Time Logging

How to Log Time Spent on a Patient in a Given Month

Joel Barnes avatar
Written by Joel Barnes
Updated over a week ago

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A vital part of CMS programs focuses on documenting the time a Care Manager has spent on a patient in a given month. To do this, ThoroughCare offers a handy tool called a "Time Logger". In this article we will cover the different features our time logger offers along with how a user can facilitate these features to properly document program time.

Understanding the Time Logger:

Task Timer - The time of the current task you are logging. This can be used as a stopwatch or time can be manually entered. Click Start to begin the timer. Once started, you can pause, resume, or reset the Task Timer

Drop-down list of Tasks - A list of tasks that your practice may do during non-face-to-face patient interactions to count towards the patient's total time

Drop-down list of Providers and Care Managers - Choose the correct Care Manager or Physician that is completing the task

Calendar - Choose the date the task took place. The calendar defaults to today's date, but a user can change the calendar to reflect a past date to, when backlogging tasks.

Patient's Goal Time - The default CCM goal time is 20 minutes but can be changed to 60 or 90+ minutes by clicking the number listed to the right of the "Goal".

Total Time - The total time spent on non-face-to-face interactions in a given month. The time will automatically update to include time logged for different tasks.

View Log - Will show the current month's time log with a complete list of tasks, who completed the task, the date, and time spent on the task

Log Time - Click this button to log the chosen time in the Task Timer. The logged time will automatically be logged toward the "Total Time".

Using the Time Logger:

To begin, lets first take a look at the "Task Type" drop down. Specifying the type of task you are logging is important for documentation purposes. ThoroughCare offers many task types, some common task types are Daily Chart Review, Telephone Call with Patient, and Email to Patient. Make sure whichever option you choose best represents the time the user has given towards the patient's program.

In addition, make sure to double check that "Performed By" and "Performed on" are accurate to by who and when the task had been completed.

Note: If a user would like to log a task they completed previously, "Performed on" should reflect the date the task was completed on, not the current date.

Now we can move onto logging time! If you would like to activate a timer to track the amount of time you are spending on a given patient click the green "Start" button.

Users can pause or reset the timer at any point by using the orange "Pause" button.

Note: If you start the timer and leave the program’s page the timer will continue running in until you navigate away from the patient show page.

You can also set the timer manually by clicking the "00"s under "Min" or "Sec" to be given a drop down selection of minutes or seconds. Select the amount that best reflects the time spent on the patient.

Once you have finished choosing the amount of time you would like to log click the "Log Time" button.

If the time was successfully logged you will get a small notification in the upper right hand corner of your screen that the time has been logged.

The time logged will now be reflected under "Logged this Month".

If a user would like to view the individual logs for the month simply click the "View Logs" button as shown below.

Alternatively, you can select the “Time Logs” tab under the program’s workflow.

Tracking Time for Assessments:

To track time for an assessment, start by beginning the assessment through the Assessment/Screenings tab or through the Care Management tab.

The timer will run throughout the assessment. After finalizing the assessment log the time the same way as logging any other task timer.

Viewing and Editing Logged Time:

By selecting the “Time Logs” tab, the user can view, edit, or delete time logged for the patient within the given calendar month.

If you would need to edit a time logged simply click the "Edit" button located next to the log you would like to change. Make sure to save your changes to the log before moving from the page or your changes will not be finalized.

Creating Time Log Report:

If you would need a report to be generated of the time logs click the "Report" button. It will automatically generate on-click.

Toggling Between Months:

If a user needs to view a previous month's time logs, they would click the arrows provided in the upper right hand corner of the screen to toggle to and from past months time logs.

For more information on the program time logger, not discussed in this article, chat with a ThoroughCare professional by clicking the information icon on the top right hand corner of every ThoroughCare screen and selecting get help from Support!

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