Office Practicum Release Updates: Version OP 21.3

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21.3.49 Maintenance Release On-Premise: February 7, 2024 | Cloud: Per email communication

Resource Updates

Update VIS for COVID and RSV

We have made the following updates to the VIS for COVID and RSV: 

  • Added in new CDC recommended VIS for fall 2023 COVID 12 yr+ vaccine formulations (fact sheets) and an updated RSV VIS.
  • Archived old RSV VIS from July 2023 and Novavax fact sheet from Oct 2022.

Improved Functionality for Providers and/or Clinical Staff

Added Inventory Name to the Imm Task/Order Display drop-down

When ordering a vaccine in the vaccine dropdown, providers will now be presented with BOTH the Vaccine Name (set by OP) AND the inventory name (can be set by practice). This will reduce the potential for any confusion in the vaccine being ordered. Previously, only the Vaccine Name was visible.

Increased Character Limit for Specialty in Referrals

We have increased the character limit for the Specialty field in Referrals from 64 characters to 250 characters, which will allow users to type in longer specialties in OP.


  New Calendar Issue Resolutions 

Drag and Drop Appointment to Where the Time Block Starts

When dragging and dropping an appointment on the new calendar, it would place the start time of the appointment where your mouse was, regardless of where you had the start of the time block. 

This has been changed and will now drop the appointment where the start of the block is and NOT where your mouse is.

Delete Appointment when Max Appointment Limit is Met

Previously, when a user sets up an appointment zone with Max appts and applies it to the calendar, if that max appt count is reached, then the user could not delete appointments, even as an administrator.

Now, users can delete appointments when the max appointment limit is met.

Appointments Show Only for Location Scheduled

Previously, appointments were briefly appearing on the wrong location's schedule.

Example: If a provider who has no time slot zones at location A, but does at location B, and the provider is visible on the calendar for location A, users were seeing a Scheduling in Progress/Appointment appear on location A's schedule even though it's scheduled for location B. Once the user refreshed the screen, it disappeared.

Now, appointments will only show for the location they are being scheduled at, regardless if that provider shows on different locations or not.

Copy Zones for Week to Another Provider

Previously, in Slots view on the new calendar, when trying to copy zones for a whole week, it wouldn't paste to another provider. It would just be duplicated for the provider you copied it from.

Now, the new calendar will allow you to copy a whole week of zones and paste them to another provider.

Non-Patient Notes Will Display Create Day/Time/User

The new Non-Patient Note window will display the day, time, and user that created the event just like patient appointments does.

“Show Resource Initials” Setting Updated

The "Show Resource Initials" setting in the calendar will put the staff/resources initials before the name. This can be saved as a preference and by default is unchecked.


Issue Resolutions

Send Message | Contact Box Displays Only Active Staff

Previously, when sending a message the end-user entered the contact search box it would list inactive staff. This would lead to selecting inactive staff and/or more time to scroll the list. 

Now, when entering the contact search box from a message we only display active staff in the contact box. This will lead to more efficiency in finding the proper contacts to send a message to.

Billing Center Overview | Unconverted All Superbills Count Now Matches Across Tabs

Billing Center > Overview > Billing Performance 

Previously, the unconverted, all counts under Superbills did not match the count on the report and the Superbills tab. 

Now, the count will match across the report, overview tab, and the superbill tab.

Find Next Available | Available Slots for Rooms

Previously, when using the Find Next Available feature on the schedule, the slots for Rooms are not showing as being available. 

Now, resources will show in the Find Available feature if they meet the specified zone and time block criteria selected.

Clicking on a Document Greater than 10MB Now Displays Warning Pop-up

Previously, when a user selected any document that is greater than 10MB, then OP should have alerted the user, but the pop up was not showing or alerting the user. 

Now, when you select any document that is greater than 10 MB, you will receive a pop-up warning stating that “This document is greater than 10MS, would you still want to proceed with displaying this document?” and asking you to confirm.


21.3.47 Maintenance Release On-Premise: January 2, 2024 | Cloud: Per email communication

Issue Resolutions

“No Vaccine Inventory Item with this NDC is Found” Error Message

Corrected several issues causing errors when a user is entering in a new vaccine lot (Practice Management > Manage Vaccine Inventory > New):

  • Workflow IF the information is manually entered starting with the NDC:
    • NDC must be entered in an 11 digit format
    • If the NDC currently exists in the vaccine product table, then the Inventory Name, Vaccine Name, and GTIN will automatically populate
    • If the NDC does not currently exist in the vaccine product table, the user can manually choose an Inventory and Vaccine Name
    • A GTIN will NOT be a required field
  • Workflow IF the information is manually entered starting with the Inventory Namedropdown:
    • User will pick the inventory name and then the vaccine name from the dropdown
    • User will enter in the NDC manually in an 11 digit format
    • If the NDC currently exists in the vaccine product table, then the GTIN will automatically populate
    • A GTIN will NOT be a required field
  • Workflow IF a vaccine barcode scanneris used:
    • Regardless of what field the cursor is in in the new inventory detail window (defaults to Inventory Name field)
    • When the user scans in the barcode on the product package, then the Inventory Name, Vaccine Name, NDC, GTIN, and Manufacturer fields will be populated. The user will enter the lot number and the expiration date, as well as the number of doses.

New Calendar: Unable to change Start/End time

Previously, when changing the start and end time in the display preferences on the new calendar, the changes were not being saved. Now, the start/end time will save and update accordingly.

