Sidebar Charting Tools
A "Sidebar" is available in most patient charts, in many clinical contexts (inpatient, emergency, critical care, outpatient, etc.). It can be collapsed or expanded. When open, it facilitates quick access to information that can help with charting tasks performed in the main (center) chart area. The Sidebar can also be used to complete documentation tasks, while the center views are used to gather and review needed information.
Inpatient Sidebar Index
Patient charts opened in Hyperspace to an inpatient encounter have a right "Sidebar" default view topped with an "Inpatient Sidebar Index". This supports rapid switching between different Sidebar activities. The primary intent of the Sidebar is to bring commonly needed tools to the forefront for rapid access. A secondary purpose is to provide aids for quickly finding, displaying and editing information in either the main (central), Sidebar (right) or pop-up chart spaces.
There are two columns in the Sidebar index, each with rows containing links that, when selected, jump to an indicated activity. Link rows can have up to three parts, each performing different actions when selected (clicked):
Left arrow - A left-pointing arrow signifies that a related activity can be opened in the main (center) chart panel.
Activity title - A central phrase or abbreviation gives a rough indication of the information that will appear in the Sidebar if the link is selected. There may be more than one sidebar view option (separated by pipe, "|", character).
Right arrow - In some cases, actionable activities (e.g., editing tools) can be opened in the Sidebar itself by selecting the right arrow, if present.
Available links can have different actions depending upon patient (e.g., pediatric), provider (e.g., specialty) or setting (e.g., login department) characteristics. Link behaviours may change over time as new tool optimizations are discovered. Current Sidebar index activity links include:
Checklists | Plans
Also the default inpatient Sidebar Summary view, this shows daily, admission and discharge checklists, as well as a transition planning section that summarizes discharge readiness information with embedded "hotspot" links for just-in-time access to relevant data-entry tools. Selecting the "Plans" option causes the sidebar to show just the transition planning tools.
Left arrow - Opens the physician checklist tab within the inpatient Summary activity.
Question mark - Opens this help information in a pop-up window.
Encounter team
Highlights the current inpatient or emergency attending provider, involved specialty teams, inpatient treatment team, outpatient providers and emergency contacts.
Left arrow - Opens the care team activity (with editing ability) in the center panel.
Right arrow - Opens the care team activity (with editing ability) in a pop-up display.
Problems, Hx
Lists hospital problems (grouped by priority), as well as medical, surgical, implant, social and family histories.
Left arrow - Opens the main problem list and history activity in the center panel.
Right arrow - Opens problem list and medical history editing tools in the Sidebar so that information can be abstracted from displays (e.g., Netcare reports) appearing elsewhere.
Problem charting (Problem Oriented Charting, POC)
Gives a quick overview of all structured documentation content captured as a by-product of POC workflows. The prose has many clickable hotspots (links are in darker blue font) that open relevant tools that speed the review or generation of POC content. This sidebar is designed to work in concert with the POC center panel activity.
Left arrow - Opens the POC activity in the center panel.
Right arrow - Opens the Hospital Course (i.e., inpatient wiki-like record of key developments and milestones, a key part of summative documents) for editing in the Sidebar, easing preparation of a succinct summary of the patient's inpatient experience while reviewing other clinical material in the Sidebar.
Meds| Adv
Medications and immunizations are summarized, with home and inpatient medications distinguished. Selecting "Adv" displays known adverse medication reactions and tools for submitting serious adverse drug reaction reports.
Left arrow - Opens the home medication review (reconciliation) activity in the center panel.
Right arrow - Opens adverse reactions and serious adverse reaction reporting in the Sidebar.
Blood | Med admin (Medication Administration Record, MAR)
The "Blood" link opens a display information about past and planned blood product administrations. The "Med Admin" link opens a sidebar summary of recent medication administration record (MAR) times, routes and actions.
Left arrow - Opens the main MAR in the center panel.
Right arrow - Opens pharmacy medication check report in the Sidebar.
