When setting up a Treatment Plan, it is necessary to identify the Visit Status, that is when or at what frequency the patient will be examined and/or treated in the practice. This point of documentation is required by all State Boards, the Federal government, and many insurance programs.
This Visit Status section includes a list of the options for the next appointment and/or the frequency of those future appointments.
Click on Visit Status to open the Customize Plan Verbiage: Visit Status window (figure 6).
Figure 6
Before creating a new Visit Status, place a check in the box to Show Inactive. The desired item may already exist in the system but be classified as Inactive. If it is Inactive, by clicking Show Inactive all the Inactive items are returned to the list. Click on the item to highlight it, uncheck the Inactive checkbox just below the Visit Status Name and click the Save icon on the left in the Visit Status Listings box.
There are 2 methods of creating a new Visit Status. Both are done using the icons on the upper left of the window.
1. New Icon: Create the name of the new Visit Status by clicking on the New button on the left under the heading of Visit Status Listings. In the Visit Status box on the right, type in the name of the Visit Status, and enter a Mnemonic. The Mnemonic is essential to the computer’s internal functions and MUST be entered. This is the only place where you will see the Mnemonic. When finished, click on the Save button on the left that is adjacent to the Clone button.
2. Clone Icon: If the new item is very similar to one that already exists, to minimize the verbiage entries, click on the Clone button. Enter a new Name and a new Mnemonic for the cloned item. A new item created by using the Clone button will contain all the verbiage from the original Visit Status item. For each verbiage iteration in the Cloned item, it is necessary to review every iteration and revise the verbiage to be appropriate for the newly created Visit Status. When finished, click on the Save button on the left that is adjacent to the Clone button.
The Visit Status list can be rearranged by using your mouse. Click on a Visit Status Name. While holding the left mouse button down, drag the Visit Status item either up or down the list. When you let go of the mouse button, the Visit Status item will now appear at that point of the list. The order which you see on this screen is the same order in which the Visit Status list will display in the Assessment window.
Regardless of which method was used to create the new Visit Status, it is required that the Verbiage is either created or verified. This is done in the Verbiage box on the lower right.
In the Visit Status Listing column on the left, click on the Name of the Visit Status so it is highlighted. The first Verbiage iteration for that item will appear in the Verbiage box on the lower right. If there is NO Verbiage, the box will remain blank. If there is Verbiage, use the Right and Left Arrows to scroll through the Verbiage iterations for this specific Visit Status.
Note that each iteration for a Visit Status is NOT a complete sentence. It is only the name of that frequency of visits.
Each Iteration Template is assigned a Weight between 1 and 9. This Weight determines the frequency with which each iteration will be used by ChiroPadEMR. The higher the number, the greater will be the randomization of the verbiage. For example, if there were only 2 Iteration Templates and Template A has a Weight of 1 while Template B has a Weight of 9, for each time Template A appears, Template B will appear 9 times. For the greatest degree of text randomization in the SOAP notes, give every Iteration Template a Weight of 9. Note that the more iterations, the greater will be the variation and randomization in the SOAP Notes.
If the Verbiage box is blank, or if there is a need to add another iteration to those that already exist, click the New icon at the top right of the Verbiage box. The box will be blank. Type in the Visit Status Name and click the Save icon that is above the Verbiage box. If the Visit Status has more than one synonymous Name, then enter it as another Verbiage iteration. Should another Verbiage iteration be desired, repeat the process of creating a new iteration, and continue repeating this process until all the Verbiage iterations that are wanted have been entered for the selected Visit Status.
Editing the Visit Status Verbiage is easy to do. In the Visit Status Listing column on the left, click on the Name of the Visit Status that is to be edited so it is highlighted. Use the Right and Left Arrows to scroll through the Verbiage iterations to find the item to edit. Edit the Visit Status Verbiage and click the Save icon.
If a mistake is made and it is necessary to Undo the Verbiage Template that was created, click the Undo icon, the circular arrow between the Save and Delete icons. Note that Undo functions ONLY BEFORE the Save icon has been used.
If it is decided that a specific Verbiage iteration should be permanently removed from the system, locate the item and click the Delete (Garbage Can) icon.
There may be one or more Visit Status items that are not wanted. To take a Visit Status off the list, click on the Visit Status Name in the Visit Status Listing box, place a check in the Inactive box in the center of the screen, and click the left Save button above the Conditions Status Listing column. This hides the item but does NOT remove it from ChiroPadEMR.