Skip to main content
Version: 3.1

Start a discussion

Overview​

Watch the demo — starting a discussion from the encounter Notes tab.

This flow describes how to start a new discussion in Clinical Notes. A discussion groups related messages under one title.

You can start a discussion in two contexts. A discussion that you start in an encounter belongs to that encounter. A discussion that you start on the patient profile belongs to the patient and to no encounter.

Pre-requisites​

  • The patient is registered in Care.
  • If you start the discussion in an encounter, the encounter is open. You cannot start a discussion in a closed encounter. Care treats an encounter as closed when its status is Completed, Cancelled, Discontinued, or Entered in error.
  • You have the permissions listed below.

Permissions​

PermissionAccess
Update Encounter related clinical dataLets you start a discussion inside an encounter. Doctor, Nurse, Admin, and Facility Admin hold this permission.
Can Update a Patient's dataLets you start a discussion on the patient profile. Staff, Doctor, Nurse, Administrator, Admin, and Facility Admin hold this permission.

Steps​

1. Go to the Notes tab​

Choose the context for the new discussion.

  • For an encounter discussion, open the encounter. Go to the Notes tab. Keyboard shortcut: press g, then press n.
  • For a patient discussion, open the patient profile. Go to the Notes tab.

Note: The two lists never overlap. A discussion that you start in an encounter does not show on the patient profile. A discussion that you start on the patient profile does not show in the encounter.

2. Open the Start New Discussion dialog​

Select New above the discussion list. On a small screen, select New Thread at the bottom of the screen.

If the list holds no discussion yet, you can also select Start New Discussion in the middle of the screen.

Care opens the Start New Discussion dialog. Select the information icon next to the title to read this note: "Create a new discussion thread to organize your conversation topics."

3. Enter the discussion title​

The dialog shows "Choose a template or enter a custom title".

Select one of the suggested titles, or type your own title in the box with the placeholder "Enter discussion title...".

The dialog suggests these titles:

  • Treatment Plan
  • Medication Notes
  • Care Coordination
  • General Notes
  • Patient History
  • Referral Notes
  • Lab Results Discussion

Care removes a suggested title from the list when a discussion in this list already uses that title. After all suggestions are used, the dialog shows "Please enter a custom title for thread".

Note: A title holds a maximum of 255 characters.

Note: Two discussions in the same list cannot share a title. If the title is already in use, Care shows "Thread with this title already exists". Care does not create the discussion.

4. Create the discussion​

Select Create. The Create button stays unavailable while the title box is empty.

To stop without a new discussion, select Cancel.

If Care cannot create the discussion, Care shows "Failed to create thread".

Expected Outcome​

  • Care shows "Thread created successfully".
  • Care opens the new discussion. You can post the first message.
  • The new discussion shows only in the list of the context that you started it in.

Note: Care shows no way to delete a discussion after you create it.

Concepts:

Flows: