Patient Group Messages with Ocean

Ocean allows you to bulk upload a list of patients from a file to assist with performing population-based interventions or patient group messages. A list of patients can be uploaded with a user-specified "Cohort ID", which you can use to send batches of online questionnaires or secure messages.

Uploading a Patient Cohort File to Ocean

1. Create your patient list file.

   • Within your EMR, you will need to export a list of patients, including their basic demographic information.
   • The means by which you obtain this list of patients varies depending on which EMR you use, but it usually involves the execution and export of a search report in the system.
   • To learn how to obtain a properly formatted file that Ocean accepts, please refer to this article.

2. Upload and name your patient list file.

   • Login to the Ocean Portal. If you aren't already in the Patients view, click the "Menu" button in the top left corner and select "Patients". Under the Actions menu in the left side bar (near the bottom) select "Upload Patients from File".
   • 
   • Search for the file that you created in Step 1.
   • Select the appropriate file "Importer" from the dropdown menu.
   • Give the file a name next to "Assign Cohort ID".

   • If appropriate, you can also add any eForms to be included in the email under "Queue eForms for uploaded patients".

     Note: A patient can only belong to a single cohort. If a patient is included in two cohort files, they will be assigned to the most recently uploaded cohort.

3. Send your patient group message.

   Note: Please wait at least 30 minutes between uploading a cohort and sending the cohort a message. This ensures that Ocean has had enough time to synchronize all patients.

   • To send a patient group message, select "Email Cohort" from the Actions menu at the bottom left-hand corner of the Patients tab.
   • 
   • Select your group using the "Select Cohort" dropdown menu.
   • Select the template that you wish to send from the Templates menu at the top right-hand corner of the dialogue box. (Learn how to set up your online message templates in this article.
   • Note: The "Allow Reply" functionality is not available when using Group Messages with Ocean. Patients will not have the option to reply to your message, even if the functionality is enabled on your chosen template.
   • Select "Send Invitations" to send your emails.

4. View your patient group message transaction logs.

   • For audit or tracking purposes, you may want to download a record of all the batch emails that have been sent to your various patient cohorts. To do this, navigate to the Admin Settings page in the Ocean Portal.
   • 
   • Click "Reports" and under "Export Batch Email Transaction Logs", select the date range that you want to see in your exported file. To see all group message transactions, leave these date fields blank.
   • If you'd only like to see the report for a specific group, enter the Cohort ID in the field below the date range. If you'd like to view all of your cohorts, leave this field blank.
   • Click "Export" and your log will download as a .csv file, which can then be opened in Microsoft Excel. A data dictionary of the export can be downloaded by clicking the blue button on the right.
   • Download 'Batch Email Transaction Logs' Data Dictionary

Exporting a Patient Cohort File from Ocean

Ocean offers the ability to view/export patients in a particular Ocean cohort. This is helpful to determine which patient(s) belong to which cohort in Ocean. To export a cohort: