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DataCall -
Next Patient Call & Patient
Information System
Operations and Maintenance
Manual
Call Aid UK Ltd 50 Cornhill Road
Carlton
Nottingham
NG4 1GE
Tel: 0115 940 0905
Fax: 0115 853 1969
[email protected] www.callaiduk.com
DataCall - Next Patient Call & Patient Information System
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Introduction
This hardware and software solution essentially provides the tools for next patient calling at a
health centre or hospital. By using digital signage the system also provides the means to show
information on screen in between calling the patients through.
The Datacall software suite, developed by Call Aid UK, provides an aid to:-
Arrive a patient at a touchscreen check in terminal. This includes optional spoken
instructions for the patient.
Print appointment tickets with numbers when applicable for patient confidentiality
reasons.
Inform the receptionist, clinician and/or doctor of each patient arrival.
Call the next patient forward from the waiting room using on-screen text and associated
speech announcements.
Show informative text, images, posters or videos on the large screen waiting room
displays.
For a further overview of Datacall specifications and licensing see pages 14 to 16
Contents
Waiting Room Displays overview 2
About Check-In Self-check-in story board 6
About Patient Call Hospital appointment progress management 8
About Call Filter Health Centre appointment progress management 9
How To… Log in 10
Setup the Media Manager components 11
Add a slide to the waiting room display screen
Change the default crawler message
Data Schematic Data connectivity between hospital / health centre servers,
PC’s, and the Datacall client applications.
12
Wiring Schematic A typical hardware configuration for Hospital or Health
Centre.
13
Overview Software, Licensing and Hardware specifications 14
Information Governance Data security measures 17
F.A.Q’s What if the system stops calling patients (from Patient Call)? 19
What if the system stops calling patients (from Call Filter)? 20
Who do we contact for support? 22
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Waiting Room Displays In addition to the Clock and Crawler seen here, the Media Manager also includes:-
Notice board
Typically use to show event schedules at the
practice with start times.
Slide Show
JPG image files.
Often converted from NHS pdf posters or
designed locally by staff using Microsoft
Office tools or similar.
Displayed in successive intervals or according
to a schedule.
Reception Announcements
Using text and speech to convey a messages
or requests to patients in the waiting room.
Taking the same visual format as the next
patient calling function.
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Videos
Plays video files from a variety of formats at
user specified position and size on screen.
The video snapshot here is one of “stop
smoking” promotional material.
RTF
RTF is a popular text and image format
provided by Microsoft Word and other similar
products.
This display tool enable scrolling information
text to be placed anywhere on screen
The RTF can be scheduled for specific dates
and times, or applied immediately.
Waiting Times
This grid is updated in real time, and draws
an analysis of the duration between
appointment times and last patient called
times.
Additional lines may be added by the clinics
or reception at any time and total manual
control of any line can be passed to the user.
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Clinics Today
As an alternative to “Waiting Times” this grid
will simply display clinics running today
information.
The grid will be automatically populated
from the appointment data loaded into the
Datacall system.
Lines may be added, deleted or changed
manually by the clinic or reception.
MP3 Player
A background music – none visual feature
Some health centres prefer to run background music in the waiting room to aid patient
confidentiality at reception, and to ease the boredom while awaiting an appointment.
Any number of (suitable) MP3 compatible tracks may be loaded into the Datacall
system and will play randomly throughout each day.
Last Called Grids
With the choice of one or two grids this may
be used for calling and directing patients to a
sub-wait area.
Particularly useful in larger hospital outpatient
departments where sub waiting areas are
located on other floors or along lengthy
corridors.
By cycling the content of the visible columns,
any number of sub-wait areas may be
included.
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Live TV
Using the principles of IPTV streaming and VLC
media player.
A variety of free to air terrestrial or free-sat
channels may be streamed to the display
screens without flooding hospital / health
centre corporate LAN bandwidth.
Displaying subtitles instead of TV sound is also
optional.
HTML Web Pages
Internet based web pages may be displayed.
Unfortunately such pages often have a great
deal of content making them unsuitable for
the waiting room display screens.
Web style pages however could be produced
in-house, relatively easily, and broadcasted to
the display screens from a hospital or health
centre Intranet.
Timings and schedules to change the
displayed pages can be managed by
Datacall or within the Java script of the pages
displayed.
Next Patient Calling
The text colour and font size, background colour, size
and position of the announcement can be pre-set by
the practice.
The speech and text information can also be
determined by the practice to show either;
a) Ticket number or patient name.
b) Doctor name and/or room name or number.
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Self-Check-In
1
Story Board Steps 2 and 3 are optional and may be used for
producing “Green Transport” analysis along with
vehicle registration, in respect of ANPR (automatic
number plate recognition) system.
Stages 1, 9 and 11 are user configurable.
Header text, crawler, and system colours are also
configurable.
2 3
4 5
6 7
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8 9
10 11
Notes to Datacall Check In
The same software module is used on touchscreen terminals at hospitals or health centres.
The terminal will be connected to the corporate LAN using Ethernet cabling just as any other
computer.
A ticket printer may be connected to the terminal’s USB port as required.
This software will connect to the appointments stored in either the PatientCall or the CallFilter
databases.
Following successful check-in, the appointment will be marked as arrived within Datacall and
this may also be conveyed to the hospital PAS or health centre appointment system.
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About Patient Call
This application provides a number of functions:-
1. To automatically import a list of appointments, supplied by the hospital PAS (patient
appointment system) at the start of each day.
2. To present the appointments in a user friendly and meaningful manner to receptionist
and clinic staff (doctors and nurses).
WELCOME SCREEN
Every user will initially be presented with
the choice of Reception or Clinic
Note
This application is also quite suitable for use in
many larger health centres with specialties
such as physiotherapy, phlebotomy, and X-
Ray.
CLINIC
Doctors and nurses are presented with
their own personal list of appointments.
Arrived patients are indicated by the
existence of a series of icons to
represent the stages through which
each patient will pass during their visit.
The icons are changed to grey ticks as
each patient is called, passes through
consultation or treatment and finally
leaves the building.
RECEPTION
Staff may select and view any one of
today’s clinic lists.
Arrived patients are indicated by a
time appearing in the 7th column.
Tools in this window enable the
receptionists to arrive patients.
Appointments may be amended or
added manually into the Datacall
system.
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About Call Filter
This application provides a number of functions:-
To automate the collection of appointments from the health centre PAS.
To present the appointments in a user friendly and meaningful manner to receptionists
and clinic staff (doctors and nurses).
To filter, configure and pass next patient calls through to the relevant display screen.
RECEPTION SCREEN
This presents a full list of all
appointments in time and doctor order.
Receptionists may use this screen to:- a) Arrive patients into Datacall
b) Call patients to the doctor or nurse
c) Add appointments
d) Amend appointment settings
e) Send a message to the touch screen fro
when the patient checks in.
f) DNA appointments
QUICK CALL SCREEN
Presented as a popup window on the
doctor or nurse’s computer screen.
Pre-set the room number for the PC
Pre-set the usual doctor for the room.
Call patients from the waiting room.
CALL FILTER DIARY
This screen provides the means to
schedule and assign certain doctors to
certain rooms.
This data is also used by the Media
Manager “Clinics Today” function to list
doctors in session on the waiting room
display.
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How to… Log In
Start the Datacall Launcher by first locating and clicking this desktop or start menu
icon.
The log in procedure may vary depending upon the activities required by the individual staff
members, but ordinarily the user is presented with:-
The “apps” listed will also depend upon whether the site is a hospital or health centre.
Patient Call and Call Filter are Datacall’s appointment management applications.
A single click will launch the application.
Provided sufficient user licences are in place, a user may choose to launch more than one
concurrent session of the apps.
E.G. one session of “Call Filter” for controlling the appointments, and one session of “Media
Manager” for controlling the waiting room display screens.
On some occasions the user may be taken directly to the required application, thereby
skipping the Datacall Launcher.
After launching each application the user may be asked for an access password.
Unless otherwise instructed the standard user passwords are CLINIC and RECEPT.
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How to… Set up the Media Manager components
Launch Media Manager “Admin” control panel.
Select the tick boxes for the components you wish
to use at the site.
Click each tab in turn to position, size, colourise
and configure the various attributes of each
component.
The sample monitor (upper right) is used to
preview the finished result.
How to… Add a poster onto the waiting room display screen
The available slides are a list of JPG images
stored in a “slides” folder of the Datacall
Media Manager root server.
Having enabled the Slide Show
component in the admin control panel – click this
toolbar icon to open the slide scheduler.
Drag-n-drop any of the available slide thumbnails
into the schedule list, then apply start and end
timings.
Click this to save the list as repeated daily
schedule, again with start and end dates.
Click this icon to open a local or network folder of slides that will be
displayed repeatedly every day. The path to this folder is specified in the
Admin control panel – Slides tab.
