Home Forums Discussions General Discussion Anyone in California doing Family PACT (SOFP)?

We are hoping to go live with Amazing Charts by next month. We are a community clinic here in North Orange County. We see a lot of patients under the Family PACT program (program only here in California)

One of the requirements for family pact is that the patients sign on the office visit note everytime they receive medications or have any labs done. Currently we have a signature block at the bottom of the note that they sign.

Once we go electronic, there wouldn't be any place for the patient to sign.

Just wondering what others who see patients under this program are doing about patient signatures on notes.

thanks

Just a thought, but will your workflow allow you to print out the encounter, have the patient sign, then scan back into AC as an imported item.

Also, do you need a "wet" signature, or is a scan sufficient?

Indy,

I don't think the workflow would allow the encounter to be printed out then signed. I thought about that but many times I finish the notes in the afternoon.

I thought about having a sheet the patient signs with their name, date of service and their signature. Then print out that paper, have them sign it and scan it back in with the updated signature. Seems like a lot of work but looks like the only option at this point, other than making sure the note is done before the patient leaves.

Marty,

Jim could give you more detail about his approach, but in his clinic he prints out the CCR, and had the patient review the CCR during the visit to verify meds, current complaints, existing diagnoses, etc.

If someone has entered current complaint, then prints the CCR, would that work?

Indy,

Printing out the CCR and having the patient sign it is a great idea. Better than what I was thinking of doing.

Thanks!

Marty - The idea comes from Dr. Jim Blaine's approach that he covered at the ACUC. I couldn't find the thread where he discusses his approach, but here is his profile:

http://www.amazingcharts.com/ub/ubbthreads.php/users/1048

I'll drop him a line and ask him to weigh in with his thoughts.

Hi Marty and Indy,

I reviewed your discussion and I think that I understand your problem.

Our practice is to print out the Summary page of AC and keep it current (replace as necessary). Each visit the patient is presented with the current Summary page at the receptionist desk and confirms that his/her demographics, diagnoses, medications etc. are all correct. They make the appropriate corrections on the sheet with a pen and I then change them during the visit on AC.

I would suggest to Marty that a commitment be made to complete each chart in the room (a recommendation made to me by Bert and I am very appreciative that I followed his advice). I still do not sign off on the charts in the room (I forward them to myself after I complete them in the room and than sign off at my leisure; this allows me the ability to retrieve the still active chart when a patient decides to add a comment, a question or a prescription request as we complete the visit.

I am able to complete the charts in the room because I make use of templates (except fot he HPI which, in my opinion, should almost always be individualized).

I also suggest to you that you add an additional template for your Plan portion of AC: "The patient has read and signed off on the electronic record as transcribed above - the dated signature is in the hard copy chart". This entry will then require only a right click on your mouse and a single click for each patient.

You then place a copy of a single piece of permanent lined paper in your hard copy chart that has a heading "Signatures on this page confirm that this patient has read and understands the entry including history, assessment and medications on the date signed". That single piece of paper should be sufficient to cover twenty or more visits.

Your thoughts?

Best,

Jim

Jim,

Great advice and it is much appreciated. My concern has always been completing the chart in the room and then before the patient leaves she forgets to tell me something. Forwarding the chart to myself to sign off later resolves that issue.

Thanks for the input and that's what we'll be doing.

Thanks again