New Calendar: Split Screen on Calendar

Previously, the calendar view would appear staggered for some users and not others. It was discovered that this was occurring when users opened Vitals due to changes made in how we rounded. When they returned to the calendar it had the split view and would not resolve itself until the user logged out of OP. Now, we have restored the default rounding mode for vitals and it will not cause the calendar view to be staggered.


21.3.46 Maintenance Release On-Premise: December 11, 2023 | Cloud: Per email communication


Look out for these icons! 

Major Update

Less Clicks Campaign!

You asked, we listened!

Save Our Sanity!

Better Visibility

Less Clutter

New Features

 Custom Alerts Module 

OP has released a new Alerts Module! You can de-clutter your Tasks, Miscellaneous Notes, and pop-up warnings into one single, clean, customizable Alerts system. Define the alert, set it for multiple departments or just one, copy it amongst siblings, "snooze" the alert, add start and end dates, and more! For more details on this new feature, see the Patient Alerts articles.

 Electronic Health Information Export 

Both cloud and client-server practices can now schedule the export of electronic health information data for patients! For more details on this new feature, please see the EHI Export article.

 Social Determinants of Health Documentation 

Tracking social determinants of health (SDOH) can be an important part of a child and family's overall healthcare. To comply with new USCDI v2 requirements, OP has added several new features for tracking risk factors and goals for social determinants. More extensive documentation on this new feature is coming soon, but get started with this article!

DIRECT Messages Improvements Coming Soon

OP is transitioning its DIRECT message vendor away from EMRDirect to Kno2. The new DIRECT message service will permits more robust features for DIRECT messaging, such as status tracking of DIRECT messages you've sent, a searchable DIRECT address directory connected to your Address Book, and more. You will not see any actual changes in your DIRECT messaging with this release, since this release only contains preparatory work "behind the scenes" for the new DIRECT service. However, we anticipate the transition to our new DIRECT vendor by late January 2024, at which time the new changes we've created will become visible.


Improved Functionality for All Users

Suppress New Fax Warning 

In a previous update, we added a popup warning when a user attempts to attach more than 99 pages in a single fax. Now, users may suppress this warning for future by checking a "Do not show this message again" box in the popup. Users who wish to restore this message may choose to Clear Active Form

Note: Because this is a user-defined preference, one user suppressing the warning does not suppress it for all other users -- only the user who checks the box.


Improved Functionality for Providers and/or Clinical Staff

New "Disposition" Field for Encounters 

USCDI version 2 stipulates that EMR provide certain core structured data to improve clarity and interoperability. One such standard requires that each encounter with a health care provider list a disposition ("Encounter Disposition.") While traditionally used for hospital discharges, it is also required for ambulatory encounters. 

Now, at the time of note finalization (both encounter notes and well notes), clinicians can choose from a variety of coded dispositions in a dropdown. A Notes field is provided for free text entry. To minimize unnecessary clicking, the default disposition for all providers and all notes is "Home".

Improved Functionality for Non-Clinical Staff and/or Billing Staff

Double Entry Bookkeeping - With Half the Work! 

Double-entry bookkeeping is a generally-accepted financial principle that promotes accuracy and reduces risk of embezzlement. OP has always recommended posting patient monies received first as a patient credit (seen in a patient chart in Account / Credits as a positive Patient Credit with CK, CA, or CC reflecting how the monies were received. OP then has always recommended applying that patient credit to patient cost-share, old balance, etc. 

Previously, it was possible to bypass the credit posting step and simply, for example, take a patient check and apply it directly to a patient's old balance without first creating a patient credit. Practices were tempted to take this shortcut simply because first posting the credit was more clicking. 

However, now if a patient payment is applied directly to a payment, OP will auto-magically create two patient Credit records, one posting the credit, the other debiting the credit as the monies are applied to the patient's balance. This helps practices save steps, time, and clicks while making it easier to proof out-of-balance accounts. Finally, it provides an extra financial audit trail to thwart would-be embezzlers.


Issue Resolutions Impacting Workflows for All Users

Document: Double Vision Fixed 

Previously, in the OP 21.3.35 release, some practices reported intermittent instances of documents duplicating within Document Management. The documents were not in fact duplicating, although it sure looked this way on the screen, until the user clicked on a different document. This was an unintended consequence of an enhancement in 21.3.35, in which we tried to display the file size of a document when it was clicked on/viewed. 

To correct the bug, we changed the enhancement so that the user now cannot view the file size while viewing documents -- the user can now only view the file size when adding a new document or editing an existing document.


Issue Resolutions Impacting Providers and/or Clinical Staff Workflows

Automatching Labs: Dance With the One Who Brung Ya

OP's eLabs feature uses an automatching feature so that when results come in from an eLab (like Quest or Labcorp), they will "auto-match" to the original requisition, meaning the results appear in the proper child's chart attached to the proper requisition. Previously, there were intermittent instances in which inbound lab results would arrive into OP and automatch to an incorrect patient. We determined when multiple charts were open at the same time when the requisition was created, and the user changed patient focus during the process, the eLab requisition would occasionally attach to someone other than the desired patient. 

This behavior has been corrected so that the requisition attaches to the proper patient.

Incorrect GTIN Number Populating for Vaccines (On-Premise Practices Only) 

Note: This was corrected for Cloud practices in 21.3.35.

Corrected an issue where OP generated an incorrect GTIN when a user manually entered in an NDC in the Vaccine Inventory Item Detail window when entering in a new lot. 

Users will now be required to enter in the NDC in a complete 11 digit format, and the generated GTIN will come directly from the corresponding entry in the vaccine product table. 

