Sending eReferral Appointment Notifications from Accuro

Before following the steps in this guide, ensure you have set up the Send Appointment Notifications CDS link. Click here for setup instructions.

Ocean allows referral recipients to continue to schedule any eReferral appointments within their Accuro scheduler, and then simply launch a CDS button or link to update the referral appointments within Ocean. Steps to do so are outlined below.

  • Select the patient in Accuro for whom you wish to update the referral appointment.
  • Make the desired changes to the patient's appointment(s) in the Accuro scheduler (book, cancel, or reschedule an appointment, etc.)
  • When ready, select the Send Appointment Notification CDS link or button.
  • The Patient Dashboard will launch in a new window, and you will be prompted to choose the referral to update. Click View beside the referral that is associated with the appointment notification.
  • In the scheduling pane of the referral, click on the appointment you wish to add to the referral.
  • Quick Tip: All of the patient's future appointments from the Accuro scheduler will be listed. If more than one appointment is related to the referral, you can click each applicable appointment. Alternatively you can click the "+" icon to add a second appointment slot to the referral scheduling pane, then choose the second appointment listed to populate the newly added slot.
  • Add any desired booking comments and/or attachments to the scheduling pane of the referral. Then choose Done to save and close the referral. This will trigger a booking email notification to the referring provider, and one to the patient, IF the patient consented to email notifications.
  • Note: If would like to cancel an appointment on an eReferral, follow steps A to D above. The recently cancelled appointment will be listed in the scheduling pane with an 'X' beside it. Select it to remove the appointment from the Ocean eReferral. Click 'Done' to save and close the referral. Appointment notifications will be triggered to the referring provider and the patient, IF the patient consented to email notifications.

Attaching a Clinical Note or Document from Accuro to an Ocean eConsult and/or eReferral

Ocean can search for Generated Letters with attachments, in a patient chart in Accuro, and upload them directly to Ocean. The file can then be automatically included in an eConsult and/or eReferral sent through the Ocean Healthmap.

To attach a note or document from Accuro:

  • Select the patient in Accuro that you wish to generate an attachment in Ocean for.
  • In the Encounter Notes section click to Add Note.
  • Quick Tip: You can use EMR shortcuts, such as Ctrl+F11, to open a New Clinical Note from any section of Accuro, as long as you have the patient selected first.
  • Leave the note body blank, optionally specify a filename for your attachment by using the 'Title' field, and then press Generate Letter in the bottom right.
  • In the letter window, ensure you have the correct Provider selected in the top left, then go to the Attachments pane and click the green plus icon to add an attachment.
  • In the Select Attachments window, choose the Clinic Notes, Letters, Forms, Documents, and/or Labs from the patient chart that you would like included, and then select OK.
  • You should now see the list of desired attachments in the Attachments pane. Select Save to Chart as PDF and click Apply.
  • Once attachments have been applied, choose Send Letter and click Yes to confirm you would like to save the letter with attachments, and no recipient, to the patient's Virtual Chart.
  • In the Letter/Fax Recipients window that appears you can choose to add a new Referral Order, or include a Coversheet, and then click Send.
  • You can now choose your Refer CDS button or link to launch the Ocean Healthmap. Choose the desired listing and select to Send eReferral.

    Ocean will look in the Accuro chart for any unused generated letters with the current date to upload and automatically include as an attachment on the referral form.

  • You can preview your attachment by clicking on the purple “eye” icon, or remove it by clicking on the “X” icon.
  • If you remove an attachment and would like to add it to the consult and/or referral again, select the Add Attachments button at the bottom of the consult or referral. A list of any attachments uploaded to Ocean for that patient will appear. Choose a file from the list or choose “Select Local File...” to browse for a file on your computer.
  • Quick Tip: If would like to include additional attachments to an eConsult/eReferral that has already been sent, follow steps A to G above. Then open the sent eConsult and/or eReferral using the "Patient Dashboard" CDS link. Choose the desired consult and/or referral and scroll down to the Messaging pane and click "Add Attachments". Select the desired attachment from the list and click "Send".

Save Sent or Received Consults and/or Referrals as a Document Instead of an Encounter Note

In order to change this setting, you will need to be an Admin User of your Ocean site who can log in to Cloud Connect. You may also be prompted to re-authenticate your Accuro EMR with Cloud Connect, in order to access the documents features. If prompted, you can do so here.

  • Ocean makes it easy to configure where eConsults and/or eReferrals, either sent or received to your site, are downloaded and saved in the patient's EMR chart. By default, consults and referrals are saved in the Encounter Notes section of the patient chart.
  • However, you can choose to save them as a Document in the patient's Virtual Chart, with a custom Folder or Sub-Folder Type. This functionality is set within your site's Cloud Connect. It can be configured by following the steps outlined below.
  • Click the Edit Settings button in the Sync Status window.
  • In the settings window that pops up, scroll down to the Referrals section. If you're a sender, where it states "Save Sent Referrals As", choose Documents. If you're a recipient, where it states "Save Received Referrals As", choose Documents.
  • Under the Document selection choose the specific Folder you would like your sent or received consults and/or referrals saved under. Then choose a Subfolder, if desired.
  • Quick Tip: Cloud Connect pulls from your EMR's existing list of folders. If you would like to add a custom folder for sent or received consults and/or referrals, you must do so within Accuro first. One method of doing so is by selecting a patient, choosing EMR, Virtual Chart, and then Upload Document. Choose the Destination Folder dropdown, and at the top of the list select Manage. This will open the "Manage Patient Folders" window, where folders can be added, deleted, or edited. Go back into Cloud Connect when completed to locate and select this new folder.
  • Click Save. Consults and/or referrals sent or received through Ocean will now download as a document under the specified Folder or Sub-Folder type.

Naming Conventions for Downloaded Accuro Documents:

  • For Recipient sites, Ocean will automatically download the referral letter and any attachments as two separate documents in the patient's Virtual Chart. This is to allow the attachments to be further categorized, if desired. The name of each document will be prefaced with "eReferral -" for the referral letter, and "eReferral Attachment -" for the attachments.
  • For Recipient sites, when an eConsult and/or eReferral is marked as completed in Ocean, the entire consult or  referral record (including any additional notes, messages, or attachments), will re-download as a document in the patient's Virtual Chart. The prefix for this document will be "eReferral Completed -".
  • For Referral Sender sites, when an eConsult and/or eReferral is sent through in Ocean, the entire consult or referral record (including attachments), will download as a single document in the patient's Virtual Chart. The prefix for this document will be "eReferral -".

Create a CDS Link to Launch a Specific Consult and/or Referral Target in the Healthmap

If your Accuro site commonly consults and/or refers to a specific destination in the Ocean Healthmap, you can set up a CDS link to launch directly to that destination. In order to do so you will need to generate a new CDS link URL by taking the following steps:

  • Log in to the Ocean Portal and navigate to the Admin Settings page. Click "Manage Credentials", and click to "Configure Accuro CDS Links".
  • Find and copy the link for "Find Health Service".
  • Go to the Ocean Healthmap and search for the listing you would like to launch directly from your Accuro EMR. Once selected, hover over the listing name to pop up the unique consult or referral target reference in tooltip text. Copy this reference.
  • Edit the Find Health Service URL by inserting the text "&rtRef=" followed by the listing reference, in between the "action=refer" and "&siteNum" portions of the URL. Your final URL should look something like the following, once compiled.