Everyone wants to get the “most” out of their EHR. Did you know that you can help to optimize your system and streamline your workflow by setting your User Preferences ? By setting up a few options now, you can save yourself many unneeded clicks later, creating greater user satisfaction all around.
Each user will be responsible for setting up their own User Preferences. User Preferences are different from User Permissions, which require a system administrator to create before the user logs on. When setting up a User Permission set, the system administrator should ensure that the user has access to User Preferences. This is completed in Admin Tools > User drop-down menu > Edit Permissions. After entering the permission group, select tab to load that group’s permissions.
Edit User Preferences is located about half-way down, under the User category. Although this user group may not have access to all of those options, it is acceptable to leave all the User Preferences options checked. For example, perhaps this user cannot access the Problem List, due to their role within the facility. Although the User Preference option is selected, allowing the user to set their preferences around Problem List, they will still be unable to override any of the other set permissions. So, although they can set up preferences, they will be unable to complete any work that is above their permission group. It is recommended that all user preferences remain on for all users, for ease of set-up and to allow for permission setting changes later.
Once the user has access to the User Preferences options, they will be able to set up those options after logging into NextGen® Inpatient Clinicals (NGC). To access, the user will select the Settings drop-down menu > User Preferences.
All of the possibilities are presented. By opening each category, a user is presented with options that allow them to make selections appropriate to them. After all the selections have been made, select “Save,” to accept the system changes.
The easiest and quickest system change, which is often overlooked, is the “Default tab” option. This allows a user to set the screen that they would like to enter, once they have clicked on a patient. For example, an RN might want to “launch” directly into documentation via the Care Grid, while a Provider may want to view outstanding actions on the patient via the Action Queue.
Another important set-up feature is the Care Grid. This allows users to define exactly which NextGen® Hospital KBM documents they would like to appear. For example, a user may select only the departments in which they work, along with Scheduled and Unfinished, to view documents awaiting charting from their departments. Remember, a user can always view the completed documents in other areas of the patient’s chart, such as the View Results tab. This set-up will help streamline the user’s Care Grid view, allowing them to focus on documents that still need completing.
Once the category has been selected and changed, select “Save” to save the set-up. User Preferences may be altered as many times as the user likes. So, if a user is unhappy with a particular system configuration, the user may easily transform the configuration into a more suitable set-up. For more information and to review settings for each available category, please see the “Help” menu, available to all users in NGC.