Users will see a popup warning if:

  • The NDC is not 11 digits
  • If the user enters an NDC incorrectly, or 
  • The NDC is not associated with an entry in the vaccine product table

Issue Resolutions Impacting Non-Clinical Staff and/or Billing Staff Workflows

Search for Appointments: I Haven't Forgot You 

Previously, in the new (Devex) Calendar, if you were in a patient's chart and went to Schedule > Search for Appointment, you lost the context of the patient from whose chart you originated. This is in contrast to the old existing (DTI) Calendar, which preserves the patient in whose chart you originated. 

Now the new Devex Calendar has been updated so that it behaves like the existing calendar, reducing clicking for users.

Alert Harmony: Queue Counts Now Reconcile 

The total number of claims in the Queue (in Billing > Billing Center > Queue, and Date range = All, the number in the bottom left of the screen) is considered the "number of truth" in terms of "How many claims are in the transmission queue?" The Queue badge in the Alerts > Billing pane on the left side of the screen should always auto-update to reflect the Number of Truth. Similarly, the figure in Billing > Billing Performance > Claim Status > In transmission queue, not sent. Previously, these numbers often got out of sync. 

Now, the syncing behavior has been corrected so that the Alerts > Billing > Queue badge and the Billing > Billing Performance > Claim Status > In transmission queue, not sent numbers will always reflect the "number of truth."

Beyfortus Billing Logic 

As of October 2023, Beyfortus (nirsevimab) administration requires use of one of two administration codes: 96380 (if the dose was counseled) or 96381 (if the dose was not counseled.) Previously, OP used the old injection administration code (96372). 

Now, the proper administration code will drop automatically to the superbill based on whether the user indicates that counseling was provided in the immunization administration screen

Note: Practices whose payers do not yet recognize these new codes may add an OP AWARE rule to temporarily revert these codes to 96372 until their payers adopt the new codes.


21.3.35 Maintenance Release CLOUD ONLY: Per email communication

Issue Resolutions

Incorrect GTIN Number Populating for Vaccines

Corrected an issue where OP generated an incorrect GTIN when a user manually entered in an NDC in the Vaccine Inventory Item Detail window when entering in a new lot. 

Users will now be required to enter in the NDC in a complete 11 digit format, and the generated GTIN will come directly from the corresponding entry in the vaccine product table. 

Users will see a popup warning if:

  • The NDC is not 11 digits
  • If the user enters an NDC incorrectly, or 
  • The NDC is not associated with an entry in the vaccine product table

21.3.34 Maintenance Release On-Premise: November 18, 2023 | Cloud: Per email communication

Look out for these icons! 

Less Clicks!Major Update

You asked, we listened!

Save Our Sanity!

Better Visibility

Less Clutter

New Features

 Alerts for Tasks Assigned to You

The Message section on the left Alerts bar has been renamed Communication. Tasks now display in that section. (You can also drag and drop Tasks to another section of the Alert bar if you prefer, then save that preference.) 

  • The number of tasks assigned to you individually will now display in red
  • Clicking on the Tasks label will open the Task Manager window. 
  • The assigned Tasks number does not auto-refresh, for performance reasons. To get an updated count, right click and select Refresh Badge

Note: In order for the new Tasks badge to appear on the Alert side navigation bar for all users, user preferences for THIS NAVIGATION ONLY (Alert navigation) will be reset upon taking the 21.3.34 release.

 Multiple Controlled Rx Simultaneously!

Previously, a user had to send multiple controlled substance prescriptions for a patient individually. 

Now, a user may send up to five controlled substance prescriptions at a time; the user will only have to authenticate once with DrFirst. This is true even if the five prescriptions are not all being sent to the same pharmacy.

Please see this article for a more detailed overview of the updates to sending multiple controlled substance prescriptions.


New/Updated Vaccines

Convenient Typhoid and Td Entry

Clinical staff can now order Typhoid, oral and Td pf 2Lf from the Immunization Tab of the Orders window and can now enter both of these vaccines via Quick Entry.


Improved Functionality for All Users

PMX+ Administrators: Preference Moved, but Not Removed!

Previously, the preference to receive OP Notify cancellation messages was set through Admin > Global Preferences > Portal > Notification Preference. This preference has been moved. 

PMX+ users can now set this preference through Patient Message Exchange > Automated Messages > Global Settings > Appointment Cancellation. In addition to the Receive messages: Y/N toggle, you can also set the Department (e.g. Front Desk) who should receive these messages.

Tasks

We Are Never, Ever Doing [Task] Together

Added the option to select Refused as a Tasks drop-down. If selected, this option will behave like a completed Task, in that it will drop off the list of pending tasks to complete.

Task Assignment Permission

A new Tasks_ModifyStaff permission permits a user to change the department and staff assigned to any task. Without the permission, the user can only edit the department/staff on tasks created by that user.

Warning: Large Download, Are You Sure? 

To protect system performance, OP will now warn a user attempting to view a very large document or image (>10 MB) in OP. The user may override this warning to view the document/image if desired.

Document Details Collapse Now Sticks in Documents

The Document Details panel contains useful information, but sometimes it takes up too much screen real estate if you're in Document Management. Previously, users could not save the preference to keep the Document Details collapsed while in Document Management (particularly on a small-screen laptop.) Now this is a savable preference.

Instant Messages

Ding, Dong, The Lunch Is Here!

A chime will now sound when you receive an instant message.

Time AND Date Stamps!

Previously, Instant Messages (IMs) only showed the time they were sent. Now they show the date and time.

The More, The Merrier

You can now send Instant Messages to more than one person at once. The To: drop-down permits multiple recipients to be selected.

