Records For Living Community

Madam or Sir:
 
I am currently evaluating your software for purchase.    My initial impression is very positive.  Sorting data readily is a paramount concern to me as I have all the data in my file drawer, but I cannot readily retrieve specific information, e.g. how many CT scans have I had over the years.  I am hopeful that your software can do this for me.  Before entering a vast amount of data and discovering I should have entered the data differently (and then having to start all over again!) to accomplish my goals I wish you to please clarify for me the issues below.
 
I have several specific questions about entering information from each office visit to my physicians.  Often my MD may address multiple medical problems at one visit and advise multiple lab tests, X-rays, etc.  At a later date I want to be able to readily review all visits which dealt with one specific problem without having to review every last office visit to see if that problem was addressed.  An example will help.  Suppose my doctor sees me for hypertension, cholesterol issues, and abdominal pain at today's visit.  I see my doctor repeatedly every few months over the next year for these and other problems.  A year later I want to be able to review all the information pertaining ONLY to my hypertension.  Questions:
 
    1. Does your software allow me to filter by one medical problem and date reviewed in the office?
 
    2. May I assume I will need to SEPARATELY enter in 3 different screens each medical problem, e.g. hypertension, cholesterol issues, and     abdominal pain covered at that office visit to be able to review all visits pertaining to each individual problem?
 
    3. Do I enter lab work into a separate screen or in the same screen for that office visit for hypertension?
 
    4. Can I sort office visits by physician specialty, e.g. I want to see all visits to my urologist?
 
    5. Any further "tips" about entering data in your software?
 
Thank you very much for your help.
 
Walter

Dear Walter,

Thank you for your interest in HealthFrame.  It's good to hear that your initial impression is very positive! We are happy to help you become better acquainted with HealthFrame's unique health management capabilities.

The type of scenario you describe, where a patient sees his/her doctor for multiple medical problems (conditions) is very common.  HealthFrame's use of Related Information support (aka links) can be very useful in this context.  Additionally, HealthFrame supports 'filtering' as part of its report customization support.  Combined, HealthFrame's support of linking and filtering makes it easier for patients and doctors to navigate through the medical record in the manner that is most appropriate for their needs.

1. The screen shot below (Figure 1) illustrates how HealthFrame presents information that is linked to a particular medical problem.  This screen shot is taken from the sample health record for Susan Marie Taylor.  (You can load the sample health records when HealthFrame starts up or using the Help > Sample PHRs menu.)

Please note that not only are Susan's visits that relate to her pregnancy displayed, but also other related information such as her personal journal and any treatment(s) related to her condition.  You can easily navigate to the related record by clicking on the chain link.  For instance, if you click on the link to the 10/20/2005 visit, you will see that Susan indicated that she was seen for both her pregnancy, but also her gestational diabetes condition (Figure 2).

2. You are correct that each individual medical problem needs to be entered in a separate entry.  Once you do that, you will be able to link subsequent visits to each of those problems.  Note that for the purposes of data entry, you can always enter the 'minimum data' initially and then come back later to add new details.

3. Lab work is entered in the test screens.  Please remember to look for the built-in panels that will help you with lab work that includes multiple measurements, for instance the Blood Pressure Panel will automatically create entries for you to edit systolic, diastolic and pulse rate values.

4. Currently, you can sort visits by date, individual or organizational provider, or type of visit.  Thank you for the suggestion to sort by physician specialty.

5. Clearly the use of Related Information and Report Customization are two important 'tips' about using HealthFrame.  You may want to experiment with HealthFrame using the built-in samples, so that you can learn about the program without necessarily having to do too much data entry on your own.  Experiment with some of the OpenHealth Service Plug-ins - these plug-ins can add to the built-in functionality.

Thank you for using HealthFrame and please be sure to keep in touch with us in the HealthFrame User Community Forum, with your thoughts and suggestions for future releases!

Support Team