We are starting to plan for new features in the Spring 2008 release of Office Practicum. The first priority will be filling any functional gaps that are required to achieve 2008 CCHIT Child Health certification. (More on that shortly.) We are also planning significant enhancements to the sick-visit and well-visit template functionality. Rather than treating templates as simply "memorized notes," we want to capture and automate practice workflow. In other words, they won't just capture "what I write," they will also capture "what we do." In the case of well visits, that might include:

• typical immunizations at this age
• typical diagnostic tests and screenings
• appropriate surveys (M-CHAT, adolescent risk, etc.)
• other checklist tasks (if you use that feature)
• favorite handouts

Sick visit templates might include:

• typical diagnostic tests for the indicated condition
• typical medications and other treatments
• common referred-to specialists for non-routine cases
• other checklist tasks (if you use that feature)
• patient handouts for followup care

The basic idea is that the choice of a template would not just populate the note details on an encounter, it would also serve as a launchpad for other activities throughout the office that would be typical in the context of this kind of visit. For example, a template for strep throat would contain a single-click pointer to order the practice's in-house quick strep test, with a second option to send out to an external lab for confirmation if the quick strep test came back negative. This template would also provide a quick list of pointers to medications on the Saved Favorites list that are most commonly written for strep. Providers would always have the option to go beyond the template workflows, but 80-90% of the time, the defaults would be appropriate and easy to use.

We're looking for a diverse panel of 5-10 active OP users who can advise and comment on this functionality as we start to design it. If interested, shoot me an email.

Labels: enhancements, templates