Open Chart: New Mouse Shortcut

Right-clicking on a patient from either the Schedule or Tracking screen now shows a menu option for Open Patient Chart. This emulates the existing F8 shortcut action but provides a mouse-driven alternative.

Passwords: You Have 5 (or More) Chances to Comply!

Previously, OP disabled users who tried to log in and entered 2 incorrect passwords in a row. Now, users are given a default of 5 attempts to log in before they are locked out. The default value of 5 can be changed with the preference Admin > Global Preferences > Security > Number of consecutive attempts at entering a password during log in before user is disabled. This preference only applies to non-administrative users (who have an infinite number of attempts) and only applies if Strong Passwords are enabled. 

Similarly, after a user has been locked out for too many incorrect attempts, the user will get a popup that says "You have been disabled. Please contact an administrator. [OK]". Previously, the user kept getting the popup stating "Incorrect username or password," which was misleading.

Please see this article for a more detailed overview of the updates to Password settings.

Tracking Screen Improvements

Columns for Gender Identity and Alternate First Name have been added as selectable columns to the Tracking Screen. These columns do not display by default but can be added and saved as a preference.


Improved Functionality for Providers and/or Clinical Staff

Prescribing/Pharmacy Enhancements

Dude, Add the Pharmacy

Pharmacy selection is now in the first screen of the Prescription Writer. Users used to the old workflow might skip right over the pharmacy chooser box, then wonder why they couldn't click Continue. Now, the Pharmacy field will display red as a visual indicator (a).

See Pharmacy History At A Glance

Previously, if you wanted to see to which pharmacy Medications had been sent, you had to individually open each prescription and click on Status to view where the prescription had been sent. Now, the hamburger in the Medications list permits enabling the Pharmacy column, so you can see where all medications have been sent previously. Obviously, prescriptions that were printed rather than e-prescribed will not have a pharmacy populate in this field.

867-5309 / Pharmacy

The Pharmacy drop-down in the main Prescription screen now shows the pharmacy phone number instead of the OP internal ID number, which just took up space and didn't provide useful information to the prescriber (b).

ePA Worklist Tab: Reduced Logorrhea

Previously, the ePrior Auth worklist tab (Medications > Worklist OR eRX Center > ePrior Auth > Worklist) included so much detail that the tab was ungainly. For example, a Worklist tab might read "Worklist - ondansetron Hcl solution, oral 4 mg/5mlDisepasen: 20 (twenty) millliterTake 4 ml by mouth every 8 hours for 10 days as needed for nausea and vomiting..." This extreme width potentially crowded out the presence of other open tabs, which defeated the purpose of the "Use tabbed interface" preference. 

Now, the Worklist tab will simply show the patient name and ID number, similar to other tabs.

Carequality Enhancements

Only practices using Carequality for Carequality enabled users

Carequality CCDs May Require Cosignature

Carequality creates CCDs of patient visits in the background automatically, so that they can be shared with other Carequality practices. Previously, all notes that were finalized would be automatically converted to CCDs and were available for distribution through the Carequality network. Now, providers who have finalized their notes but who require a cosignature based on their Clinical Level must have those notes cosigned before the CCD is created.

Exit Warning

When a user is searching OP Carequality, then clicks out of Carequality elsewhere in a patient chart, now OP will warn the user, "Are you sure you're done with the search? Any search in progress will be lost".


Improved Functionality for Non-Clinical Staff and/or Billing Staff

Tracking Screen AM/PM Options

You can now filter the Tracking Screen to show All appointments, AM only appointments (appointments scheduled until 12pm), or PM only appointments (appointments scheduled on or after 12pm). 

Note: These filters can't be saved as a user preference, but the system will keep the existing selection until you log out of the system. Then it will resort back to the default setting of All.

Contracts: CPT Descriptions Visible

In two Contracts-related areas, the CPT description accompanying a CPT code is now visible: 

  1. The Update Insurance Contract window (visible after a biller posts a remittance where the allowable on a CPT code is different than the allowable in the corresponding Contract), and,
  2. The Contract Details pane (Billing > Contracts > Contract Details). 

No more Googling to find out which procedure 10140 is!

Find Next Available Accuracy

Previously, the Find Next Available button did not show appointment slots that were marked as Cancelled or Cancelled Same Day as available time slots. 

Now, when an appointment is marked Cancelled or Cancelled Same Day, that time slot is now released such that it can be found using Find Next Available.

Contact Manager: Merge and Refresh

Previously, when merging two identical contacts, both contacts remained visible in the Contact Manager window until you logged out and back into OP. This potentially confused the end user as to whether the merge was successful. Now, when contacts are merged, the list immediately refreshes so only the one selected to be kept is still visible in the grid.

Payment Processing Rules: Tasks for Staff Member

Previously, you could create a Task as a Payment Processing Rule. Now you can specify a particular staff member to whom the Task will be assigned, as opposed to the Task simply being assigned to a department.

Who Created This Chart?

The staff member who created a new patient's chart is now captured and displays on the Demographics screen next to Register Date.

Calendar Selector in OP Reports

In OP Reports, if the report calls for a user-entered date or date range, you will now get a calendar pop-up to select the date(s) from, as opposed to having to key in the date.


Issue Resolutions Impacting Workflows for All Users

Access Violations Fixed

Clinical Overview: Less Truncation 


Issue Resolutions Impacting Providers and/or Clinical Staff Workflows

Gremlins Changing NDCs: Fixed

Immunities & Refusals: Now All Doses Show

Privacy While Applying Prior Notes

Prescription Resolutions

Deliverance: One Time Only

Two Prescriptions, Two Diagnoses

Collective Prescriptions: Individual Consideration When Printing

Scheduled Drugs: Location, Location, Location

Apostrophes Permitted in Pharmacy Names

Michigan Form Fixed

Controlled Substance: Control!


