't work. Now if I type:

# (V20.2):

it works. However, I am confused by the code that Ben wrote above in quotes where this is a space before the #, a space after, an open parentheses, a space, the code, a space, closed parentheses, then colon. I don't see how that would work as it doesn't mimic what you get when you use the actual program.

I put the code I used (which is all the same) in a Word Document so at least you can use your cursor to go through and see what goes where. Hope it helps.

To be honest, I am rather sure I did everything the same. I don't know why it worked today. Probably more rested.

If I can put these in templates, wow.

For the life of me I have no idea why I can't get it from complete scratch. I've copied exactly what Bert and Ben have and it won't enter it into the orders section.

It's driving me insane now that I know someone can do it. I want to do exactly what Bert describes in the Word document. There's gotta be an answer to where I'm screwing up.

Are you guys sure you aren't using an ICD-9 code that is already in the patient's drop-down problem list. If it is, then it works but that defeats the purpose.

If you are just creating a new patient, go straight to the assessment box, enter #(V20.2):, click "write orders", and pray the icd-9 is in the diagnosis box...then it's not working for me and I may stab myself with my scalpel.

Why will it come up in the superbill when I click sign-off but not in the orders. It just doesn't make sense.

It's bad luck. Something changed between 5.0.24 and 5.0.29 I just checked and in 5/29 it won't appear unless it's already in the problem list, but in 5/24 it will appear and you can add using templates.

...I even made a video to prove it but it's no use now.

Are you kidding? What in the world? Why would that version change, change that? Crap. I wonder if that will be called a bug and they can fix it. If I could use templates, that would make orders one step more simple.

Thanks for following up on this Ben

LOL.

Well, ironically, I guess I wasn't. I am still using 28. I rarely update within versions until a major upgrade comes out. Now if the electronic refills go straight through AC's prescriber, then I would upgrade. Not even this med error thing is making me change. Just way too many chances for error.

I don't know why it didn't work yesterday, but worked today. Maybe it's a virus that is working its way up.

Travis, what benefit are you getting with 29 besides the med error fix?

And, I thought I was bad....

No benefit of 29 over 28. 29 was the latest version when I finally decided to take the plunge and upgrade the office. Now I wish I had 28. I can't imagine what they would have "fixed" that would have messed up this little issue.

Bert hands Travis a little box wrapped in a bow. Open it. It's v28.