How to… Change the default crawler message
Open the Admin control panel.
Select the Crawler tab. Now
overtype the default message
and click Save.
For changes to take effect
immediately use Control.. Reset
the live display..
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Data Schematic
Trust Server (PAS)
Datacall Master Database Controller To run on either:-
a) Trust virtual server b) Datacall Win7pro / SBS c) Reception PC after user login
(PatientCall or CallFilter)
Datacall Patient Self-check-in (CheckIn)
Datacall Reception (PatientCall or CallFilter)
Datacall Clinic (PatientCall or CallFilter)
Datacall Display Screen (InnView)
Automated daily PAS data extract (Arranged by Trust IT/Server support staff)
Application(s) may be executed from local hard drive or directly from the server share
Application(s) may be executed from local hard drive or directly from the server share Application will generally execute on local hard drive
Application will execute on local hard drive
Notes to the Data Schematic
PatientCall, CallFilter, CheckIn and InnView are software applications developed in-
house by Call Aid UK using the Omnis Studio 5.0.1 rapid application development
system from Tiger Logic Corporation.
All applications are individually licenced, and must be accompanied by an Omnis
Studio runtime licence per concurrent user.
The maximum quantity of concurrent Datacall users is restricted only by the number of
purchased runtime licenses and server access capability.
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Wiring Schematic
Trust LAN Trust Server
Trust hub room data switch
Display 002
1st Reception / Consultant / Clinic Manager 2nd Reception / Consultant / Clinic Manager
Display 001 Datacall Touch screen self- check-in incl. embedded PC
Datacall Media Manager Display screen PC
HDMI splitter feeding up to 4 display screens
Datacall LAN
Datacall Master – application may run on Trust virtual server / server share
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Overview
Datacall is the name given to a suite of Windows based software applications from Call Aid UK.
These applications are developed under licence using Omnis Studio 5.0.1 (Rapid Application
Development system) from the Tiger Logic Corporation.
Each Datacall application contains optional username and password facilities along with user
level access passwords.
The database engine involved uses its own proprietary multi-user data file system and does not
require or make use of any SQL based connectivity or similar.
Omnis Studio is presently a 32 bit Windows application and is fully compatible and stable under
the following operating systems:-
Windows XP
Windows 7 32 & 64 bit
Windows 8 32 & 64 bit
Windows server 2003, 2008
Users and Program Execution
The executables and application libraries can be hosted:-
1) Entirely on PC hardware supplied by Call Aid UK, or
2) On a Windows Server share provided by the practice.
Master (logged in) sessions of the Datacall software are required to run perpetually on the
server hardware or at an uninterrupted client terminal.
Client users (Reception, Clinic practitioners, and Administration office) may run the Datacall
software directly over the LAN from the server share, or the software may be installed locally to
improve start up efficiency.
At a small to medium sized practice no more than 20 concurrent connections are required to
the Datacall server. However larger systems may require a greater number of (Server CALS –
client access licenses) than the 20 clients that a Windows 7 professional share permits.
If a maximum quantity of 20 concurrent Datacall users is sufficient then an optimized Windows 7
professional PC is quite adequate for hosting the system.
The Datacall client software will run comfortably alongside all other existing Windows software
at practice.
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Licensing
Every Datacall application used at a practice will require a support and development licence.
An Omnis Studio client licence is also required for each and every terminal that needs to
connect into the Datacall databases. This includes all display screen CPU’s, each server side
Datacall Master Session, and all clinic / reception computers.
Domain and network infrastructure
Datacall hardware will function comfortably using its own Workgroup settings or may join the
practice Domain and Username settings.
The system IP addresses should be assigned automatically from the LAN’s DHCP server, or may
have reserved / static IP addresses. Client PC’s should be capable of connecting directly to the
Datacall hardware and its stored database..
Hardware Specification
Client side:-
Pentium class CPU running Microsoft Windows
Cabled local area Ethernet network
2Gb Ram
80 GB HDD – of which 200mb may be used max.
VGA 1024x768
For maximum benefit of the Media Manager:-
Audio output capable
Text-Aloud software and Serena text-to-speech voice synthesis
Server side:-
Pentium class CPU running Microsoft Windows 7 professional
Cabled local area Ethernet network
4Gb Ram
320 GB HDD – of which 200mb may be used max.
Dedicated CPU or virtual machine
A shared Datacall folder with multi-user read/write access
Touchscreen check in terminal:-
Pentium class CPU running Microsoft Windows
Cabled local area Ethernet network
2Gb Ram
80 GB HDD – of which 200mb may be used max.
VGA 1024x768
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Waiting Room Display CPU:-
Pentium class CPU running Microsoft Windows
Cabled local area Ethernet network
2Gb Ram
80 GB HDD – of which 200mb may be used max.
VGA 1024x768
Data Source
The full next patient calling system normally requires a daily input of extracted appointment
data from the practice PAS (patient appointment system).
