1. OceanMD
  2. eConsults & eReferrals
  3. Advanced eReferral Features in Accuro

Advanced eReferral Features in Accuro

Learn how to best use eReferrals with your Accuro EMR.

Print Guide
Follow

Accuro Automatic eReferral Document Assignment

Accuro EMR users can customize Ocean Cloud Connect settings to have sent or received eReferrals enter the EMR as a Document rather than an Encounter Note.

  • When set to 'Documents', eReferral documents enter the EMR with the 'Document Provider' set to 'Unassigned' by default.
  • To have Ocean automatically assign a Document Provider, Accuro users can enable the 'Automatically assign Referral Documents to providers in Accuro' setting in Cloud Connect.
  • Once enabled, a 'Fallback Provider' can be specified. This will be the assigned Document Provider if no provider match is found earlier, as per the logic documented below.
  • If no Fallback Provider is specified, and no provider match is found as per the logic documented below, the Document Provider will be 'Unassigned'.

Document Provider Assignment Logic

Sent eReferrals

  • When an eReferral/eConsult is sent and the 'Automatically assign Referral Documents to providers in Accuro' setting in Cloud Connect is enabled, the Document in Accuro is assigned to the relevant EMR user based on the information in the 'Referrer's Information' section of the referral form.

Ocean does this by first evaluating the Billing #, Professional ID, and Last Name fields, and assigning the Document to the provider in Accuro that matches at least 2 out of the 3 fields.

If no match is found, Ocean will re-attempt to match based on the referrer's First Name and Last Name. If there is more than one provider with the same first and last name, the Fax Numbers will be used to distinguish each unique provider.

If still no match is found, Ocean will assign the Document to the 'Fallback Provider' specified in the Ocean Site's Cloud Connect settings.

If no 'Fallback Provider' is specified in the Ocean Site's Cloud Connect settings, the Document will enter Accuro with the Provider being 'Unassigned'.

Received eReferrals

  • When an eReferral/eConsult is received and the 'Automatically assign Referral Documents to providers in Accuro' setting in Cloud Connect is enabled, the Document in Accuro is assigned to the relevant EMR user based on the information in the 'Clinician Information' setting of the Directory Listing that the referral was sent to.

Ocean does this by first evaluating the Billing #, Professional ID, and Last Name fields, and assigning the Document to the provider in Accuro that matches at least 2 out of the 3 fields.

If no match is found, Ocean will re-attempt to match based on only the recipient's First Name and Last Name.

If no match is found, or there is more than one provider in the EMR with the same first and last name, Ocean will assign the Document to the 'Fallback Provider' specified in the Ocean Site's Cloud Connect settings.

If no 'Fallback Provider' is specified in the Ocean Site's Cloud Connect settings, the Document will enter Accuro with the Provider being 'Unassigned'.

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 Ocean.

Initiating an eReferral/eConsult with an Attachment:

Prerequisite

  • Select the patient in Accuro that you wish to generate an attachment in Ocean for.

  • If you do have an Encounter Note Template and corresponding Quick Action Button configured, use your Quick Action Button to create a new Encounter Note.

    If you do not have an Encounter Note Template and corresponding Quick Action Button configured, create a new blank Encounter Note in the patient chart.

    Tip: You can use the 'CTRL+F11' keyboard shortcut to create a new note from any section of Accuro, as long as you have the patient selected first.

  • Specify a filename for your attachment by using the 'Title' field in the bottom left, and then click Generate Letter.
  • Ensure you have the correct 'From:' 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 items from the patient chart that you would like included, and then select OK.

  • The list of selected attachments will appear on the left. Click the Save for Ocean button.
  • An Encounter Note and the Generated Letter will be created in the patient chart.

  • Use the 'Send eRequest / Find Health Service' CDS link or action button to launch into the Ocean Healthmap.

    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 red 'X' icon.

Adding Attachments to an Existing eReferral/eConsult

If would like to include additional attachments to an existing eConsult/eReferral, first follow steps A to G above, and then follow the steps below:

  • Click the 'View Patient Summary' CDS link or action button.
  • From within the Patient Summary, select the relevant eReferral/eConsult.
  • Within the 'Messaging' area, click the 'Add Attachments' button.
  • Choose the relevant attachment(s) from the list of queued attachments.
  • Optionally include a message with your attachment, and then press 'Send'.
  • The attachment will be sent as a message within the eReferral/eConsult.

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 "Send eRequest".
  • 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 "Send eRequest" 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.