View reference

Patient lists

Patient lists are a good way to see information on multiple patients at the same time. Which patients are included in the list is determined by the current "folder" Palmedic is showing (see Filing button, above), and how the list in question is filtered (see Patient list preferences, above). The lists may be manipulated with all of the functionality of a standard Palmedic list.

Palmedic is shipped with three patient lists pre-configured. The "Patient List" is configured to show the initials of the primary caregiver, the patient name, medical record number, and chief complaint. The "Patient List" list provides the capability to filter patients according to the status (ST) for each patient. The "Patient Location" list shows the patient name, medical record number, and location. Finally, the "To Do List" lists all to dos for the patients within the list. It provides for the capability to filter to do items according to their type. Using this, one could view all of the "Radiology" to dos while they were in the Radiology department; or all the "Ward" to dos while seeing patients.

These lists may be edited and new list formats may be created using Patient list preferences. 
 

Patient chart

The patient chart is the core of all of Palmedic's functionality. Virtually any piece of patient data can be displayed within the patient chart screen. The chart consists of three major areas: the patient overview, the data list, and the data tabs. 

See Show: Patient Chart for more details.

Demographics

The demographics view allows entry of basic patient information. The data input consists of medical record number, patient name, status (ST), birthdate, age, race, sex, and space for three care providers. 

Upon creation of a new patient, Palmedic will open this view automatically in order to facilitate entry of patient demographics. Palmedic requires a unique medical record number for every patient and thus will assign a unique, random number as the patient's medical record number. This number may be changed, and can easily be erased by tapping the MR# label.

It is important to note that Palmedic will calculate a patient's age by the entered birthdate. It will automatically update the age of the patient as necessary. The default unit for age is years (designated by the 'y' to the right of the "Age" input). In order to change this unit, the user should tap the 'y' label. A popup will be shown with the available unit values (currently days, months, and years). Selecting a different unit will cause Palmedic to begin calculating age for that patient in the selected units. Note: the unit 'months' uses an estimation of 30 days per month to determine the appropriate value. 

The Caregiver input lines are "person picker" controls which allow the entry of names found within your Names file. It is advantageous to use this feature of Palmedic. Currently, the only use for this feature is the ability to tap the telephone icon to the right of the input and automatically have the Newton prepare a phone call to this person. In the future, Palmedic will be able to access all the information from the Names file for each person entered in the Caregiver slots. This will allow the automatic entry of caregiver address, phone number, etc. into patient notes.

Edit view

The edit view is the base view for all plug-ins. It consists of a title for which editable items you are viewing (e.g., Medication List, Notes, etc.). Tapping this title is a short cut to adding a new item of this view's type. For example, while viewing a patient's medications, tapping the edit view title "Medication List," will add a new medication

Below the title, is the list of edit modules containing the data items of the current patient. Each edit module has different functionality, explanations for which can be found on Palmedic's plug-in page. The Newton device's built-in arrows move up and down within this list. Tapping the Newton's overview icon (the circle near the arrows) will open the current patient's chart view. 
 

"Quick view" floater

The quick view floater is a means of viewing and editing data from within the chart view's data list. Each item within the data list is tappable. Tapping the desired item will open that item's edit module within a quick view floater. Only one quick view floater can be open at any one time, and the functionality of a module is limited within a quick view floater. For example, note and test modules contain the ability to "jump" to the next note/test with the same title as the current note. This feature is not functional while within the quick view floater, it can only be used while in the Edit view. 
 

Control Reference

List

List controls are prevalent throughout Palmedic. Each of these lists has the same basic functionality, providing data access, data sorting and other features directly from within the list. Each list contains columns of data items. Each column has a header with a title in it. The title header provides a mechanism to sort a Palmedic list. Tapping within the title header of a column will cause the list to be sorting according to that column in an ascending manner (i.e., a -> z). Drawing a line from left to right through the desired title header will cause the list to be sorted by a descending sort (i.e., z -> a) according to the data found in that column. The majority of lists found within Palmedic save the type and column for sorting within Palmedic's preferences. 

Most lists within Palmedic allow the deletion of list items by "scrubbing" the list item in question. A "scrub" consists of a sequence of three up and down strokes (like an "M" or a "W") across the list item that should be deleted. Careful, Palmedic does not ask you to confirm this type of delete! 

Other functions within Palmedic lists vary from list to list. Some allow one to open or access the data item listed by tapping on the list item. For example, within a patient list, tapping the patient causes the chart view of that patient to be opened. Within the data list of the chart view, tapping a list item causes the quick view floater to be opened with that item's data. "Selecting" (holding down the stylus over the item until a dark circle appears, like you would select some text within a note item) a list item has other effects in some Palmedic lists. Within the chart view, selecting an item within the data list opens the edit view and displays the selected data item's module.

Some Palmedic lists contain check boxes to the left of each row. These check boxes allow one to "select" row items on which to perfrom actions. Actions to be taken on rows can generally be found within the router envelope button located between the list's arrow buttons. Possible actions that can be performed on list items include: Delete, Print, Fax, Beam, Mail, etc. Multiple items can be checked, thus selected, and acted upon at one time. 
 

Edit module

The edit module provides the framework for entering and editing patient data. Each module is outlined in a dark black line to separate it from the next. The top left corner of the module contains information regarding how many of these modules exist within the edit view's list, and where it falls within the list (e.g., "3 of 10" lets you know there are 10 items in the list, and this item is #3 of that list). The top right corner of the module contains a router envelope. Within the popup list accessed by tapping this icon are action items for the module. Each module has actions of "Delete" and "Duplicate," both of which are self explanatory. Most modules will contain routing abilities like "Print," "Fax," "Beam," and "Mail." Selecting any action item within the router popup will perform the described action on that module.

The data input items within each edit module vary for each plug-in. Explanations for these can be found under Palmedic plug-ins. 
 

Person Picker

Person pickers are found throughout Palmedic and allow access to the Newton device's built-in Names file. Tapping the person picker causes a floating window to popup from the bottom of the screen. Within this floater can be found the names that are contained in the built-in Names file. Selecting one of these names and closing the floater causes the person selected to be entered into the person picker input line. These controls allow one to not only select a person from the Names file for use within Palmedic, but in many cases also allows Palmedic to "link" to that person and allow activities like automatic calling of that person from within Palmedic, or lookup of Names file information in regards to the person selected.

Editable popup

Editable popups are a mainstay for data entry and user customization of data entry within Palmedic. These controls act just like normal popups on your Newton device. Tapping the diamond label of one of these controls pops up a list of items that can be automatically entered into the input line. Editable popups take the concept one step further and allow editing of these "automatic entry" popup items.

Each editable popup has two items added to the end of its popup list. The first, "Add This Item" will take the text entered into the input line and add it to the popup list. This way, you only have to "manually" add a common item to the input line once. After tapping "Add This Item," you may now select the item from the popup list and have it automatically entered into the input line. The second item added to the popup is called "Edit..." Tapping this item will open the editable popup floater. This floater displays all of the popup items in list form, allowing for the editing and deletion of items found within the list, as well as the addition of new items to the list.