Issue Resolutions Impacting Providers and/or Clinical Staff Workflows

Confirmations Only for Non-Cancelled Appointments

Admin Codes: Do Not Bill

Medicare Immunization Admin Codes

This POS Will Change (Can You Feel It Now?)

One Patient, One Claim Number

ERA Reprocess: Pointless Option Removed

OP AWARE Rule Editing

User Administration: Not Active Means No Membership

MySQL DAR Faster

Michigan Form Fixed

eFax Resolutions

Sent Page Count

Page Warnings

Stuck On You

Usage Report

Expiration Dates Always After Effective Dates


21.3.16 Maintenance Release On-Premise: November 6, 2023 | Cloud: Per email communication

New Features

 Manual Fetch Labs Button

Users can now manually fetch any pending labs from any lab interface setup by clicking the Manual Fetch button. The button is located in the Alerts > Clinical > Unmatched >Unmatched Received Results tab. New matched labs will automatically go to the proper patient's chart and new unmatched labs will appear in the Unmatched Received Results tab.


Improved Functionality for Providers and/or Clinical Staff

Preventing Exit Note Gibberish

Previously, an end-user could unwittingly cause the summary note to appear in gibberish if they entered a special "reserved" character: 

If the note was finalized, Support needed to unlock the note and remove the special character. Now, when a user enters a reserved character, a popup will appear telling the user to remove it before the user can navigate to a different area. Reserved characters are { and }.

Prescription Report - Prescriber's Local Address

OP has a variety of canned printable prescription reports (available in the dropdown in a Patient Chart > Medications > Print or in OP Reports > Prescription_Rpts) for when patients need a paper Rx provided. The prescriber's name and address of record appear in the top box. 

Previously, the address found in Practice Management > Staff/Providers > Practice Info > Billing/Pay-To Information for that provider was used every time. For multilocation practices, this had the potential to be misleading. 

Now, for these standardized prescription reports, the following address hierarchy will be used: 

  1. The address of prescribing user's location (found in Practice Management > Practices/Locations) where the prescriber was logged in when the prescription was generated.
  2. If 1 is empty, then the prescriber's address of record from the address book.
  3.  If 1 and 2 are empty, then the address found in Practice Management > Staff/Providers > Practice Info > Billing/Pay-To Information.

Issue Resolutions Impacting Workflows for All Users

New Calendar Search: Previous Patient Sticks

In the original OP calendar, a user could have a patient in context, then Search on the calendar for appointments, and OP would keep that patient in context. Previously, in the new (Devex) Schedule Calendar, the new calendar would open but without the previous patient in context. This created a lot of extra clicks. Now, this behavior has been corrected, so that the past/future appointments of the patient whose chart the user will display by default.

Flash with Confidential Documents Fixed

Previously, when launching a confidential Document from Clinical Work > Documents, the user would see a flash of a previously opened document. (This behavior only occurred with confidential Documents.)

Now, when opening a confidential Document from Clinical Work, only the document you selected to view will be shown.


Issue Resolutions Impacting Workflows for Providers and/or Clinical Staff

Popup Reflects Programming

On premise clients only: A bug was introduced previously in which popup guidance did not match reality. The pop-up stated that "reserved" (prohibited) characters were only { and }, but was appearing when the note had other, legitimate characters such as / # and \. While { and } cause gibberish to appear in exit notes, there is no reason to keep users from using / , #, and \. However, users could not save notes with expressions like "1/2". This has been fixed so that the pop-up now accurately reflects OP's behavior: the only prohibited characters are { and }.


Issue Resolutions Impacting Non-Clinical Staff and/or Billing Staff Workflows

MySQL: Revert Patient Responsibility

MySQL practices only: Previously, reverting Patient Responsibility on a claim line was showing the balance under Insurance on the Summary Screen, but in the payments screen it was still showing as a patient balance.

Now, when a patient responsibility on a claim line is reverted, it will show as an insurance balance everywhere.

RCM: Insurance vs Patient AR

MySQL RCM Clients Only: The RCM Performance Report > Monthly Summaries is supposed to show only insurance (not patient) accounts receivable (AR). Recently, a bug was introduced such that patient AR was conflated into the report. This caused a big (artificial) jump in AR. 

This behavior has been fixed so that just insurance AR is reflected in this report.

Secondary Claim Rejections Fixed

Sending secondary claims electronically is a big time saver for practices. The Claim Adjustment Segment (CAS) of a secondary claim includes details about how the primary payer adjudicates a claim. Previously, secondary claims would sometimes contain a leading zero in the AMT segment, which some payers rejected. This means that practices could not easily send secondary electronic claims to these payers. 

This issue has been corrected, and the leading zero has been removed.


21.3.14 Maintenance Release On-Premise: October 5, 2023 | Cloud: Per email communication

Updated Vaccines

Added CVX for Unspecified RSV To OP Database

Added unspecified RSV vaccine (maternal) and RSV monoclonal Ab NOS vaccine code table entries to allow a user to document an unspecified / historical RSV vaccine or monoclonal Ab in a patient's chart through Quick Entry. These appear as RSV, NOS and RSV mAb, NOS.

Updated VIS for RSV Preventive Antibody

Added in the new CDC RSV preventive antibody IIS sheet, dated 9/25/2023, for use with RSV monoclonal antibody (nirsevimab/Beyfortus) administration.


