The New button

The New button allows access to items that can be added to Palmedic's database. The only built-in item is Patient, and this is the only item that will appear in the popup menu if no plug-ins are installed or no patient exists for which a new item can be added.

Patient

Selecting Patient from the New popup menu will add a new "blank" patient to Palmedic's database. The Demographics screen for the new patient will be presented allowing the entry of the patient's basic information. Palmedic supplies a default MR# as one is required for every patient in the database. Tapping the MR# label clears the entry field allowing the quick entry of your own MR#.

Plug-ins

Individual plug-ins may add items to the New popup menu as appropriate. See the plug-ins page for more details on individual items.

The Show button

The Show button allows one to change "views" from anywhere within the program. Built-in views include Patient Chart, Name Card, and Demographics. Palmedic plug-ins provide patient data "modules" within a view called the Edit View.

Patient Chart

The Patient Chart view is the heart of Palmedic's functionality. Within it, you can view all of the basic data you have entered on your patients. The Patient Chart consists of three sections: the patient overview, the data list, and the data tabs.

Patient overview

The patient overview is a plug-in component. In other words, it can be modified by any plug-in you load that contains a patient overview resource. The overview shown here is the default plug-in distributed with Palmedic. It not only shows you the patient's demographics, iincluding: name, descriptiong, MR#, code status, location, chief complaint, and date of admission (DOA); but also shows useful information according to the status of the patient. The 'Seen' label shown in this view gives the user the ability to mark the last time he or she saw the patient. Tapping on the label Seen marks the patient as having been seen 'today', while tapping on the date portion of the Seen status, pops up a view in which the date can be entered. This label changes to date of discharge (DOD) if the patient has been discharged. The Day # data item automatically updates itself according to how many days the patient has been admitted.

Data list

The data list corresponds to the type of data as detemined by the selected data tab. Each data list is user-configurable via the overview list preferences. The functions of the list are the same as all lists in Palmedic. These functions are described in the lists control segment of the documentation.

Data tabs

Data tabs are added to the chart view by plug-ins. Tapping a tab selects it, and changes the data list to show that tab's data set. Selecting the admissions tab shows the patient's admission overview list, tapping the medications tab show the medications overview list, etc. The overview lists are configurable via the overview list preferences. Double tapping a data tab open the edit view for that particular plug-in data.

Name Card

Palmedic allows the linking of a patient to a name card on your Newton. This allows Palmedic to "know" a patient's address and other pertinent name card information without duplicating the functionality of the Names application. Selecting 'Name Card' from the Show button menu will open the patient's name card if a link has already been made. Otherwise, Palmedic will ask whether you would like to link to an existing name card. If you answer 'Yes,' Palmedic lists the resident name cards and allows a link to be made. If you answer 'No,' Palmedic creates a new name card with the patient's name, opens the card, and allows you to enter the rest of the pertinent data.

Demographics

The patient demographics screen allows the entry of basic patient information, including: medical record number, patient name, status, birthdate/age, race, gender, and up to three caregivers.

Figure 12. Patient Demogarphics View
• MR# - An MR# is required for every patient so Palmedic provides one when a new patient is created. Tapping the 'MR#' label will erase the characters present in the "comb" at that time.
• First - provides space to enter a patient's first name
• Last - provides space to enter a patient's last name
• ST - the status blank can be used for a multitude of purposes including certain patient designations like discharged, inpatient, oupatient, 23 hour observation, etc. It can additionally be used in patient lists to filter patients.
• Birthdate - Tapping the birthdate diamond causes a date picker floater to be displayed. Selecting the birthdate from this floater will automatically set the patient's age.
• Age - Palmedic allows for automatic calculation of a patient's age by selection of a birthdate from the birthdate picker. It also allows for direct entry of a patient's age in the 'Age' entry line. The label following the age entry line (currently a 'y' for years in the figure below) is tappable for selection of days, months, or years as the units. Upon selection of the appropriate unit, Palmedic will again calculate the appropriate age according to birthdate. Be aware that a calculation of "months" uses a 30 day per month average for its calculations.
• Race - provides space to enter the race of a patient
• gender box - allows the selection of patient gender
• Caregiver - The caregiver entry lines allow the Palmedic user to enter up to three different caregivers for the patient in question. The input allows the user to write directly in the blank, or gives access to the built-in Names application through a tap on the Caregiver diamond. The telephone icon to the right of each blank will cause the Newton device to take the name in the blank, look it up in the Names application, and prepare a phone call to that person.

