The Charting Interface

Medical Charting interface elements

Chart Properties

The Chart Properties section records the patient, the visit type, and the date and time of the visit. You can change this information by clicking on it, which opens the Chart Configuration panel. The system will automatically prompt you to specify the visit type if you create a chart from the Patient Workspace or SmartCharts page.

Chart Configuration Panel

Chart Index

The Chart Index is a valuable tool for navigation. It automatically updates with information about the sections you add to the chart and allows you to quickly jump to any section. You can also reorder the sections by dragging and dropping them in the index.

The SOAP Chart Index can be used to re-order sections, or to navigate your chart.

Chart Toolbar

The toolbar runs across the top of the chart and holds everything you do to the chart as a whole. Each button carries a label, and the toolbar matches the one used on every other page in OutSmart.

• Save. Save a draft of the chart.
• Smart Forms. Opens the patient’s SmartForms V2 forms, where you can read a submission, send a new form, or bring a patient’s answers into the chart. See Importing A SmartForms V2 Submission Into A Chart.
• Sign. Sign and lock the chart.
• Print and Print Plan. Print the full chart, or a Patient Treatment Plan.
• Email Plan. Send the treatment plan to the patient.
• Sections. Add and manage the chart’s sections.
• History. Show or hide the persistent chart history.
• Actions. Other actions, including previous charts and deleting this chart.

Sections, History and Actions slide open as a row underneath the toolbar rather than dropping down as menus, so whatever you opened stays visible while you work in it.

The toolbar follows you down the page as you scroll through a long chart, and shows when the chart last saved.

Tip

The Chart Index is the fastest way to move around a long chart. Drag any section to reorder it, click any heading to jump straight there. As your charts grow with more PRO sections, the index becomes your navigation map. You’re never scrolling for long if you let the index do the work.

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Troubleshooting

How do I change the patient on a SOAP chart?

If you need to reassign a chart to a different patient, you’ll need to open it in editing mode first. If the chart is locked, you’ll need to unlock it. Only the practitioner who created the chart can do this.

1. Open the chart for editing.
2. Click the patient’s name at the top left of the chart. The Chart Configuration panel opens.
3. Pick the correct patient from the patient drop-down.
4. Click Save.

The chart is now reassigned to the new patient. You can re-lock the chart if needed. OutSmart keeps an audit trail of every change to chart properties, including patient reassignment.

How do I add tables, lists, or images to a chart?

Inside any text field in the chart, place your cursor on a new line (an empty line at the start). The plus icon appears to the left of the field. Click it to insert a table, a list, or an image. The plus icon only appears when the cursor is on a genuinely empty line; if you don’t see it, press Enter to make a new line first.