Advanced eReferral Features in Med Access

Med Access: EMR Notifications for Sent eRequests

Note:

This article reflects the functionality available during the early release phase of EMR Notifications in partnership with Nova Scotia.

EMR Notifications for sent eRequests allows providers to receive automated notifications directly within their EMR when key status updates occur for eRequests they have sent through the Ocean Provider Network.

Prerequisites

Before setting up EMR Notifications for Med Access, a user with Site Admin access to your Ocean Site must complete the following prerequisite steps:

Enable EMR users in your Ocean Cloud Connect configuration by selecting one or more users in the 'Sync EMR User(s)' setting.
Perform a full schedule synchronization by clicking 'Sync Full Schedule' in Ocean Cloud Connect.

Configuration

EMR Notifications for sent eRequests are configured on a user-by-user basis. Users can perform this configuration themselves, or a user with Site Admin access can perform the configuration on behalf of users.

Any changes made by an Site Admin to a user's EMR notification settings are immediately reflected in that user's Ocean account. Likewise, if the user updates their own notification settings, those changes will also appear in the Site Admin's view.

To configure EMR Notifications for sent eRequests for your own Ocean user account, follow the steps below:

After logging in to the Ocean Portal, click your name in the top right corner and select 'My Account'.

Click 'Edit EMR Notifications for Sent eRequests'.

For each Ocean Site you belong to, select the desired EMR User to be notified for each eRequest event under the 'EMR User' column. These settings apply to eRequests that are sent by you or on your behalf (e.g., by a Clinical Delegate).

For events where no EMR notification is desired, set the EMR User to 'None'.

Your changes will be automatically saved and apply to both new and existing eRequests.

To configure EMR Notifications for sent eRequests on behalf of another Ocean user, follow the steps below:

After logging in to the Ocean Portal, open the 'Menu' and select 'Admin'.

Click 'Users'.

Locate the user that you would like to configure EMR Notifications for sent eRequests on behalf of and select 'Manage User'.

Select the desired EMR User to be notified for each eRequest event under the 'EMR User' column. These settings apply to eRequests that are sent by this user or on their behalf (e.g., by a Clinical Delegate).

For events where no EMR notification is desired, set the EMR User to 'None'.

Your changes will be automatically saved and apply to both new and existing eRequests.

How Sent eRequest Notifications appear in Med Access

Expand the tabs below to see how each Sent eRequest EMR Notification appears in Med Access.

New eRequest messages

The notification will appear as an Active Task in the respective patient chart and be assigned to the EMR User as selected in Ocean.

Notes

• The 'Reason for referral:' portion of the notification will only appear if the optional 'ax_reasonForReferral' analytic value has been populated for the eRequest.

• If you have the Ocean-MA Extension installed in your web browser, the extension will adjust the Task properties as detailed in the Ocean-MA Extension FAQ.

Declined eRequests

The notification will appear as an Active Task in the respective patient chart and be assigned to the EMR User as selected in Ocean.

Notes

• The 'Reason for referral:' portion of the notification will only appear if the optional 'ax_reasonForReferral' analytic value has been populated for the eRequest.

• If you have the Ocean-MA Extension installed in your web browser, the extension will adjust the Task properties as detailed in the Ocean-MA Extension FAQ.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do EMR Notifications for Sent eRequests work for Ocean users associated with multiple Ocean Sites?

EMR Notifications for Sent eRequests work on a site-by-site basis for Ocean users associated with multiple Ocean Sites.

When the user accesses the self-configuration area as outlined above, they will be able to configure their notifications for each Ocean Site they are associated with that support EMR Notifications for Sent eRequests.

Is there a log showing when EMR Notifications for Sent eRequests are created?

Yes, when EMR Notifications for Sent eRequests are created successfully (or fail to be created), it is logged as an event within the respective eRequest's Event Log.

What happens to EMR Notifications for Sent eRequests when the Ocean user is removed from the Ocean Site?

When an Ocean user who has configured EMR Notifications for Sent eRequests is removed from an Ocean Site, Ocean will stop generating EMR Notifications for any referrals that were sent by (or on behalf of) that user from that site.

I am receiving error notifications, what should I do?

If you are seeing EMR-related error notifications in Ocean (such as “EMR user unavailable” or “Invalid EMR user(s)”), this usually indicates that one or more EMR user accounts are no longer active or properly synchronized.

These notifications appear when Ocean detects that an EMR user linked to your configuration has been removed, deactivated, or is otherwise unavailable.

For step-by-step guidance on identifying and resolving these issues, please refer to the article: Quick Troubleshooting Guide: EMR Notifications for Sent/Received eRequests.

Med Access: EMR Notifications for Received eRequests

Note:

This article reflects the functionality available during the early release phase of EMR Notifications in partnership with Nova Scotia.

