INTRODUCTION Meaningful Use Practice Partner The simplest definition for a clinical encounter is any contact a provider has with a patient. Clinical encounters are used to aid providers in capturing data for Meaningful Use reporting. For more detailed information regarding Clinical Encounters and Meaningful Use Objectives, read Meaningful Use Guide Configuration and End-user Training located on our support website. support.pdsmed.com Clinical encounters are created 3 ways: 1. Manual Open a specific patient s chart, Click on Task Clinical encounter 2. Dot Code Use the.enc: inside of your patients progress note to create the clinical encounter 3. Automatic Use Cortex Appointments and Patient Tracking functions, in conjunction with Practice Partner. This document focuses on the Cortex Appointment Schedule and Patient Tracking configuration and end user training to automatically create the Clinical Encounters. GATHERING INFORMATION In order to enable Practice Partner to automatically create the clinical encounter, PDS has developed the following steps to make the transition easier. The following information will be used to set up Practice Partner to automatically create the clinical encounter: Complete the following spreadsheet for all appointment types your clinic uses inside of Cortex: 1. Cortex Appt Type - To find a list of your Cortex Appointment types, go to Appointment > Setup > Appointment Types 2. Practice Partner TOV Type of Visit (TOV) is equivalent to the Cortex Appointment Type. You will need to enter in the spreadsheet the corresponding Practice Partner TOV, which is simply the first 3 letters of the Cortex appointment type. 3. Transition of Care Transition of Care is the movement of a patient from one health care practitioner or setting to another as their condition and care needs change. For each Appointment type you will need to designate if it is an Outbound, Inbound, or Neither in regards to Transition of Care. 4. Relevant to Medication Reconciliation Medication Reconciliation is a formal process for creating the most complete and accurate list possible of a patient s current medications and comparing the list to those in the patient record or medication orders. For each appointment type, you will need to designate if the appointment type is Relevant to Medication Reconciliation (Yes or No). 5. Automatically Create a Clinical Encounter inside of Practice Partner Assign the action of each appointment type that will automatically create a clinical encounter when a Patient Is Checked-in to the Wait room and those that will not. Below is a SAMPLE Cortex Appt Type Practice Partner- TOV Transition of Care O=Outbound, I=Inbound N=Neither Relevant to medication Reconciliation (Yes or No) Automatically Create A Clinical Encounter inside of Practice Partner CONS CON O Y Create EST EST N Y Create NEW NEW I Y Create NV NV N N Do Not Create PHYS PHY N Y Create URGENT URG N Y Create Professional Data Services September 2011 Page 1 of 6
CONFIGURATION /SETUP Meaningful Use Practice Partner NOTE: Everyone must be out of Practice Partner to perform the steps in the Configuration Section. Step 1: Set up the TOV inside of Practice Partner (Equivalent to the Cortex Appointment Type): a. Log into Practice Partner with a user with the Access Level of HI. b. Go to Maintenance > Setup > Access Levels c. Edit the HI Access level d. Remove the X out of the option labeled Hide AS except Provider Schedule i. e. Click OK f. Click Close g. Exit Practice Partner h. Log back into Practice Partner with the same login i. Go to Maintenance > Configuration > Type of Visit Codes Professional Data Services September 2011 Page 2 of 6
Meaningful Use Practice Partner j. Using the spreadsheet you completed in the Gathering Information Section. Insert (New) all the codes listed in the Spreadsheet under the Practice Partner TOV column i. All you need to enter is the Code and Description Step 2; Set up the Status code inside of PP PP Status Codes are the equivalent of the Cortex Patient Tracking Codes (Wait/Exam/Departed). Practice Partner comes with default status code for Wait (In). You will need to setup RM for Exam and OUT for Departed. We have a Cross reference that will interpret the following: Cortex Patient Tracking code Corresponding Practice Partner Status Code WAIT IN EXAM RM DEPARTED OUT Setup the RM and OUT code inside of Practice Partner: a. Go to Maintenance > Configuration > Status Codes b. Insert (New) the RM code with the Description of Exam Room All you need to enter is the Code and Description c. Click OK Professional Data Services September 2011 Page 3 of 6
Meaningful Use Practice Partner d. Insert (New) the OUT code with the Description of Departed All you need to enter is the Code and Description e. Click OK f. Click Close Step 3; Change the Hi Access Level back a. Go to Maintenance > Setup > Access Levels b. Edit the HI Access level c. Place an X in the option labeled Hide AS except Provider Schedule d. Click OK e. Click Close f. Exit Practice Partner Professional Data Services September 2011 Page 4 of 6
Meaningful Use Practice Partner Step 4: Modify the ppart.ini file. Use the Gathering Information spreadsheet you created; for each TOV, enter the Automatically Create a Clinical Encounter Create response into the ppart.ini file. NOTE: Only codes entered in the ppart.ini file will automatically create a Clinical Encounter. a. Go to your ppart folder (Typically located on the M:\ppart ) b. Locate the file called ppart.ini c. Right mouse click on the file, select Copy d. Go to the C drive and paste the ppart.ini file e. Go Back to your ppart folder (Typically located on the M:\ppart ) f. Open Ppart.ini g. Find the [ClinEncounters] Section Type of Visit (TOV) o From the information in the spreadsheet, you completed: add the new TOV codes to the TOVCodes= List; (this has been color coded for simplicity) Enter the new TOV code with no space after the comma. The TOV code must be immediately followed by a colon, Immediately followed by an I, O, or N to indicate the appropriate Transition of Care. Another colon must follow, Immediately followed by Y or N to indicate the appropriate relevant to Medication Reconciliation Example: CON:O:Y,EST:N:Y,NEW:I,Y [ClinEncounters] TOVCodes=AC:I:N,BCB:N:Y,CB:N:Y, CP:N:Y,NOB:I:N,NP:I:N,OB:N:Y,OV:I:Y,PE:N:Y,PRO:N:Y,SPE:I:Y, EST:N:Y,PHY:N:Y, CON:O:Y,EST:N:Y,NEW:I,Y Status Codes o You will need to add the Status of RM and OUT to the end of the Status List o Example: the RM has been color coded RED for simplicity. [ClinEncounters] TOVCodes=AC:I:N,BCB:N:Y,CB:N:Y,CON:O:Y,CP:N:Y,NOB:I:N,NP:I:N,OB:N:Y,OV:I:Y,PE:N:Y,PRO:N:Y,SPE:I:Y,NEW:I:Y,EST:N:Y,PHY:N:Y StatusCodes=DI,IN,LA,RM1,RM2,UR,WVC,OUT,RM h. Save the information i. Exit the ppart.ini file. Professional Data Services September 2011 Page 5 of 6
WORKFLOW END USER TRAINING Meaningful Use Practice Partner Inside Cortex, when the patient arrives/checks in at the front desk, the front desk person must mark the patient as in the Wait Room. NOTE: This sends the status to Practice Partner. Once the status field is populated in Practice Partner, the Clinical Encounter is created. Right mouse click on the patient s appointment Click on Wait Room. In Cortex the schedule will look like: In Practice Partner the dashboard/schedule will look like: When the patient is taken to the Exam Room, someone will change the patient location in Cortex. Use the right mouse click on the appointment in Cortex and click Exam Room. When the patient checks out, someone will change the patient location in Cortex. Use the right mouse click on the appointment in Cortex and click Departed. Disclaimer Professional Data Services, Inc. makes no commitment of any kind with respect to Customer s ability to demonstrate "meaningful use" of certified EHR technology in order to qualify for incentive payments under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Professional Data Services September 2011 Page 6 of 6