Edit View (Plug-ins)

Each plug-in has the ability to add an item to the Show button's menu. Selection of this item will open the edit view- the standard view by which plug-ins incorporate themselves into Palmedic. This screen displays a scrolling list of a plug-ins data modules, where the addition and editing of patient data occurs. See the description of each individual plug-in for a description of the data modules available to Palmedic and their use.

The list title is displayed showing the user which data in currently being viewed.

The list of data modules is scrolled through using the Newton device's built-in scroll arrows located in the silk screen or button bar area of the device.

Patient Lists

The available patient list selections appear last in the Show button menu.

Patient lists can be added, edited, or deleted using the patient list preferences.

The Filing Button

The filing button works in concert with the filing tab within Palmedic to allow for the filing of patients in separate "folders." Tapping the filing button brings up the Newton's filing floater. Within this floater, the user can specify the specific store the current patient should be filed on (Internal memory versus an external flash card), and the specific folder the current patient should be filled within. Folders can be created, edited, and deleted from within this floater.

Tapping the 'File' button places the patient on the store and in the folder selected.

Palmedic then gives you the opportunity to view patients on a specific store and/or in a specific folder. By tapping on the filing tab located at the top of Palmedic's view, the user is presented with a popup menu listing the available stores and folders. Selecting the desired items will change the patients Palmedic "sees" as available at any one time.

For example, if one were to choose "Internal" as the store from which palmedic should show patients, and "Discharged" as the folder in which to look for patients, Palmedic would only show those patients in the patient popup button, in all patient lists, etc. Either the folder tab "filing criteria" should be changed to see other patients, or the Newton's Find feature can be used to find individual patients.

The Routing Button

Palmedic's routing button provides access to action items for dealing with patients and their data. Within the routing button popup menu, one gains access to printing, faxing, mailing, and beaming of entire patients. This is also the most direct way to delete an entire patient, and the only way to "group delete" specific patient data. If one taps the routing button while viewing an individual patient and/or an individual patient's data, any action selected from the popup menu is performed on that patient only. If, however, one is within a patient list, and selects multiple patients within that list (by "checking" them with the check boxes to the left of the list), any action performed is carried out on all the selected patients.

Print/Fax

Print and Fax option provide access to basic reports within Palmedic. These reports deal with mpatients of a more general basis, like check out list summaries, billing summaries, etc. For more specific reports regarding patient data, reports added to data modules via plug-ins are required and should be utilized.

Mail/Beam

Mail and Beam capabilities allow Palmedic to send entire patients and all of their data to another Newton running Palmedic either cia email (data sent as an attachment), or via the infrared transceiver.

Delete

Selecting "Delete" from the Routing button will delete an entire patient and all of his or her data. Though Palmedic asks for confirmation before procedding with the delete, it does not allow one to Undo this action once it has been completed.

Delete Data

The mechanism for deleting groups of data items is added by individual plug-ins. The plug-ins provide for the means to delete groups of items by their status (e.g., done to dos), or by a date (e.g., admissions that occurred before 7/3/97, or Medications that were discontinued before 7/3/97, etc.).

Item groups to be deleted should be checked in the Delete Data floater, and the date should be set in the Before control prior to tapping the Delete button. Palmedic asks you to confirm the deletion of the data group before it proceeds, but once the data is deleted, the action cannot be undone.

Palmedic remembers the date in the Before control as "30 days before today," or "one year before today," etc. according to the date selected. It will automatically set the Before control to the appropriate date upon opening of the Delete Data floater.