Issue Resolutions

Incorrect Patient’s Documents Showing in a Patient Chart

Previously, when in single patient mode, if you are selecting and viewing documents for patient A, and you flip between tabs that bring another patient (patient B) into context, when you flip back to the chart tab for patient A you would see patient B's documents.

Now, flipping between tabs that bring different patients into context will not change the documents to another patient when viewing documents within a chart.


21.3.13 Maintenance Release On-Premise: September 25, 2023 | Cloud: Per email communication

New/Updated Vaccines

Universal Administration CPT for Fall 2023 COVID Vaccines

The administration CPT code (90480) for the newly released fall 2023 COVID vaccines has been linked to the individual vaccine product CPT codes.

Updated EUA | VIS for Fall 2023 COVID vaccines

Added in the newly released EUA sheets for the fall 2023 COVID vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna, 6 month - 11 year) with edition dates of 9/11/2023. Practices will now be able to associate these new VIS with the applicable vaccines in the Vaccine Products table:

Practice Management tab > More button (Reference Data group) > Vaccine Products > select a COVID vaccine > set the Default VIS dropdown to the new VIS.

Archived previous COVID VIS as per CDC guidelines.

Added Fall 2023 COVID Vaccines and CPTs to Database

The formulations for the 2023-24 Covid vaccines from Moderna, Pfizer, and Novavax have been added into the vaccine code table to allow for more streamlined vaccine inventory entry. This includes the NDC / GTIN numbers and the CPT codes for each of the vaccines.


Issue Resolutions

MySQL: Data Review Section of MDM

Corrected an issue in MySQL where the MDM Data Reviewed / Analyzed field was not accurately reflecting appropriately documented conditions that would have raised the level of complexity from 'limited' to 'moderate.' (For example, adding in an independent historian AND ordering 2 diagnostic tests qualifies as moderate Data.)

Removed Ability to Search for Another Patient within Documents

Currently users have the ability to review other patient documents within another patient's chart. This potentially misled users as to which documents went with which patient's chart. OP has removed the ability to change patients in the Document window when viewing documents from a patient’s chart. You can still change patients at the chart level.

N4UN Displays Only For Vaccines

Previously, when the Include NDC on Vaccine Products is set in the payer setting, and the unit of measure UN was selected, the NDC prefix N4UN appeared on a CMS-1500 form on both vaccine product codes AND on vaccine admin codes on the claim. Other NDC units of measure (ML, GR) were not affected.

False Credit Report with Instamed

Previously, when an Instamed payment did not go through, a patient credit was still being created within OP. Now, Instamed payments that do not have a transaction number associated with them will not be brought into OP and should no longer create these false patient credits.

Superbill Window Freeze

Previously, the superbill window was freezing when editing charges. Now, the superbill window will no longer freeze and open as desired.


21.3.12 Maintenance Release On-Premise: September 14, 2023 | Cloud: Per email communication

New Feature

Maternal Vaccine Tracking

Users can now document maternal Tdap during the pregnancy (Yes/No/Unknown) and maternal RSV vaccine during pregnancy (Yes/No/Unknown). These dropdowns, along with a field to add the date for the maternal RSV vaccine, are found in the Maternal/Pregnancy tab of the History section of a patient chart.


New/Updated Vaccines

New VIS: RSV and Multi Pediatric

We added the updated Multi Pediatric Vaccine VIS and the new RSV VIS, both with edition dates of 7/24/23, to the VIS table. Practices can now associate these new VIS with the applicable vaccines in the Vaccine Products table when they start using these new VIS. See Update VIS in Vaccine Products for instructions.

COVID Vaccine: Refused Means Refused!

Previously, when a COVID vaccine was refused, it was still being forecast as Due. Now, when a provider documents the refusal, the forecast tab in the patient's chart will correctly display the REFUSED status and not forecast it.

Vaccine Code Updates: RSV, FluLaval, Tenivac, and New COVID Admin CPT

We made several vaccine code set updates to the OP database: 

  • Added RSV vaccines (Arexvy and Abrysvo) and the RSV monoclonal antibody (Beyfortus) to the Vaccine Products code table, including their CPT, CVX, NDC, and GTIN information.
  • Updated the manufacturer for FluLaval from GlaxoSmithKline (SKB) to ID Biomedical Corporation of Quebec (IDB) to accurately reflect CDC information.
  • Added new NDC and GTIN for Tenivac.
  • Added the newly released AMA CPT admin code, 90480, to be used with monovalent COVID vaccines beginning fall 2023. The accompanying monovalent COVID vaccine products and their CVX, CPT, VIS, NDC, and GTIN will be added to the next maintenance release.

Improved Functionality

New Calendar | Out of Office Setting for Multi-location setting

Current Functionality: The Out of Office setting on the calendar will hide providers with a Do Not Book time slot and NO appointments scheduled for the day. 

New Functionality: The Out of Office setting on the calendar will:

  • Providers with a Do Not Book zone (this is driven by the zone purpose not description) AND no appointments will fall off the view when the OOO setting is unchecked.
  • Providers with a Do Not Book zone AND a bookable zone (this is driven by the zone purpose not description) can co-exist: the Bookable zone will trump the Do Not Book zone.
  • Providers with NO ZONES and NO APPOINTMENTS will fall off the view when the OOO Setting is unchecked.

Please see the Clean-up Tip in the Schedule with Appointment Zones section of the New Calendar Setup article for more information.

New Calendar | Non-Patient Notes Open a Small Text Window

To improve the non-patient note workflow, when you right-click and add a non-patient note, a new pop-up will appear allowing you to enter your text. Please see the Visual Changes section of the New Calendar Overview article for more information.


Issue Resolutions

More Access Violations Squashed!

