Common Workflow Issues

Notes authored by a Clinical Clerk will not be automatically incorporated into the communication that is used to create letters using the Communications activity of outpatient encounters.

If your supervising physician wants to use your note for the consult letter they will need to:

1. Create a copy of your note, or 

2. make themselves the author of your note, 

The Communication function can then be used to route the note as a consult letter to Netcare and selected recipients.

Check with your staff to see if they are familiar with these steps. 

Option 1 - Copy Note

Copy the note will create a new note with the supervising physician as the author. This note can be incorporated in to letters using the Communication activity.

• Go to the Notes activity of the encounter, find the note authored by the clinical clerk 

• Click the Copy icon (top right corner)  

• Add to the note as necessary 

• Accept the note, make sure to select "Send to PCP & referring", 

• or if desired use the Communication tool of Wrap Up to have a Consult Letter sent to Netcare

• Once the visit is signed the letter will be routed

Option 2 - Change Author

Supervising physicians can change the "ownership" of a note written by a clinical clerk using the Make me the Author function. The steps that a supervising physician would take to do this are

• Click Edit on the note authored by a clinical clerk

• Find Make me Author icon, which looks like a Lego person with a star over their shoulder

• Add text to the note as necessary

• Accept the note

• Use the Communications tool in the Wrap Up activity tab to route to Netcare as usual.

• Once the visit is signed the ltter will be routed.

Notes authored by an MD (resident, fellow, or staff physician) cannot be edited by a Clinical Clerk. 

• A common process for ambulatory clinics is precharting where visit note is started ahead of the patient arriving at the clinic. Then when the patient arrives and is seen additional information can be added to the note. 

• Clinical Clerks do not have the ability to edit notes authored by physicians, therefore will not be able to add information to the note precharting note.

Suggested Workflow

If a clerk is expected to document a visit note it is suggested that they start their own note, which can then be incorporated in to the final note authored by the physician the patient is scheduled with, as outlined here.