Wouldn’t it be nice if there was an easier way to track management questions for a particular medication, at the time it's dispensed? Within CPR+ you have the ability to attach a custom-made assessment to an item in Inventory. To do this for a drug item, select the Clinical Info tab on the Item Information window in Inventory. (For equipment or a supply item, select the HCPC/Add'l Info tab.) Under the Assigned Assessment area, use the drop-down to select a Custom Assessment.

So what does that do for you, and where do you sign up? Good News!

You already have the ability to create Custom Assessments in your CPR+ system. Here's the path from the Main Menu: Databases (7) > Templates (6) > Assessments (9). To begin, you need to figure out what types of questions that you want to ask about that particular drug. Some examples might be:

• By taking this medication, does the patient experience less pain?
• Is the patient able to perform basic functions?
• Is the patient taking any other medications? If yes, list other medications:
  
  
  • Was there an increase in dose? If yes, what was the increase?
  • What side effects has the patient experienced?
    

These are just a few examples of questions that can be created within a Custom Assessment. They are completely customized to your needs because you are the one forming the questions.

What type of questions can be asked on this form?

As you may have noticed in my examples, your questions are not limited to Yes or No answers. There are several types:

• Yes/No – this will display two radio buttons labeled Yes and No in the answer field;
• Essay – this is best for questions that have a multiple sentence answer. The answer will be a free-form text box;
• Short/Single Word – for questions with a single word answer (Example: Type of dwelling: House, Apartment, Condo);
• Date/Time – use this option anywhere you need to insert a date and time.

Various Multiple Choice

• Single Answer (Option button) – only one answer can be chosen from a list;
• Single Answer (Pop-up) – Same as above, but can force a pop-up selection;
• Multiple Answer – this will have checkboxes so that more than one answer may be chosen.

Now that you know what type of questions/answers that can be created, what do you do with it?

Once the assessments are created, they can be attached to an inventory item. Whenever that item is pulled onto an Order, and that Order is marked Complete, the Custom Assessment is generated and will appear in the list of your patient's Visit Reports / Assessment (H) list on the Patient Menu.

There are several standard fields that appear on every assessment. When populated, these fields trigger certain events in the system. These fields appear at the top of the Edit Assessment window:

• Initial Contact - This field determines when the assessment will be completed.
• F/U Frequency Days - This field determines the time period between assessments.

Once the Order is marked Complete, the number of days entered in the Initial Contact field from the Edit Assessment window will be used to create the initial assessment's Due Date.

At this point, the assessment is complete and can be locked. A Follow-Up prompt will pop-up (Today’s Date + the number of days entered in the F/U Frequency field.) Once that is completed, CPR+ will create a new assessment with the status of “Pending”. A schedule entry will also be created for future follow-up.

This is one tool that is made available to you to manage the healthcare of your patient to help focus on more proactive treatments. For more information or to schedule a Training Session, please contact Kim Carlsen.

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Thanks to everyone who attended the 2nd Annual CPR+ HME Summit, Wednesday, March 10th in Columbus, Ohio. The standing-room only crowd was treated to information sessions led by Jeff Johnston and Ted McGraner in the morning. Enhancements to the Recurring Rentals Manager and the Inventory Manager were presented as well as the new "One-Click Billing" and Line Item Financials features.

After lunch, open forum-style discussions enabled CPR+ customers and prospects to express ideas and suggestions for possible enhancements. HME Providers from around the country were able to network with peers, discuss current issues and learn more about CPR+.

Thanks to the 100+ customers who attended this year's CPR+ HME Summit!

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