Office Practicum has resolved an issue where the user would get an Access Violation when clicking Medical Records inside a patient chart.

Diagnosis Searching: Spacing Out!

Previously, when a user was searching for a SNOMED or ICD code (either in the code or description area), and the user hit the spacebar in an empty field, a random code was entered into the chart, without a description. This could lead to incorrect diagnoses being added for patients without the user being aware of how it occurred. 

Now, when the user hits the space bar in an empty field, a popup message states "Dx code and Dx description cannot be blank. Use Escape key to abort changes."

Accidental Chart Index Deletion Fixed

Previously, on rare occasions, it was possible for a user to accidentally delete a patient's REGISTER record out of OP. While everything else in the patient's chart was still intact, the user couldn't access that chart. Curiously, since the audit trail captured the audit event, Support was able to revert this action to make the patient accessible again. 

Now, this behavior has been corrected such that the REGISTER record remains intact, unless a chart has truly never been used (no sick or well notes, no vaccines, no billing, etc.)

Printing Notes for Visiting Patients

Previously, when an OP user printed either a well visit note, encounter note, or Referral, a copy would not save in Documents/Disclosures if all of the following were true:

  • User’s Clinical Level is set to Clinical Staff or Non-Clinical Staff, AND
  • Patient PCP is set to a Provider Outside of OP, AND
  • Patient Status is set to Visitor. 

Now, irrespective of a user's clinical level, patient PCP, and patient status, printed notes and referrals will populate in the Documents/Disclosures section of the patient's chart.

New Calendar | Patient in Focus

Previously, while leaving the calendar up in the background and working in another patient's chart, the patient in focus could change if another user triggered an event on the calendar. For example: User 1 opened a patient's chart from the schedule, then navigated to another patient's chart, while at the same time User 2 was working in the schedule. User 2's actions (checking patients in, creating appointments, etc) would trigger an event refresh and change the patient in context for User 1.

Now, the patient you are focused on will remain in focus regardless of other users creating Schedule events.


21.3.9 Maintenance Release On-Premise: Aug 28, 2023 | Cloud: Per email communication

Issue Resolutions

Incorrect Patient Information Showing on Electronic Diagnostic Test Order

One practice reported experiencing intermittent issues where inbound lab results from CHC would arrive into OP and automatch to an incorrect patient. The presumed workflow that was causing this was whenever multiple patient's chart windows were open in OP at the time the diagnostic test/requisitions were ordered in CHC. 

Now, the CHC order form in OP will now read the patient from the currently active form/patient chart rather than the global patient (patient listed in the top blue banner). This is because the global patient can be changed various ways in the multi patient mode which can cause this negative outcome to potentially occur.

More Access Violations Squashed!

Devex Calendar - No Access Violation will occur when shortening the time block of a non-patient note.

Patient Messages - Arithmetic Error Resolved

For some users in certain practices, attempting to access Messages from within a patient’s chart would generate an Arithmetic Exception error and the user could not view any of the messages within the chart. OP has resolved this error and those users will now be able to view a patient’s messages.


Workflow Enhancements

ePA Worklist Opens in its Own OP Tab

ePrescribe center > ePrior Auth tabClick Green check for Worklist

Previously, OP displayed the ePA worklist under ePrescribe Center > Prior Auth tab as the only window that could be opened. If a user wanted to compare a patient chart with the ePA worklist, the user had to close the ePA and tab back and forth between paper charts. This caused a lot of unnecessary extra clicks, especially if the user was trying to work through a long list. 

Now, OP users will be able to open ePA worklist and patient chart to have it as a side-by-side view.

Workflow Update for Changing Patient On A Created Appointment

Previously, Diagnostic Orders were showing under a siblings chart due to the user changing the patient's name on an appointment after the appointment was saved and a template was applied that placed orders. 

Now, users are no longer able to change the patient on an appointment or add a patient to a non-patient note. If an appointment was made under the wrong patient the user will have to either:

  • Delete the appointment, specify it was scheduled in error, then create a new appointment for the correct patient, OR
  • Cancel the appointment and create a new appointment for the correct patient.

This will prevent any orders from being placed under the wrong patient's chart.


21.3.7 Maintenance Release On-Premise: Aug 9, 2023 | Cloud: Per email communication

Issue Resolutions

More Access Violations Squashed

  • Post Payment List with No Payments: The Post Payment button will be disabled unless there are pending payments in the grid. (Billing > Billing Center > Adjudication)

21.3.6 Release On-Premise: July 31, 2023 | Cloud: Per email communication


Look out for these icons! 

Less Clicks Campaign!Major Update

You asked, we listened!

New Features

New Calendar View 

The Schedule Calendar is being refreshed! While we haven't gotten all the bugs worked out yet (see Known Issues, below), we wanted to offer it early so you can get a sneak peek of the new layout, colors, and features -- including a multi-location calendar that practices have been asking for. So that your practice can choose its "go live", practices have the option to:

Setup

If you choose to switch to using the new Calendar, you must manually turn it on. Please see this article on Setup Requirements to enable the updated Schedule, and this article for how to create a Schedule using Slots with the new Calendar view

Highlights

Some highlights include:

  1. Single calendar view can contain multiple locations simultaneously.
  2. Timeslot can contain the name of the zone for intended appointment types.
  3. Wave-over hints make it easy to see full event details on crowded days without having to open the appointment.
  4. In multi-location mode, both timeslots and appointments contain location name, to avoid confusion about what is happening where.

