Frontpage » Progress Notes

• Where is the spell checker?
  

  Built into Filemaker is a spell checker. To access this, select “Edit” from the menubar, then “spelling,” then “check record…” You can direct Filemaker to access a medical dictionary by choosing the “select dictionary” option.

• How to you print a complete record when a patient leaves/asks for a copy of his/her record?
  To print the chart, first go to the patient's progress notes, then click on the "print or fax" button. This will take you to the print/fax layout. On this layout, you can choose which sections of the chart you want to print, e.g., clinical summary, flowsheet, labs, x-rays, (some/all of the) progress notes, etc. When all options have been selected, click on the button “Copy for: patient" then click the "Print" option. Finally click on the "start printing process." ComChart maintains a record of all printed/faxed progress notes.
• What do you do with inactive records of patients who have transferred or died?
  We recommend that you remove the address and phone numbers from their respective fields so you don’t accidentally call the patient about their next appointment or send them a letter about a past due test. Also put a note in the "contact comments" field and in the last progress note that the patient has expired. There is no reason to remove their records from ComChart.
• I have my patients complete a history form before the first office visit. Could this be scanned in or must I keep a separate paper chart?
  

  ComChart can automatically add text to the problem list, medicine list and allergy list, so that you do not need to re-type the information. When you are on the progress notes, highlight the desired text and click the "+" button located to the right of the "problem list," "medicine list" or "allergy list" buttons. This will put the highlighted information into the respective list.

  You could scan it and then paste it into one of the "graphics" progress notes. However, you will probably find the scanning process time consuming and it will markedly increase the size of your files. Thus, we do not advise that you scan-in all of your documents. We recommend that you modify the "ROS" options in the "List" file (ComChart > Administration > Review of Systems) so that it closely mimics your history form. Once this is done, the “comprehensive history ” form within ComChart will closely mimic your paper form and the data could easily be entered into ComChart by a nurse, NP or PA.

  If you need a copy of the history form which is the basis of ComChart's ROS, email a request by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

  If you need a copy of the history form which is the basis of ComChart's ROS, email a request to info@comchart

• How do I update my problem list, medicine list, and allergy list without retyping the data?
  ComChart can automatically add text to the problem list, medicine list and allergy list and old problem list, so that you do not need to re-type the information. When you are on the progress notes, highlight the desired text and click the "+" button located to the right of the "problem list," "medicine list" or "allergy list" buttons. This will put the highlighted information into the respective list. If you hold down the shift key when you click on the “+” problem list button, the data will be added to the old problem list.
• When you are entering the data into the progress notes file (such as vital signs), it is not obvious how to change the date of a progress note. It should be difficult to change the date, but not impossible. Case in point, you see a patient but do not ente
  You can change the date of the progress note. When you are on the progress note, click on the buttons options > Alter date, time classification. Not all passwords will allow access to this layout. From here, you can delete the note, change the date of the note or reassign the note to a new classification. The original date that the note was created remains stored in a second location, which can not be altered and is not easily accessible.
• What should I do with letters, x-ray reports and consult notes that I receive by mail?
  We recommend that you dictate a 2-3-sentence summary and place it into your progress notes. Alternatively, you could scan in the letters using optical character recognition or you can store the letters as scanned images. This latter option has some problems because the data is not easily searchable and will result in a very large database. For example, a 5,000 patient ComChart file, with no scanned letters is about 350 MB whereas the same 5,000 patient file, in which all incoming letters are scanned is estimated to be about 2,600 MB (2.6 GB). As a CD-ROM currently holds only 650 MB, the latter option may be difficult to backup and slow the operation of a database. As backing-up is essential, and should be done frequently on a defined schedule (at least twice daily), it should be as easy to do as is possible. It is our experience that the 2-3 sentence summary option is the most cost effective and easiest to implement.
• Can one write macros and text blocks that can be use as templates in the progress notes?
  

  Yes, this is already built into ComChart. You can create progress notes/consult notes using macros and prewritten progress notes (template progress notes.) These can be added by clicking on the title of the template progress note.

  In addition, you can use macro programs (e.g. TypeIt4U on the Mac) to automatically add text to your progress notes.