This extracted data may be delivered manually by a staff member or by use of automated
scripts depending upon the PAS used and the IT support provision.
The data extract file is dropped into a shared folder and monitored by Datacall, to be instantly
imported as it appears.
On some occasions (depending upon the PAS software vendor) Datacall may have the ability
to extract the required appointment data electronically by means of an API (application
program interface).
Regarding touchscreen check-in
It is important to note that unless direct API connectivity into the PAS is available for the
check-in facility, Datacall can only alert a receptionist to a patient’s arrival, but will not be
capable of updating any relevant “arrived” flags within the PAS.
Multi –Practice Capability
Datacall provides the means to manage next patient calling quite independently for each
practice located at a single site. Waiting room announcements may be combined for single
display screen, or be directed to one or more associated waiting room screens.
Users can tailor the content of messages sent out to the waiting room according to the
practice, the room name, and even the doctor or nurse.
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Information Governance
How and where is data stored?
All data is stored within Omnis Studio proprietary {.df1} data files.
All program and data components are entirely hosted by a virtual server or dedicated
Windowstm PC attached to the corporate LAN.
The server will be managed by the Trust/Practice IT support team.
Just three DF1 files are used to retain a minimal amount of data required for the next
patient calling system.
What software tools are required to gain access to the data?
Datacall provides five Omnis Studio applications designed in-house at Call Aid UK. All
applications require the Microsoft Windows platform.
Execution of each application is required in order to gain access to the associated
stored data. No other software tools would be capable of reading and deciphering the
stored data.
The applications are supplied on a multi-user runtime basis, thereby preventing
unauthorised access to source code and stored data.
An Omnis Studio multi-user runtime licence is supplied to limit total client access into the
Datacall databases.
From where is data sourced?
Data is delivered electronically to the next patient calling system as extracts from the
hospital or health centre patient appointment systems.
Who can access it and what optional username and password facilities exist?
Application 1 “Patient Call” - is made available to reception computers and clinic room
computers solely for the purpose of selecting and calling the next patient.
Application 2 “Call Filter” - is made available to reception computers and clinic room
computers for the purpose of next patient calling system.
Application 3 “Check In” – is designed to run at multiple touchscreen self-check-in
terminals and makes connection to either the PatientCall or CallFilter databases.
Application 4 “Media Manager” – is designed to control waiting room display screen
content, and to carry out patient announcements using messages sent from Patient Call
and Call Filter. Reception and admin computers are given access to configure the
content of displayed information on the waiting room screens.
Application 5 “ANPR” – is designed to configure and submit vehicle registration data
collected at the touchscreen check-in terminals and submitted daily to a 3rd party
parking management company. My not be applicable at most installation sites.
Both Patient Call and Call Filter applications provide user login name and password
options, along with a series of restricted access level passwords.
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What personal data is retained by the system?
The minimal data extract comprises of:-
Patient name, gender, date of birth, appointment date and time, doctor name, and
practice code.
In the case of ANPR (automatic number plate recognition), no personal data other than
vehicle registration, method of transport, and date/time of parking is retained.
When is data purged or archived?
In order to maintain system efficiency and small data file size, optional procedures and
schedules are available to archive (or completely erase) data that is no longer required
for daily next patient calling.
On-going further development of the applications will later provide the client with tools
to draw off statistical data, such as room allocation and patient calling efficiency.
What data (ANPR) is transmitted to a 3rd party?
Vehicle registration, method of transport, and date/time of parking only.
No personal data is retained by the ANPR function of Datacall.
No personal data or reference to individual patients, staff, or visitors is transmitted to the
third party parking management company.
What level of data security exists at the touchscreen?
Apart from elements of data specifically required by the patient using a self-check-in
touchscreen, no other patient or staff data is available.
The touchscreen software “Check In” is designed to expect specific responses from the
visitor, and provides no other means of unauthorised access.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What if the system stops calling patients from Patient Call?
Tests 1 and 2 should help to identify the cause of the problem.
