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Navigating to Patient View Page:
Find the target patient by using the search bar at the top of your ThoroughCare dashboard. Enter patient First Name, Last Name, or EHR ID.
Note: Prior to beginning a new care plan, make sure the patient is enrolled in a program, such as CCM.
Navigate to the patient view page by selecting your target patient's Name, EHR ID, or by clicking the "View" button located underneath the "Actions" column.
Beginning a New Care Plan:
To start a new care plan, navigate to the proper program tab that the care plan is to be completed for. In this example, our test patient is enrolled in CCM, so we will be navigating to the "CCM" option listed under the "Programs" tab. Once there, select the "New" button located underneath the "Initial Care Plan" section, as shown below.
If a CCM patient does not have two chronic conditions to be managed in the CCM program, Thoroughcare will prompt the user to add them now. When the user is ready begin the assessment, click the "Save & Start Assessment" button.
Note: If you would like to learn how to add chronic conditions to be managed under CCM click here.
Navigating The Assessment:
Note: Numbers correspond with the screenshot below this section.
Sections - The section you're currently working on will be highlighted. There is a progress bar within the section. Once a section is completed, a green check mark will appear over the progress bar. At any time during the interview, you can go back to a completed section by simply clicking the section you wish to return to.
Questions - The questions allow a smooth guided interview with the patients. It's as simple as reading the questions right to your patient! The questions are tailored to the chronic conditions identified by your patient. You can always go back to a question by clicking Previous Question
Answers - You can either click the text or box to choose an answer or if the question calls for a text, you can simply type in the answer. If the question is not applicable to the patient, you can click the Not Applicable answer.
Progress Bar - This lets you know how far you are in the interview.
Timer - The timer allows you to keep the time for the interview to log towards your 20 minute CCM goal. Once the interview is complete, you can click log to add the time to the patients CCM minutes this month.
Finish Later - If at any time you need to pause or complete the interview, you can click finish later. When you continue the patient's interview, you'll pick up at the same spot you left the interview.
Return To Dashboard - By clicking the ThoroughCare logo or home button, you can return to your dashboard. This can be done at any time during the interview. When you continue the patient's interview, you'll pick up at the same spot you left the interview.
Edit Conditions - By selecting this button you will be bringing up a "conditions" pop-up which will allow the user to change the patient's conditions managed under CCM.
Patient Mode - This will switch the assessment over to a patient facing assessment in which you will allow the patient to complete. The Care Manager will automatically be logged out on ThoroughCare once the assessment has been finalized/finished by the patient.
Once a single question is answered within the Initial Care Plan the user will notice a "Finalize" button that appears below the care plan sections. This a handy feature that ThoroughCare offers to its users which allows them to finalize the care plan before the assessment is completed.
Note: Users can always begin a new care plan to complete their answers. Click here to learn how to start a subsequent care plan.
Allergies, Medication, and Numbers to Track Questions:
Allergies -
When taking the Care Plan Assessment you will approach the question "Do you have any allergies?" If you specify a patient "Has allergies" you will be taken to the allergy question section.
Note: If a user were to select the "Does not have any allergies" option, all allergy questions will be skipped.
Shown below is the "Allergy" section in which users will be prompted to add patient's allergies to the care plan. To add a new allergy click the "New Allergy" button in the top right hand corner of the question.
A pop-up labeled "New Allergy" will appear on screen.
From here users can:
Choose the category of allergy
Check if the allergy is critical or leave it blank if not
Specify the substance involved in the allergy
Explain the patient's reaction to the substance
Choose the date the allergy was identified
Mark if the allergy is currently active (This is always checked unless unchecked by the care manager)
Note: 1 and 3 are the only required fields, everything else is optional.
Whenever you are finished click "save" to create the allergy entry.
Each entry will be visible in a table-like format under the question's title. If a mistake was made simply select "edit" or "remove" to the right of the date identified for that particular entry.
Note: Care managers may add as many entries as they need!
Medications -
Another question you may come across allows users to select patient medications from a pre-defined list. You will only see this section when you choose "Select from pre-defined list" on the question shown below.
When presented with the medication section, begin adding a medication by clicking the "New Medication" button.
After this button is clicked, users will be shown a "New Medication" pop-up as shown below. The "New Medication" pop-up allows users to record:
Medication type - do this by clicking the drop down and typing two letters into the search bar.
Prescribed by - here users will select the doctor who prescribed the medication by scrolling through the list of providers.
Dosage - specify the dosage amount the patient is asked to take.
Reason Taken - document the reason behind taking the medication.
Date started - specify the date that the medication was started.
Date Stopped - if the medication was stopped add this date here.
Reason not taken - specify the reason why the medication is not taken anymore.
Note: Only "Medication type" is required to add a new medication to ThoroughCare, all other details are optional.
Whenever you have finished adding the patient's medication information make sure to click "Save". Otherwise your medication will not be added.
Once added, the medication will appear as an entry in the medication table. If you would like to edit the entered medication information simply click "Edit" to the right of the medication record under the "Actions" column.
Whenever you have finished entering diagnosis information click "Next Question" to move forward through the rest of the assessment.
Numbers to Track/Vitals -
When taking the Care Plan Assessment with a patient you will come across a "Numbers to Track" section. In the first question, you will have to select the vitals the patient is interested in tracking.
Upon selecting one of these options users will be asked to specify the chosen measurements. Simply enter the patient's last reading along with the date the reading was taken to accurately document the patient's vitals.
Notice once a user enters both "Height" and "Weight", the patient's BMI will automatically be calculated in the "BMI" section of this question. The date that populates next to the calculated BMI will reflect the date in which the BMI was calculated (current date the Care Plan is being completed on). Once the user is finished entering vitals within this question, click the "Next Question" button to move forward.
Next, the user should see an additional vitals question. Just as in the previous question, enter any measurements that apply along with the date in which the reading was taken.
Finalizing the Care Plan:
Once, you are finished with each question click the "Next Question" arrow and your answers will be saved.
Once a single question is answered within the Initial Care Plan a "Finalize" button should appear below the care plan sections as shown below. This a handy feature that allows users to finalize the care plan before the assessment is completed.
Note: Users can always begin a new care plan to complete their answers. Click here to learn how to start a subsequent care plan.
For more information on the patient centered care plan assessment, not discussed in this article, chat with a ThoroughCare professional by clicking the blue chat bubble in the bottom right hand corner of every ThoroughCare screen!