Vitals, IO, lines
Recent vitals, diet orders, intake and output records, and an inventory of lines/drains/airways are listed.
Left arrow - Opens the main inpatient vitals flowsheet in the center panel.
Right arrow - Opens the Synopsis activity in the center panel, at the default Timeline view.
Views | Scores
The "Views" link opens a secondary set of links in the sidebar with sub-views of common chart views (activities), synopsis (timeline) views and key flowsheet views. The "Scores" link opens a secondary set of links in the sidebar with sub-views of links (and results) for a number of clinically important scores, calculators and measures.
Left arrow - Opens the default Summary activity for the inpatient chart.
Right arrow - Opens the scores links and submenus in the sidebar.
Recent results
Recent (last 24-48 hours) glucometry, laboratory and oxygen measurements are listed together.
Left arrow - Opens the inpatient laboratory results review activity in the center panel.
Right arrow - Opens a listing of recent imaging and lab orders to facilitate selecting items for notification via In Basket.
Warnings, EWS
Provides early warning scores (MEWs or PEWs) as well as links to other summaries of risk, together with links to source data.
Left arrow - Opens the inpatient early warning system activity in the center panel, age-appropriate.
Right arrow - Opens inpatient early warning score tools in the sidebar.
Risks, Screens
Summarizes risks for unintended readmission, frailty scale report, and travel and exposure screening results.
Left arrow - Opens the readmission risk activity in the center panel.
Right arrow - Opens the frailty scale as a pop-up for editing.
Billing | Stickies
The "Billings" link lists a summary of personal billings recently filed (last 7 days) for the current patient. The "Stickies" link opens a sidebar display of My Sticky Note, Care Team Sticky Note, Note to MRHP and Specialty Sticky Note.
Left arrow - Opens the professional service code (billing) activity for charge capture in the center panel.
Right arrow - Lists sticky notes in the Sidebar, including "my sticky note" (personal post-it style comments), specialty sticky note (shared by members of specialty), note to most responsible provider (equivalent of "doctors board" rounding to-dos) and care team sticky note (transition planning).
Notes | Forms
The "Notes" link opens a set of Sidebar summaries, providing rapid access to recent summative documents (Histories, Consults, Discharge Summaries) that can be selected and viewed within the Sidebar (to ease, e.g., medication reconciliation in the main activity panel). In addition, a clickable sub-menu of provincial standard templates for documentation (e.g., discharge summary, consult) allows users to initiate documentation work with a single click. The "Forms" link opens a sub-menu of available communications forms that can be completed within Connect Care (with known data pre-entered) and then submitted to relevant agencies.
Left arrow - Opens the Notes activity in the main panel with the appropriate note type pre-selected.
Right arrow - Same action as "Notes" link.
Other (clinical) systems
Opens a set of secondary links that facilitate opening other clinical or guidance information systems in the main Hyperspace activity panel (left arrow), in a pop-up window (center system name) or in the Sidebar itself (right arrow).
Left arrow - Opens Netcare in the center panel.
Right arrow - Opens Netcare in the Sidebar.
Outpatient Sidebar Index
Patient charts opened in Hyperspace to an outpatient encounter have a right "Summary" default view topped with an Index of links to alternate sidebar displays. This supports rapid switching between different Sidebar activities. The primary intent of the Sidebar is to bring commonly needed tools to the foreground for rapid access. A secondary purpose is to provide aids for quickly finding, displaying and editing information in either the main (central), Sidebar (right) or pop-up chart spaces.
There are two columns in the Sidebar index, each with rows containing links that, when selected, jump to an indicated activity. Link rows can have up to three parts, each performing different actions when selected (clicked):
Left arrow - A left-pointing arrow signifies that a related activity can be opened in the main (center) chart panel.
Activity title - A central phrase or abbreviation gives a rough indication of the information that will appear in the Sidebar if the link is selected.
Right arrow - In some cases, actionable activities (e.g., editing tools) can be opened in the Sidebar itself by selecting the right arrow, if present.
