Overview of the Recalls System

A Recall is a type of flag recorded against a patient's record, designed to inform practitioners and/or practice staff of when the patient is due to return to the practice, usually so that some clinical procedure can be performed, such as an annual health check, or a cervical screening, for example.

Once a Recall has been created for the patient, you can record notes against it. For example, you may wish to record a note of the fact that a Recall reminder e-mail or SMS message was sent to the patient. These notes are referred to as Recall Actions, and a given Recall may have unlimited Actions associated with it. Recall Actions are not to be confused with Outstanding Actions.

The following process outlines typical use of the Recall-Action system:

1.      You create a recall for the patient. The Recall can refer to a once-off event, or you can create a Recall that occurs periodically (as in the case of an annual health check, for example).

o      This latter type is referred to as a 'recurring Recall'. When a recurring Recall is created, only the first instance is recorded initially. Once the patient attends for the Recall, it is marked as completed, at which time a new, identical Recall is generated automatically by the system.

 

2.      When you create the recall, you may also record an Action for that Recall. By recording Actions against the Recall, you create an audit trail to refer to later if required. You are not limited from recording further Actions against the Recall - record them at any time.

For example:

1. Dr... A Practitioner receives some blood test results back for a new patient, and decides to have the patient return to discuss the results.

2. He contacts the patient to inform them of the appointment, and they agree to schedule the appointment for two months' time. At that time he mentions that he would like the patient to bring with them a list of the medications they are currently taking.

3. After speaking with the patient, the practitioner records a Recall for the patient.

4. He also makes a note (an 'Action') against the Recall to indicate that he'd contacted the patient, and asked them for their list of medications.

5. One month prior to the scheduled date, practice staff generate a list of due Recalls, and see the patient's Recall within the list. They contact the patient to remind him of the scheduled visit.

6. Practice staff mark an Action against the patient's Recall to indicate that he has been contacted, and the method used (phone, SMS, e-mail etc.).

3.      If a patient's Recall is due within 30 days, you will be notified of such upon opening their record; the Recall Due icon will appear in the upper section of the Clinical Window. Upon then clicking the associated button, the Recall Items list for that patient appears, an example of which can be seen below. Common practice, however,  is to periodically generate a list of due Recalls, so that practice staff can remind patients well-in-advance of their due Recall date. See The Patient's 'Recall Items' List, below, for information about this window.

4.      Patients on the list are then notified of their due recall(s). This is done by either printing the list, and manually contacting each patient, or by performing a mail merge to produce multiple Recall letters simultaneously. Alternatively, you can contact patients individually or en masse via SMS.

5.      (optional) When generating the list of due Recalls, you can flag them such that they are also added to a list known as the Outstanding Actions list. An Outstanding Action is a type of reminder prompt for the practitioner, which appears on-screen upon opening a patient's record. By adding Recall items to this list, they will appear within this same prompt, providing an additional mechanism for bringing them to the attention of the practitioner.

6.      During the patient consultation, you will be prompted with a list of the outstanding Actions for the patient (including any recalls for which the patient has been notified). At this time, you indicate that the Action has been performed.

The Patient's 'Recall Items' List

Click the button within the patient's record to access this window.

o      Items displayed in red are 'urgent'.

o      Items displayed in blue have been 'completed'.

o      Items displayed in grey have been 'deleted'.

Upper Section This section displays the list of recalls recorded for this patient. Use the Range, End Date, and Include Completed... options to filter the list.
Add	Creates a new recall.
Edit	Edits the selected recall.
Update	Allows you to update (i.e. complete) the selected recall, which means to; Complete (end) a once-only recall, or Complete (end) the current instance of a recurring recall, after which a new instance of it is created automatically. See Completing/Updating Recalls for more information.
Delete	Deletes the selected recall, and records a note about this action into the patient's Progress Notes. Note that you cannot delete a completed recall.
Print List	Prints the selected recalls, via your Letter Writer printer.
Print List > Print List To...	Prints the selected recalls, prompting you to select a printer.
Progress Notes	Allows you to view any Progress Notes that were recorded on the same day the original recall was created. Note that a Progress Note for a Recall is only recorded if you create the recall via the patient's record.
Lower Section This section displays any actions you have recorded against a given recall. A Recall Action is a note recorded about a Recall that typically relates to correspondence / contact regarding a Recall.
Add	Records a new action against the selected recall.
Edit	Edit a selected recall action. Note that you cannot edit recall actions associated with completed recalls.
Delete	Deletes a selected recall action. Note that you cannot delete recall actions associated with completed recalls. Deleted recall actions are hidden from view, but can be revealed by clicking the Show Deleted button (see below).
Show Deleted	Displays deleted recall actions. This button is only available if there are deleted recall actions to reveal.
Print	Prints the list of recall actions, via your Letter Writer printer.
Print > Print To...	Prints the list of recall actions, prompting you to select a printer.