EMR Notifications for received eRequests allow providers to get automated alerts directly within their EMR when key status updates occur for eRequests sent through the Ocean Provider Network.

Prerequisites

Before setting up EMR Notifications for Med Access, a user with Site Admin access to your Ocean Site must complete the following prerequisite steps:

Enable EMR users in your Ocean Cloud Connect configuration by selecting one or more users in the 'Sync EMR User(s)' setting.
Perform a full schedule synchronization by clicking 'Sync Full Schedule' in Ocean Cloud Connect.

Configuration

EMR Notifications for received eRequests are configured in the 'Directory Listing'. Only users with Site Admin access can perform the configuration on behalf of users.

How Received eRequest Notifications appear in Med Access

To configure EMR Notifications for received eRequests, follow the steps below:

After logging in to the Ocean Portal, open the 'Menu' and select 'Admin'.

Click 'Directory Listing'.

Select the 'Manage EMR Notifications' button.

Three tables will be displayed: 'New eRequests', 'Cancelled eRequests, and another for 'New eRequest Messages'.

For each Directory Listing, select the desired EMR User to be notified for each eRequest event under the 'EMR User' column.

Your changes will be automatically saved and apply to both new and existing eRequests.

Note: When the drop-down arrow next to the Directory Listing name is selected, additional customization options become available for individual Health Service Offerings.

How Received eRequest Notifications appear in Med Access

Expand the tabs below to see how each received eRequest EMR Notification appears in Med Access.

New eRequest

The notification will appear as an Active Task in the respective patient chart and be assigned to the EMR User as selected in Ocean.

Notes

• The 'Reason for referral:' portion of the notification will only appear if the optional 'ax_reasonForReferral' analytic value has been populated for the eRequest.

• If you have the Ocean-MA Extension installed in your web browser, the extension will adjust the Task properties as detailed in the Ocean-MA Extension FAQ.

New eRequest messages

The notification will appear as an Active Task in the respective patient chart and be assigned to the EMR User as selected in Ocean.

Notes

• The 'Reason for referral:' portion of the notification will only appear if the optional 'ax_reasonForReferral' analytic value has been populated for the eRequest.

• If you have the Ocean-MA Extension installed in your web browser, the extension will adjust the Task properties as detailed in the Ocean-MA Extension FAQ.

Cancelled eRequests

The notification will appear as an Active Task in the respective patient chart and be assigned to the EMR User as selected in Ocean.

Notes

• The 'Reason for referral:' portion of the notification will only appear if the optional 'ax_reasonForReferral' analytic value has been populated for the eRequest.

• If you have the Ocean-MA Extension installed in your web browser, the extension will adjust the Task properties as detailed in the Ocean-MA Extension FAQ.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a log showing when EMR Notifications for Received eRequests are created?

Yes, when EMR Notifications for received eRequests are created successfully (or fail to be created), it is logged as an event within the respective eRequest's Event Log.

I am receiving error notifications, what should I do?

If you are seeing EMR-related error notifications in Ocean (such as “EMR user unavailable” or “Invalid EMR user(s)”), this usually indicates that one or more EMR user accounts are no longer active or properly synchronized.

These notifications appear when Ocean detects that an EMR user linked to your configuration has been removed, deactivated, or is otherwise unavailable.

For step-by-step guidance on identifying and resolving these issues, please refer to the article: Quick Troubleshooting Guide: EMR Notifications for Sent/Received eRequests.

What happens if an EMR Notification must be generated but the patient doesn’t have a chart in the EMR?

When an EMR notification needs to be generated and no matching patient chart exists in the EMR, Ocean automatically creates a full patient chart to ensure the notification can be properly generated and associated with the correct patient record.

As part of this process, an additional PDF document titled “Awaiting Initial Review” is added to the newly created chart. This document indicates that the patient record was created due to an incoming referral and did not previously exist in the EMR.

The referral notification will appear as an Active Task within the new patient chart and will be assigned to the EMR user selected in Ocean. The status “Awaiting Initial Review” confirms that the referral requires action and has not yet been accepted or declined.

Does Ocean still create the chart if the referral doesn’t include a Health Number?

Yes. If Ocean needs to generate an EMR Notification and no chart exists, chart creation will still succeed even if the referral does not include a Health Number.

What happens in the EMR when the eRequest is declined?

Ocean imports an updated referral record PDF into the corresponding patient chart showing a Declined status.

When a new patient chart is generated to facilitate an EMR Notification, it is important that the Task/Document title includes the word “Declined” . This allows EMR users to leverage their EMR’s querying tools to identify charts that were created solely to facilitate an EMR Notification where the eRequest was later declined, and to bulk remove them if needed.