Available links can have different actions depending upon patient (e.g., pediatric), provider (e.g., specialty) or setting (e.g., login department) characteristics. In particular, the outpatient sidebar index is truncated (fewer links and options) when an outpatient visit is opened in "Pre-Charting" mode. The sidebar index may not appear by default for all visit or context types. It such cases, look to the chart activity menu or the chart search tool to see a "Physician sidebar" menu or search result.
Current Outpatient Sidebar index activity links include:
Summary & Index
Also the default outpatient Sidebar Summary view, this shows the index above a visit-related information listed in groups below, including the chief complaint, visit diagnosis, problems, history and other patient health data. Many sections can be further selected to open relevant chart activities.
Left arrow - Opens Chart Review and patient snapshot in the center panel.
Question mark - Opens this help information in a pop-up window.
Care team
Highlights the current outpatient providers and emergency contacts.
Left arrow - Opens the care team activity (with editing ability) in the center panel.
Right arrow - Opens the care team activity (with editing ability) in a pop-up display.
Problems | POC
The "Problems" link lists patient problems (grouped by priority) in the Sidebar; as well as medical, surgical, implant, social and family histories. The "POC" link opens a Sidebar display of the problem oriented charting building blocks that can be used in clinical documentation.
Left arrow - Opens the main problem list in the center panel.
Right arrow - Opens problem list editing tools in the Sidebar so that information can be abstracted from displays (e.g., Netcare reports) appearing elsewhere.
History
Gives a quick overview of the patient's current medical, surgical, family, device and social history.
Left arrow - Opens the History activity in the center panel.
Right arrow - Opens patient history information in the Sidebar.
Meds| Adv
Medications and immunizations are summarized, with home and inpatient medications distinguished. Selecting "Adv" displays known adverse medication reactions and tools for submitting serious adverse drug reaction reports.
Left arrow - Opens the home medication review (reconciliation) activity in the center panel.
Right arrow - Opens adverse reactions and serious adverse reaction reporting in the Sidebar.
Med admin (Medication Administration Record, MAR)
The "Med Admin" link opens a sidebar summary of recent clinic-administered medication (MAR) times, routes and actions.
Left arrow - Opens the main MAR in the center panel.
Right arrow - Opens pharmacy medication check report in the Sidebar.
Vitals, Screens
The "Vitals" link opens the Sidebar to a view of visit vitals and other clinic observations together with any travel or communicable disease screening information.
Left arrow - Opens the outpatient vitals flowsheet in the center panel.
Right arrow - Opens Screening results in the Sidebar.
Views | Scores
The "Views" link opens a secondary set of links in the sidebar with sub-views of common chart views (activities), synopsis (timeline) views and key flowsheet views. The "Scores" link opens a secondary set of links in the sidebar with sub-views of links (and results) for a number of clinically important scores, calculators and measures.
Left arrow - Opens the default Chart Review activity for the patient chart.
Right arrow - Opens the scores links and sub-menus in the sidebar.
Recent results
Recent (last 24-48 hours) glucometry, laboratory and oxygen measurements are listed together.
Left arrow - Opens the inpatient laboratory results review activity in the center panel.
Right arrow - Opens a listing of recent imaging and lab orders to facilitate selecting items for notification via In Basket.
Billing | Stickies
The "Billings" link lists a summary of personal billings recently filed (last 7 days) for the current patient. The "Stickies" link opens a sidebar display of My Sticky Note, Care Team Sticky Note, Note to MRHP and Specialty Sticky Note.
Left arrow - Opens the professional service code (billing) activity for charge capture in the center panel.
Right arrow - Lists sticky notes in the Sidebar, including "my sticky note" (personal post-it style comments), specialty sticky note (shared by members of specialty), note to most responsible provider (equivalent of "doctors board" rounding to-dos) and care team sticky note (transition planning).