Other updates include:

  • Resource column limit increased from 15 to 75.
  • In multi-location weekly mode, providers can see their entire week at a glance, even if they are scheduled at more than one location.
  • Calendar fills and draws more efficiently, so we expect it will perform faster, even under higher loads.
  • In multi-location mode, administrators can monitor the entire practice at a glance and calculate slot usage/load factors.
  • Drag and Drop to move appointments to a different provider on the same day.
  • While adding slots to a provider's schedule, you can specify the location.
  • Even with all these improvements and changes, core user operations have not changed.  The same action buttons and context menus mean you don't have to learn new behaviors.

Known Issues: 

  • An access violation occurs when the user is within a non-patient note on the schedule and attempts to navigate to another date on the calendar. 
  • An access violation sometimes occurs when attempting to open a chart from the calendar. 
  • A chart sometimes opens without a selected patient when opening from the calendar. 
  • A provider's schedule sometimes appears out of alignment within their schedule column. 

List of New/Updated Content 

Help Articles
Written documentation of how-to steps
New Calendar Setup (21.3)

Batch Claim Queuing: For Clients With Automation (Billing) Only 

Path: Billing tab >  More button (Customize Group) > Billing Preferences > Superbills.

Under the Superbills tab of the Billing Preferences there is a new setting for Batch Claim Queuing. When checked, this will allow you to manually select claims from the Claims A/R tab to be queued behind the scenes with automation. These claims will be assigned a batch id that automation will then pick up and queue automatically. You will not see the claim category change from Q0 to Q1 until automation has queued the claims. This can take a few minutes. You must selected the claims and click QPrim in order to initiate the batch queuing process.

Note:  If you DO NOT have automation and enable this setting your claims will not get queued. This works for claims only queued from the Claims A/R tab and only when queuing to the primary insurance.


Resource Updates

New CHADIS Surveys Available 

Dozens of new and updated CHADIS surveys are now available through OP. For a complete list of new and added surveys, see the CHADIS Survey Library Updates: 2023 article.


New/Updated Vaccine(s)

Updates to the vaccine database for Flu Season 2023-24 

Updates have been made to the Vaccine Product table to reflect the 2023-24 flu season products. Importantly, to reflect the ability of a provider to choose either a 0.25 or a 0.5 mL dose of Fluzone Quadrivalent (multi-dose vial) for children 6-35 months (which have two different CPT codes), two new VacNames have been added into OP:

  • FLU-IIV4 6-35m (0.25 mL)
  • FLU-IIV4 6-35m (0.5 mL)

Additionally, the prior category FLU-IIV 6-35m has been marked inactive. This allows practices to clearly enter in lots for Fluzone for either dosage. 2023-24 flu season products have been added to to their respective Vaccine Product table entries with updated NDCs and GTINs.

Please see the 2023-2024 Flu Vaccine Product Information article for a detailed list.

Update VIS for PCV and HepB 

Updated the VIS sheets for Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV13_PCV15_PCV20) and Hepatitis B Vaccine to reflect updated editions of 5/12/2023 as per the CDC. Prior editions have been changed to an archived status.


Improved Functionality For Providers and/or Clinical Staff

 New Prescription Window Changes

For more information on the updated workflow, watch the new Prescription Writer - Pharmacy Selection Quick Tip Video, and review the updated ePrescribing How-to articles.

When writing prescriptions, the following enhancements have been added to the Prescription Writer window and workflow:

  1. Pharmacy selector: There is a new Pharmacy drop-down on the Prescription writer window, which updates the workflow for writing prescriptions.
    • For all Med - to dispense medications, you will now select the pharmacy on the initial prescribing screen. Previously, pharmacy selection was made on the next window after filling out the Medication/Prescription details.
    • The drop-down shows pharmacies where you've previously sent meds for this patient; the ellipsis button permits you to choose any pharmacy.  This reduces the number of clicks to send a prescription.
    • Alternatively, if you want to create a prescription but you don't know where to send it at the time, you can click Save instead to hold the prescription for later sending.

Watch the Prescription Writer - Pharmacy Selection Quick Tip Video to see the new workflow!

  1. Height and Weight: To save screen "real estate," when writing new prescriptions, the patient's most recent weight and height are now displayed on a single line instead of two.
  2. Continue button: The Send button has been renamed to Continue.
    • Note: If you don't select a pharmacy when writing a prescription, the Continue button (formerly labeled Send) is greyed out.

Updated Down Syndrome Growth Charts

Down Syndrome growth charts have been updated to include updated growth parameters from Pediatrics (2015) 136 (5): e1204–e1211. Users may now set the default growth chart for patients with Down syndrome to DOWN 2015. The old Down syndrome growth charts ("Down Syndrome") are retained for completeness.

ConnectWise Button Added to Help Menu

A new ConnectWise button has been added under the Help menu. This will work just like the Remote Viewer button which will eventually be retired. See the ConnectWise article for more detailed information.


Improved Functionality For Non-Clinical and/or Billing Staff

Billing Center Scrollbar Added

A vertical scrollbar has been added to the Billing Center (F9) so that users on smaller screen devices can see the entire screen. 

Improved Error Message for PMX Users

Link-shortening URLs were forbidden in PMX messages, starting with OP 21.2. Previously, however, users got a message that didn't signpost the problem well. Now, an error message points users to a Help Center article providing a full explanation


Issue Resolutions Impacting Workflows for All Users

Scope: Too Many Users? 

More Access Violations Squashed


Issue Resolutions Impacting Providers and/or Clinical Staff Workflows

Refills Not Interrupted by eCancels

ImmReg: Days of Future Past


Issue Resolutions Impacting Non-Clinical Staff and/or Billing Staff Workflows

Miscellaneous and Billing Notes Now Auto-Save