Using Finish Note tasks? How a change in workflow might affect you…
Does your practice utilize the Finish Note task in Allscripts Enterprise EHRTM?
If you answered yes, then this blog is for you.
In this article, I wanted to show you two possible outcomes when working in your v11 Note. You will notice that there are two similar workflows to add and commit clinical data in the note that will impact how a Finish Note task appears in a user’s task list.
While you will find that these two workflows are scaled down to be very basic and generic, I wanted to limit them to clearly demonstrate the difference between the two.
Workflow #1: Committing data while saving and closing the v11 note
In this workflow, we assume that the user already has the patient in context at the clinical desktop.
The basic steps of this workflow are as follows:
- Create a new v11 note
- Add a new clinical item
- For example: add vitals to the patient chart
- Select “Save and Close” in the Note window
- Select “Save and Continue” on the Encounter Summary
- Navigate to the Task List and select the Current Patient – All task view
Here you can see that the outcome is:
- One Active Finish Note task
So in this case, using the Current Patient – All or Current Patient – Active task views, you will see that just one Finish Note task has been created in an active status. The task indicates that the note has been created and saved. Keep in mind, at this point, that the commit action occurred while the user selected Save and Close in the Note. In this workflow, the system only reviewed the data once.
Workflow #2: Committing data prior to saving and closing the v11 note
As we did in the first workflow, here we assume that the user already has the patient in context at the clinical desktop.
The basic steps of this workflow are as follows:
- Create a new v11 note
- Add a new clinical item
- For example: add vitals to the patient chart
- Click the Commit button
- Select “Save and Continue” on the Encounter Summary
- Select “Save and Close” in the Note window
- Navigate to the Task List and select the Current Patient – All task view
Here you can see that the outcome is:
- A Complete Finish Note task and an Active Sign-Note task
If you use a task view that simply shows Current Patient – Active, you would not typically see the Finish Note task in this instance, but instead the Sign-Note task. This means the note has not been signed and might not be the task you expect to receive if you seek the Finish Note task.
While a Finish Note task has been generated and marked as Complete, there may yet be information to add to the note. The logic behind this workflow is that the second action of “Save and Close” is the second review after having hit “Commit”, and therefore results in the outcome we see here. In this case, the system has reviewed the data twice, and the Finish Note task in regards to this note is completed and the active Sign Note task is automatically generated.
My advice in this situation is to follow Workflow #1 when working in a v11 Note. If users are creating a note and adding clinical data, but need a provider or second user to receive a Finish Note task and add additional items to the note; use the first workflow. This way, the Finish Note task will be assigned and visible to the correct person, and users will be trained in such a way that ensures the success of this workflow.
Please don’t hesitate to leave your feedback below or Contact Galen Healthcare Solutions should you have further questions!
