Why do extra notes sometimes download into the patient chart from the previous visit?

For sites using OSCAR or the legacy (non-API) use of the Ocean custom form in PS Suite, there are some instances where Ocean can appear to be malfunctioning by downloading notes from a previous visit for a patient.

This general problem can be triggered with the following user flow:

  • A patient uses the tablet and finishes with it.
  • Someone opens the chart in the EMR to download the notes.
  • At the end of the day, a clinic user takes the leftover tablet and presses "Back" multiple times to scroll through the patient's forms to get back to the home screen (or presses "Next" to finish off the patient's session).
    • This extra edit to the patient's form will save another copy of the patient's note, which triggers Ocean to queue a re-download request for the note's answers (in case anything of clinical significance has changed).
    • Since the chart isn't re-opened, the unwanted extra note is sitting in Ocean awaiting download; without an external API enabled via Ocean Connect / Cloud Connect, the note cannot download without the chart opening.
  • In a future visit, the chart is finally re-opened. This allows the Ocean custom form to check for any pending downloads. Consequently, it finds the extra note from the last visit and downloads it under today's note.
  • If the tablet session for the patient on this new visit doesn't reach the final "Please return this tablet" screen, Ocean won't automatically download because it's expecting more updates to the form(s).
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