This functionality gives the option to define the Work Pattern for the Doctors and Resources of the Clinic:
Select the Day of Week from the List Box. Of course the Clinic Weekly Off cannot be selected.
For the selected Day, select the Location, Start Time and Close Time. The list box shows the 24 hour time slots in 15 minute intervals.
e.g. A Doctor works at Location A from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., at Location B from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and again at Location A from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m..
The list of locations are defined in the Settings→ Configuration → Clinic →Parameters option.
It is easy to select All Days (understood to be All Days other than Clinic Holidays) and select work Pattern. The user can further select a specific day of week, if it follows a different pattern. This is a one time entry and affects the Appointment Schedule option.
Work Pattern can be defined in two ways for a Provider, namely Default and Exception.
Default Work Pattern :
Default definition allows the provider to define one or more work patterns if he wishes to have different schedules at work over a period during the year. It shall be defined within the given limits of Start and Finish dates. For every work pattern definition, for All or specific weekdays a provider can choose among the locations to work on, at the selected times. If two work patterns overlap with respect to date or time then the one defined earlier precedes in implementation of working schedule than the later default definition.
Along with Location, Start time and End time, Type column is also displayed on the Work Pattern screen. Type column is defined for Encounter Types and there are approximately 30 Encounter types in the system.
When the property appointment.enctype.slotcolor is turned ON, Type field is displayed as a dropdown list on Work Pattern screen from where a single Encounter Type can be associated for the selected Work Pattern time slot. The Appointment time slot is displayed depending upon the defined color of Encounter Type.
When the property appointment.workpattern.overlap.allow is turned ON, Type field is displayed as
button to set multiple Encounter Types.
In this way, multiple Encounters Types can be associated for selected Work Pattern.
This property works in correspondance to the appointment.enctype.slotcolorOn clicking
button, respective popup invokes displaying
multiple encounter types. In front of each
Encounter Type,Encounter Type comment textbox field
is displayed. Encounter type specific information/ comments can be entered
in this field and this comment gets displayed on the Appointment Schedule
screen. By default, Encounter type level comment and textbox fields are displayed as disabled
and on selecting required Encounter Type, corresponding textbox is displyed as enabled where
requiered comments can be entered. The maximum of 25 characters can be
entered in this field. If Enc Type checkbox is unchecked after the comment (description) is entered in corresponding text field, then respective comment is deleted and the text field is disabled. Encounter Type comments are displayed on the Appointment Schedule screen as per the value set in the property appointment.locationdisplay.applicable.
There are four values set for this property as follows:
E.g., If value 15 Loc Name and EncType Code and Comments is set in the property, then on Appointments → Schedule screen
Also, Time Slot Comments textbox field is displayed on the popup below Encounter Types. This field is also displayed as disabled by default and is enabled only when atleast one Encounter Type is selected. The maximum of 50 characters can be entered in this field. If a Time Slot Comment is entered for a specific Encounter Type, and then the Encounter Type checkbox is deselected then the entered comment will not be saved.
Note:
- If for a Encounter Type, a Time Slot Comment is added and for the same Encounter Type, a Encounter type level comment is also present then on Appointment Schedule screen, only Time Slot level comment will be displayed.
- Aforementioned functionality of Type column, is applicable for Exception Work Pattern.
Exception Work Pattern:
Exception definition allows the provider to define exceptional schedules for a day depending upon a specific condition. E.g. The First Monday of the month or Every Second Tuesday etc. These exceptional work patterns need to be defined in the range of the Start and Finish dates. The exceptionally defined schedules override the default work pattern for that day.
Solutions to Obvious Queries:
1. Can we have a working schedule for a Doc at Location 1 for August and September and Location 2 for September and October?
Yes - we can do that by defining three work patterns, first shall have schedule for August at Location 1, second shall have schedule for September for Location 1 and Location 2 and the third shall have schedule for October for Location2.
2. What if a Doctor works at Location 1 from Monday to Thursday during August, September and October, and wishes to work on all Fridays at the same time and same Location 1 in October?
We can achieve this by modifying the Finish Date from October to August of the existing default work pattern and defining another default work pattern for October, where in the Doc shall work for days, Monday through Friday, at the same time and Location.
3. What if we define a Default work pattern for ALL days of the week, with Sunday and Saturday as weekly offs and then if Saturday is made as working, would the work schedule for all days be defined for Saturday too?
No - As we had defined work Pattern for ALL days during which Saturday was a weekly off, now we shall need to redefine the existing Default work schedule for all the days which includes Saturday as working.
Copy Work Pattern:
- As a step towards automation of Clinic workflow, Clinics can conveniently copy Work Patterns of one Provider to others; incorporate them; and start using without having to create them from start.
- On click on the button, Copy Work Pattern pop-up is displayed displaying the list of existing Work Patterns in the system.
- On selecting a Work Pattern, the Work Pattern is applied and ready for use.
- If User selects a Work Pattern wherein the Finish Date ' is less than Todays Date then a message in bold red is displayed to the User with the suggestion to change the Finish Date' in order to apply the Work Pattern.
Note:
- A Provider cannot copy his/her own Work Pattern it is not available on Copy Work Pattern list.
- At the time of editing Work Pattern information (after copy) the Copy Work Pattern button remains disabled till User effectively saves the changes.
Telemedicine workpattern for Telemedicine Provider
Telemedicine workpattern same as In-Clinic work pattern checkbox: This checkbox is available only when the Telemedicine Provider checkbox on the Provider Master screen is checked. By default this checkbox is checked for all the Telemedicine Provider.
To define Telemedicine Work Pattern which is not a part of In-Clinic Work Pattern, uncheck the checkbox Telemedicine workpattern same as In-Clnic workpattern. Once the checkbox is unchecked, a separate table is displayed on the Work Pattern screen. Select the Start time and End Time to define telemedicine workpattern time slot and click on the Save button to save the changes. The User can define
Note: The Telemedicine work pattern or Telemedicine as a feature, does not require the location for the telemedicine encounter to be carried out. Hence, the Location as a column is not added in this table.
If the user selects a Start Time on the 2nd row which is part of the Start or End Time of the previous row, then a validation message Telemedicine Timing in Row 1 overlaps with Telemedicine Timing in Row 2 is displayed on the screen. This functionality applies on all the rows. If the user adds the End Time that is before the Start Time of the Telemedicine work pattern in the same row, then a validation message For Telemedicine, Start Time >= End Time on Row No XX is displayed on the screen.
Note: The user can define the telemedicine workpattern that
is different from the in-clinic timings or they can overlap as per the Provider's convenience.
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