CPRS and workflow messaging

[kdt...@gmail.com]

I am wondering how workflow messages are handled in the VA.

In my office, my nurse takes phone call messages on slips of paper and
puts them on a pile for me to process. These are a big problem when
later trying to scan them in electronically etc.

I know that VistA has mailman, but how would that be integrated with
progress notes etc in CPRS?

I have a PHONE NOTE title, and I guess I could have her write a note
and mark it to be co-signed by me. That would cause it to show up on
my Alerts. But I don't know how I would then be able to answer the
question, and send the message back to her for processing.

I am sure this has been solved before.

How are others doing this?

Thanks
Kevin

[Branden Tanga]

While I have exactly "zero" experience with what you're trying to do,
I'll add my $0.02 anyway =P.

You might be able to get away with it by making a custom file, which
allows you to manage message threads between you and your staff, which
can be edited in terminal sessions (make a simple menu routine, tie it
to the option file, add that to your staff's custom menu). Then you
"may" be able to import data from that message file into CPRS by using
Patient Data Objects. I have no knowledge of the technical back end of
PDO, but you might be able to make it do what you want.

You could also probably do it by using mailman, but either way, I
think shoehorning PDO sounds like the way to go if you want the data
in a progress note.

I hope someone out there has a better solution than my ideas!


Branden Tanga

[Branden Tanga]

Rereading your original post, it seems like you want the message to
show up on your alerts? In that case, you'd have to fire off the alert
manually in code somewhere. That makes my potential solution even
uglier.


Branden Tanga

[kdt...@gmail.com]

Branden,

Thanks for your thoughts. I'm trying to figure out if there is a
solution already being used somewhere.

Thanks
Kevin

[Ismet Kursunoglu]

Kevin,

All day long I basically run a messaging service disguised as a
medical clinic.

Up here we get daily USPS mail, faxes, voice messages, patient/hand
delivered and courier messages, email, DVDs and CDROM with data and
images, Atlas lab works (patient labs) from the main hospital in
Anchorage, and finally patients dropping by for an ad-hoc chat (one on
his way home after a several month 7K mile trip on his Harley down to
the lower 48, and one who landed his Piper Cub right on the road in
front of the clinic)

Then I am dealing with things like a patient on a home ventilator
living in a home built cabin who is on 28 medications - the daily
communications are coming at me right and left. (yes, they have backup
generators)

I often wonder if it would be helpful to setup an imaps/postfix sever
with sasl logins and maybe a MySQL database and give each patient,
staff member and physician/healthcare_professional their own email
account? But then up here the terrestrial packet networks are
constantly going offline.

I have yet to see any medical care system use encrypted IMAP for
messaging with patients. But isn't all of this part of the mailman
messaging and alert/collaboration system built into VistA? It sure
would be so much easier if everything was consolidated and available
on VistA for the masses. The good news is that we are getting there!

Asterisk (VOIP) allows for a pretty decent voice-> text->email
gateway. Or you can just save the voice messages as a file.

Thank goodness for you programmers. From my understanding GTM allows
for you to dip down into the massive GNU/Free software tool chain, do
your magical incantations and possibly harness that additional
horsepower?

If so this will no doubt be even bigger than the advent of Reese's -
another perfect combination! :-)

--
Ismet B. Kursunoglu, MD, FCCP

Medical Director
Alaska Clinic, LLC
3750 E. Country Field Circle, STE B
Wasilla, Alaska 99654-6659
i...@alaskaclinic.com
http://www.alaskaclinic.com
voice (907)357-7240

[Matt King]

You guys are making my head spin. We tried using the CCM module, but
ended up writing templated notes with additional signers, just like
Sam and Maggie.

Syed wrote some protocols to go into our user manuals. Perhaps he will
bring some examples to Midland.

matt