Notes | Forms
The "Notes" link opens a set of Sidebar summaries, providing rapid access to recent summative documents (Histories, Consults, Discharge Summaries) that can be selected and viewed within the Sidebar (to ease, e.g., medication reconciliation in the main activity panel). In addition, a clickable sub-menu of provincial standard templates for documentation (e.g., discharge summary, consult) allows users to initiate documentation work with a single click. The "Forms" link opens a sub-menu of available communications forms that can be completed within Connect Care (with known data pre-entered) and then submitted to relevant agencies.
Left arrow - Opens the Notes activity in the main panel with the appropriate note type pre-selected.
Right arrow - Same action as "Notes" link.
Other (clinical) systems
Opens a set of secondary links that facilitate opening other clinical or guidance information systems in the main Hyperspace activity panel (left arrow), in a pop-up window (center system name) or in the Sidebar itself (right arrow).
Left arrow - Opens Netcare in the center panel.
Right arrow - Opens Netcare in the Sidebar.
Emergency Department Sidebar Index
Patient charts opened in an emergency context (care in emergency room; not yet admitted) also support display of a sidebar index. This most closely resembles the inpatient sidebar. However, index entries and the associated sidebar displays automatically adjust to show what is most appropriate for emergency care.
Other Clinical Systems Sidebar Tools
New patient assessments offer important opportunities to initiate core clinical data in the patient chart. This decreases documentation work thereafter, allowing clinicians to revise or validate information already entered.
Sidebar tools can be help clinicians when they review information in other clinical information systems (e.g., Netcare) or in unstructured Connect Care documentation (dictated notes that, e.g., did not include updated problem lists). The user needs to review and document information at the same time, ideally without jumping back and forth between different windows. The Sidebar can help in two ways, either when used to review information that informs documentation performed with main panel tools, or when used to enter information gleaned from the main panel.
Use-cases include:
Problem and History Documentation
Prior letters, summaries, Netcare or other clinical information can be displayed in the main (center) panel while documentation is performed in the "Problems & Hx" Sidebar activity, OR
Prior documentation is reviewed in the Sidebar "Notes & reports" activity, or the "Other systems" (Netcare) Sidebar views while problem lists and medical or surgical histories are updated in the main (center) panel.
Medication Reconciliation
Medication reconciliation tools open in the main (center) panel while a Netcare medication profile (drug dispensing information) is open within the "Other systems" Sidebar activity.
The links available in the "Other systems" Sidebar index will vary by patient, provider and clinical context. They will also grow over time as new features are added for particular specialties.
Clinical system links are formatted like the Sidebar index links described above. There may be a left arrow (generally opening functions in the main Hyperspace panel), a link topic/title (often opening functions in a pop-up window) and a right arrow (opening functions in the Sidebar itself). Core links available to all clinicians in all inpatient charts include:
Netcare EHR
Left arrow - Opens the Netcare electronic health record in the main (center) Hyperspace activity, exactly as happens when Netcare is opened from the patient Storyboard (leftmost Hyperspace column). The current patient chart is opened by default within Netcare.
Netcare title - Opens a Netcare login screen within a pop-up window. This allows Netcare to be accessed outside of a specific patient. The pop-up window can be positioned, e.g., on a separate monitor screen, and can be used to access more advance patient lookup features.
Right arrow - Opens Netcare within the Hyperspace Sidebar. This allows access to, e.g., Netcare medication information while entering orders or doing medication reconciliation in the main activity panel.
Legacy Calgary CIS
Left arrow - Opens a read-only view of historical information from Calgary Zone's legacy clinical information system (Sunrise Clinical Manager, SCM) in the main (center) Hyperspace activity, exactly as happens when the same system is opened from the patient Storyboard. The current patient chart is opened by default.
Right arrow - Opens a read-only view of information from SCM in the Sidebar.
Problem-dependent Sidebar Tools
Some Sidebar displays and tools become available only when a patient as a particular health condition, as reflected in the problem list (active problems). These usually appear within the Notes & Reports section. Clicking on the relevant link will open the relevant Sidebar toolkit.