Clinical Note Approval

Add a Clinical Note for Approval

To add a note requiring approval:

  1. When entering a general note or clinical note, select a provider from the Approving Provider drop-down list.
    The default provider automatically displays.
    Note: The Approving Provider drop-down list contains providers that have been setup by your administrator.
  2. Click Save.
  3. The chart item is routed to the Provider Approval Worklist for the provider selected. If the approving provider is creating the note no approval is required.
  4. Once a note or document requiring approval has been added, it will display in the patient chart details grid with a caution icon (
    ) in the Type column and the user displays with Approval Required tool tip message when hovering over the icon
  5. If needed, change the approving provider by right-clicking on the Chart History item and selecting Change Provider Approval.
  6. If you access a note before it has been approved by the Approving Provider, you will see an approval pending message.
  7. Notes that have been approved display with a green approved icon (
    ) in the patient chart grid type column and and the user displays with Approved tool tip message when hovering over the icon.

  8. If you access a note after it has been approved you will see an approved message indicating the date it was the approved and the provider.

    Patient Chart

    The approving provider and treating provider displays in the title bar of the patient chart.
  9. You can set or change the Treating and Approving provider by clicking
    icon in the title bar. Clicking the icon opens the Set Default Provider window. Use the drop-down list to select the treating and approving providers.

Clinical Note Approval Work List

The Provider Approval Work List option is only available to approving providers. It provides an easy way to access the list of patient and the notes and documents that have been added by the hygienist or assistant which requires approval.

Open the Approval Work List

To open the approval work list:

  1. Select Clinical > Chart Item Approval
  2. Click the Chart Item Approval Icon from the patient chart.
    The Provider Approval Work List window displays.
    Note: If you are not logged in as the approving provider, the system will prompt for a password .

    Account Info

    Account Setup
  3. The Provider Approval Work List window is divided into two parts. The left panel has two tabs with lists for pending and recent approval items for the approving provider.
  4. The patient list is sorted by created on date and patient name with newest listed first. If multiple notes are entered for the same patient on different dates, there will be a list item for each date.

Approve a Work List Item

To approve a work list item:

  1. Select the patient from the Pending tab.
  2. View the charts, summary, history, or images for a patient by clicking the corresponding button above the Approval Item list.
  3. If an item is the list is a document, a hyperlink is provided to open the document for review.
  4. Select the check box for the item(s) and click Approve.

Modify a Work List Item

To modify a work list item:

  1. Select the patient from the Pending tab.
  2. Select the check box for the item and click Modify.
  3. Modify the note as needed. If the item is an HTML document clicking Modify opens the document in a format that allows the approving provider to edit.
    Note: Only notes and HTML files can be edited.
  4. Once a chart item is approved, it is removed from the work list.

Change the Approval Provider

The approval provider can be changed even if it has already been approved by the previously assigned approval provider.

To change the approval provider:

  1. Click the Edit ( ) button next to the Approved by: [Approval Provider Name] label on the chart item or
  2. Right-click on the chart item from the patient chart details grid and select Change Approval Provider
    The Change Approving Provider window opens.
  3. Select the new provider from the drop-down list and click OK.
  4. Once the approving provider is changed, the approval request is added to the approval work list of the new approving provider.
    Note: Once a chart item is approved, only the original approving provider can change the approving provider. Approving providers can be changed past the lock period for the chart item. Chart items that have been approved cannot be changed by a hygienist or assistant even if the lock period has not expired.
  5. When entering a SmartNote, the approving provider can be changed by clicking Edit.

Pending Approval Notifications

As an approving provider you will receive a notification message when you log in and log out that indicates the pending approval requests in your queue.

Click on the View link.
The list of requests and navigate to the provider approval work list opens.
Note: You will also see an Approval icon on the Tooth Chart when there are pending approvals for that patient.

Daily Provider Summary Report for Pending Approvals (2.4.5.0)

Approvals which are pending in the Approval Provider Work Listare shown in the Daily Provider Summary reports. View pending approvals by selecting the Approvals check box from Reports > Daily Reports > Daily Reports Summary