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Can someone explain how the group box works? I have a nursing groupbox, but messages don't actually get to my nurses. What am I doing wrong? It works if I send it to one nurse, but I'm not sure which nurse is available at any specific time for a task, so it would be nice to send it to all of them. Thanks for any help.

Every time someone asks this question here, I hope that someone will answer it fully. So far I have not seen that happen. Pretty please, can someone explain how the group boxes work????

In the administrative section of AC, whenever a user is set up for the first time, there is an option to assign that user to a group, such as "Providers", "Front Office", "Nursing". A group mailbox with that name will appear in the "TO" drop-down section in the Messages window (ie: GROUPBOX,[PROVIDERS]). Any message sent to that Groupbox will be accessible to any member of that group. However, it will not be found in the user's Inbox. To find the groupbox message, the users in that group must click on the Inbox tab in their Messages window and choose the groupbox name (ie: Providers) from the list.

I really wish we could edit these better. We never look in the providers group box, and any message sent to "everyone" also goes there, eventually filling it up. In 5.029 these had to be deleted one by one. In version 6 it seems you can do a delete all, which helps. I just wish it was not there at all, or, better, that a message sent to "providers" went in to all the individual inboxes, as we would expect with any email group send.

I agree c David. Group messages should go to all individual boxes. It is a safety issue. The way it is set up is a good way to miss a message which we all know can be a big problem.

I just was explaining how it works -- I don't think group boxes are useful either. I also think new messages need to pop up when they arrive, not wait until the message window is refreshed. These are quite simple concepts which have been commented on for years.

I just don't see how I'm suppose to send an order to a nurse, when I don't know which one will be available to do the order at that time. It would only make sense if I could send the order for a Bicillin shot, for example, to all the nurses, then whoever is available can do it.

David Lee, MD
Internal Medicine
Dallas, TX

Yes, quite right. However, that means the nurses have to be constantly checking the group box as well as their individual box, unless it is decided no message will be sent to the individual box. Then, this does not work, as the nurse will often initiate a message and a reply goes to the individual inbox. This is especially problematic since AC does not notify you of a new message in any inbox. Multiply this by a computer shared with 2 or 3 nurses, and it is a mess. We have gone back and forth between suggesting nurses check their individual box and the group box. I have not got the combination down right yet. It is so annoying, I am often tempted to use regular e-mail or instant messaging.

Same here, but we still use the AC messaging system despite its shortcomings, because of the easy save of completed messages into the chart.

We use Outlook for everything but chart forwarding to notify when patients are checked in or to receive reminders. It's inefficient in one sense but as pointed out, the email system in this program is archaic at best. I would be pleased just to be able to forward emails to the Outlook boxes. I was trying to figure out what these group boxes were supposed to mean and now left shaking my head that there are still no improvements to the email system.

Wow, I really like the group boxes. For myself, I have the staff send the charts and messages to provider. Then all of the labs and imports go to my personal box. It is easier to work w/o all the clutter of the imports. Then I switch to my inbox to sign off imports and check labs. I send all nursing orders to the group box so that any nurse can do the orders. They use their inboxes for current messages and charts they are working on. Having all of the imports, messages and charts in one box made it very difficult to stay current with messages and find the charts.

I personally think that it needs a lot of work. I use Paperport primarily, especially if I need a report acted upon, I can put it in one staffers' folder and if she is out for the day, any other staffer can look in her folder to instruct a patient when they call back. My staff flip flops from front to back to billing, etc. Having to remember to open the group box in AC is just too confusing, especially when these messages do not automatically refresh. Again, this is another complaint many of us have expressed for a long time.....ho hum.