The Cortex Designer is an iPad application that allows the building of forms that can then be deployed into Cortex as part of workflows.  A 'workflow' is a combination of a form and delivery options, and are orders, referrals, or clinical documentation.


It is built to be used by clinicians, so is user friendly and intuitive.  Creating a form is as easy as dragging and dropping of different components then deciding how the components will interact.  Parts of the forms can be displayed conditional on answers to previous questions. 


So, when it comes to clinical documentation, it is better to approach these forms from the perspective that you are designing a workflow.  Something that takes a clinician, who may be junior or senior, through a clinical interaction providing both a guide, as well as the opportunity to document what they have done.


 


There are four 'views' that the app provides:


Form list


A form store where your list of forms you have built or are building is kept.  These are organised by form building groups (such as departments).


The forms are organised by stage:

  • 'In Design' - this is the form building stage
  • 'In Review' - the form is able to be reviewed by other users, and cannot be edited
  • 'Approved' - the form has been approved by the relevant departmental or group representative and is awaiting publication
  • 'Published' - the form has been published and is available to associate with a workflow in Cortex (this is done in the Cortex web admin)
  • 'Archived' - these are forms related to a workflow that is no longer active in Cortex



 


To add a new form, just tap the 'hamburger' menu (three horizontal lines) in the top right.  Go ahead and create a new form and start having a play with the app.  Best way to learn.


 


Form building screen



On the left is the component and resource library. This has the pieces of a form that you can drag and drop into the form on the right.  Just touch, hold and drag a component on the left, across to the form on the right.


In the form itself in the right panel, you can drag and drop sections or components to rearrange. 


If you tap on a component in the form itself, it will open a panel to the right



This is the 'attributes view'. This is where you can change the rules around how components are show, assign SNOMED codes to data points and edit specific details of components.


 


Preview edit screen


If you tap on the three dots at the top right and choose 'Preview Edit Mode', this will take you to a view that demonstrates how the form will work in Cortex for the person completing the form.  


 



 


Preview View Mode


From the 'Preview Edit Mode' screen, if you tap top right on 'Preview View Mode', this will show you how the form will appear once it has been completed and signed.  This is how other clinicians will see the form when looking through the timeline in Cortex.