Home Forums Discussions General Discussion Migrating old patient data

Can anyone point me to any URL or discussion regarding inputting paper charts into AC (not by scanning, but by keyboard)? Also, how can you save encounters without signing off first.


TThanks

Second question first. To save an encounter in the record, you have to sign off on it. You can do control and s and it will save it to your in box, but it is not saved to the permanent record.

Not sure what you mean by inputting paper charts. If you are entering past medical hx and meds and allergies, just sign off on the chart after putting in the data.

If you mean doing a summary, many of us create an encounter with a chief complaint named "Chart Summary", or something, and put in the PMH, FH, SH, problem list, med list, vaccine history, etc. before seeing the patient for the first time in AC. If you are really ambitious, a summary of the old chart could be put in the HPI as well, but that is way more than most of us can stand. Otherwise, can you amplify on what you mean by "Inputting patient charts.... by keyboard"?

I have already inputted the demographics of all my patients. Before I start using the EMR part of AC, I thought I will take my old charts (along with History, Chief Complaints, etc) and input this information into AC. However, I can only do this by signing off and then the system thinks that the old encounter's date/time is the current system's clock. Also, when I enter a patient's encourter data is there any way to save the chart and come back and work on it later.

Thanks

VJ Reddy

If you have the Problem and Medication list you can IMPORT it to th patient chart and when the pt has an appointment with you, you can fill the relevant data at the time of visit by looking at the imported item
Regarding the patient encounter, you can hit the FORWARD button which is above the SIGN and send the chart to yourself
When you go to your message box the chart will be there and you can work on it later and sign off when you are done
Grenville

VJ,
There have been discussions here about putting information from a paper chart in before visits.
Here is just one of the more recent ones.
This is relevant as well.

You should understand that the "Summary page" can be used to access and alter the patient's problem list, medications, and allergies. This can be done at any time, by you or staff, without creating a new encounter or signing the chart.
The other sections you mention, e.g. PMH, can only be accessed as part of an encounter. In order to to add information there, you have to create a new encounter. If you want to save the encounter and come back later to add more to it, you can save the encounter (in your box, as Grenville says, or in someone else's box). I would suggest that you only briefly save it to your own box, and then complete it. It can get confusing with multiple different versions of a chart in various message boxes, as some other providers have discovered, so I would be cautious with that approach.