Using eForms

Clinics may need to create a printable copy of an eForm.  This may be to administer the form to a patient who isn't comfortable completing it online. 

Clinics and independent health facilities may be required to include printed copies of eForms in their operations manual for college accreditation requirements. 

Below are the steps for creating a PDF version of an eForm:

1. • Find the eForm in the Form library and select the "Preview' option
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   • From the browser's Print menu, Select "Save as PDF'
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   • You can now print the saved PDF file.

When you create an Ocean eForm of your own, by default, it is included in our shared public directory of forms. Therefore, any Ocean community will have access to your form and will be able to import the eForm into their own Ocean site to customize and/or use themselves. If you want to hide your eForm from the Ocean library, follow the steps below:

There are over 2000 Ocean eForms in our core eForm library, available for all Ocean users to use. You can view this set of available forms in our Clinical Resource Library, the eForms view of the Ocean Portal, and/or the attached comprehensive list of core Ocean eForms (as of March 2017).

The Ocean eForm Library contains core library eforms and customized eforms listed by other Ocean users. If an eForm is listed in the directory, it can be searched and imported into your own Ocean Library.

Search and Import eForms

Edit

Opens the eForm editor where you can make changes to the form.

Duplicate

Creates a copy of the form.

Sever

Breaks the linkage between the eForm on your Ocean site and the original source site.

Sync

If the original source site makes changes to the eForm, you can update your form with those changes.

eForm History is a powerful feature in the eForm Editor that allows you to review changes made to a form and/or restore the form to any earlier saved versions.

• • eForm History can be found within any eForm in the “Action” menu located in the top right corner of the eForm Editor.
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  • You can view your form's eForm History by selecting “View EForm History” from the dropdown “Action” menu.
  • From the dialogue box that appears, you’ll be presented with a list displaying the entire revision history of the eForm, from its initial creation to the latest edit.
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  • Note: A new entry is added every time the “Save Changes” button is clicked.
  • Each entry lists a creation timestamp, the user who made the changes, and two buttons: “Preview” and “Revert” (as described below).

• Preview

  • This will open a new window showing a preview of what the eForm looked like at the selected version. You can walk through and test the eForm from the perspective of a patient, as well as see what the resulting clinical notes will look like in your EMR (in the floating blue box).

• Revert

  • This will reset the eForm back to the selected version. Once this button is pressed, a dialogue will appear to allow you to confirm your choice. Keep in mind that any subsequent changes made in newer versions will be overwritten once a reversion takes place.
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You can add eForms to your website for patients to complete using Website Forms.

To learn how to set up a Website form, please refer to our Website Forms Set-Up Guide.

Ocean eForms cannot be used to obtaining physical signatures; however, many sites use eForms for obtaining informed consent.

Here are a few examples that you may customize as needed:

• Opioid Treatment Agreement
• Variant of Sunnybrook's Email Consent Form
• Joint Injection Consent Form
• General Procedure Consent Form

These above agreements are consistent with the CMPA's guidelines on obtaining informed patient consent.

Note that the CMPA's policy does not in fact require a physical or "wet" signature from the patient when obtaining consent. A signature is neither necessary nor sufficient for obtaining informed consent. Instead, the CMPA policy expects clear documented evidence that all of the risks, benefits, and alternative treatments have been explained to the patient, and that the patient has had a chance to ask questions regarding the procedure.

Sending eForms to patients ahead of their appointment creates an ideal environment for the patient to review this information in advance, without feeling rushed to comply with the physician waiting in the room.

As with any eForm, the generated note associated with these consent forms is completely customizable using the eForm Editor.

If a physical signature is nonetheless felt to be necessary for your clinic, the old-fashioned pen and paper approach is tough to improve upon. In this case, it may be more helpful to let your EMR vendor set your clinic up with a streamlined paper scanning workflow.