The following opinions/suggestions on the layout and content of MHS are offered for consideration.
General
1. Consider moving the HFE icon symbol on page one to the left approximately 1” to be inside the existing 1-3/4” right margin, then make both the right and left margins 0.75” or 0.80”. One inch margins are “nice”, but won’t be missed while gaining space to shorten the overall length of the report. I’ve found the longer a report is (pages) the less likely it will be viewed at all.
2. The body of MHS on the left side is 1-3/4” from the page edge just like the right side. Reducing the 1-3/4” to 1-1/4” would make a big difference, especially with Tests data.
3. Both header and footer are very informative and great as is. Over all I like the layout, font size, font bolding, and colors.
Identification
Consider moving date of birth from Basic Information to Identification on the same line, following the person’s name. Other than the person’s name, no other bit of data is requested more to identify a person than the DOB.
Basic Information
Social Security number is not included…….for good reason, with which I agree.
However, height and weight are also missing, which, to me, are pertinent for medical purposes since some tests require such information for the calculations.
Allergies
We are fortunate and do not have allergies, but if this section is sorted alphanumeric on the allergy, consider the suggestion for sorting stated under Conditions.
Conditions
Suggest either sorting Conditions by date/descending in both Active and Past lists, rather than the current alpha name sort, or provide an option for user to choose. To me, the date order is more important than having the Conditions alphabetically arranged. I tried customizing the sorting of the Conditions list to date/descending, but found that does not change the MHS sorting and there is no means to customize Conditions sorting on the MHS screen. Since there are two dates provided for Past Conditions, sort on the ‘End Date’/descending.
Medications and Dietary Supplements
1. Consider the suggestion for sorting stated under Conditions.
2. Consider displaying the purpose of the medication on the same line after the medication name. This would entail either creating a new field for a short description in Medications or, as I am doing now(without a program revision), enter the description after the medication name in the ‘Type’ field. e.g. Allopurinol / Gout Prevention. Even if the name / description is long, the program wraps the text to create a two line entry. Nice! I’m uncertain of the affect on circumventing the ‘Picker’ standardized selection, but the benefit of also displaying the intended use of the drug is greater.
The following applies to MHS information presented although more in line with a HFE suggestion. Another important part of medical awareness is completing tests timely and appropriate to the Condition. For hypertension blood pressure tests are routinely done to assess the medication effectiveness. Going a little further, some medications prescribed to help one condition also adversely affects another condition and needs to be monitored on a regular or periodic basis. Allopurinal is prescribed for gout prevention, however a person with a renal condition should monitor BUN/Creatinine, serum regularly. For my use, the Medications section in MHS now displays - Allopurinol / Gout Prevention / Monitor BUN/Cr. A reminder to see that the doctor orders this test on a periodic basis.
Emergency Contacts
No comment.
Health Insurance
I’m uncertain whether the Policy Number is the most important identifier for insurance purposes, but being retired on a provider’s Medicare Health Plan there is no Policy Number. All communication is with the Member ID number. The MHS only displays a Policy Number. Would a reasonable solution be to combine the two numbers, e.g. Policy / Member ID into one field?
Healthcare Providers
I’ve mentioned in a previous post that individual provider names are better displayed, sorted, etc. as Last name, First name. HFE is oriented for ‘business’ contacts. Such would be best in this section of MHS. I like how the individuals are listed first and the organizations follow. I’m a little distracted seeing the location(work) placed after the telephone or Fax number in MHS. When entering the data the location is first and the number follows. That orientation seems more natural.
While on this subject, for those wanting to see the nurse’s name and extension number right now – in the Individuals>Provider>Contact Info>Telephone>Ext. field enter ‘31 Cathy’(without the quotes). MHS will display 123-456-7891 x31 Cathy (Work). I also put ‘Admin’ & ‘Billing’, etc in the Ext. field for identification of other phone numbers at the facility. A better solution is to add the “…” user entry to the drop down Telephone field.
Hospitalizations
From Post 770, 6/27/07 – “A Suggestion for the MHS: consider a program change to remove the word ‘Hospitalization’ under the Visit column(a duplication of the category Hospitalizations) and possibly change the column heading to ‘Provider’ instead of “Visit’.”.
Another point mentioned in a previous Post is both the Admit and Discharge dates would be appropriate entry data for hospitalizations.
The section is sorted by date/descending. Perfect.
Treatments
Consider the suggestion for sorting stated under Conditions.
This post is fairly long and here is a good place to take a break. The above are mostly opinions so there is little reason to address/respond to each one. The originators and programmers of HFE have done an excellent job producing this application. My offerings are mere ‘tweaking’ an already superior product.
robert