Test 1 – Media Manager
1) Open a session of Media Manager on your PC
2) Click the toolbar icon labelled Announce
3) Set the tick boxes to select/deselect which display screens should be tested.
4) Type in a short sensible message and click the Announce Now button.
5) If the message is announced proceed to Test 2
6) If the message is not announced power off the display screen PC for 30 seconds and
then power it up again. When the usual display screen has returned carry out this test
again. Note: a Windows task schedule is set to automatically start the Datacall software from the display
screen desktop after one or two minutes.
Test 2 – Patient Call application
1) Open a session of Patient Call
2) Select Reception
3) Click the Add button to insert a test appointment for Tommy Testing into Clinic1
4) Note: Clinic1 is usually included as a default and test clinic for troubleshooting
5) Do not apply an arrived time just yet. Click Save.
6) The new appointment will appear as the first line for Clinic1.
7) Click the pointed figure icon in column 7 to arrive the patient.
8) Close the reception window and select Clinic
9) Click the first icon in the line for Tommy Testing then click the Call To: Room button that
appears at the top of the screen, or double click the first icon on Tommy Testing’s line
and respond with Yes to the “call patient?” message.
If the announcement is successful – then your Datacall system administrator is required to check
the Patient Call clinic defaults for those clinics where calls are failing.
Tip: To auto-repair all clinic display path settings:-
Set the correct Call via display settings for Clinic1
Ensure that the default flag is ticked
Use File.. Datafile maintenance.. Reset all display
paths in all clinics to the default…
The password “DATACALL” is required for this
function.
If this message was observed then your
Datacall system administrator will need to
check:-
File.. Admin tools.. System defaults.. Default
lists… Media server network data and calls
folder path…
And
File.. Admin tools.. Clinic defaults.. Call via
display(s) settings for each and every clinic.
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What if the system stops calling patients from Call Filter (Quick Call)?
Tests 1 and 2 should help to identify the cause of the problem.
Test 1 – Media Manager
1) Open a session of Media Manager on your PC
2) Click the toolbar icon labelled Announce
3) Set the tick boxes to select/deselect which display screens should be tested.
4) Type in a short sensible message and click the Announce Now button.
5) If the message is announced proceed to Test 2
6) If the message is not announced power off the display screen PC for 30 seconds and
then power it up again. When the usual display screen has returned carry out this test
again. Note: a Windows task schedule is set to automatically start the Datacall software from the display
screen desktop after one or two minutes.
Test 2 – Call Filter Important: the exception to the following test is if Calls are being sent and detected by the Call Filter
master from a third party application (such as INPS Vision), whereby next patient calling is processing in a
slightly different manner.
1) Open a session of Call Filter
2) Select the menu File.. Put out a test patient Call… you will receive a message stating
that a call for patient Tommy testing has been sent to all display screens
If the call failed – then the Call Filter master timer, which normally runs perpetually on the server
or Datacall Master PC, may not be running. Please ask your Datacall system administrator (IT
support) to check that the Call Filter Master is running and its Timer is activated.
Another indicator that the Call Filter Master timer is not running is that the called time will not
appear in the doctors Quick Call appointment list, even though the working message to say
“Calling patient etc..” did popup.
Call Filter guidance for system administrators
These settings in System Defaults determine the network folder for transmitting patient Calls to
the display screen media managers.
Continued over page
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Call Filter guidance for system administrators continued…
Firstly ensure that one or more Site/Practice codes are added this list.
Also check for correct Network paths for importing appointments.
Secondly ensure Network paths for sending patient calls are correctly directed to the
Calls folders used by Datacall Media Manager to detect announcements.
The lower list determines which screen will receive calls for which practice. This will allow
calls to go out on several screens for practice K1 whilst calls for practice K2 might only be
directed to a single waiting room display.
Having checked and corrected these settings, the test call from Call Filter should now be
successful.
If still unsuccessful you must check that Media Manager on the display screens are looking at
the same shared folder as defined in the “Network path for sending patient calls…” as shown
above.
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Who do we contact for support?
Primarily your first port of call would be your designated Datacall System Administrator.
(Complete as appropriate)
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Your next line of support will be Application Support
(Complete as appropriate)
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Finally, and only in connection with the DataCall Patient Calling system
DataCall Support
Call Aid UK Limited
50 Cornhill Road,
Carlton,
Nottingham. (UK)
NG4 1GE
www.callaiduk.com
Tel: 0115 940 0905
Fax: 0115 853 1969