Introduction
Cortex Designer allows for Designers to designate form components with a reusable flag.
If enabled on a component, a clinician completing a form in Cortex can choose to pull through data from the same component from a previously signed document version.
In Cortex, the function appears as green text under the relevant component
When the green text is tapped, Cortex presents a list of the previous episodes this component was completed, including which form, author and time.
Cortex will present up to five most recent episodes.
Cortex Data reuse can be enabled for components of the following types:
- text
- options
- tokens
- Yes/No
- number
- date
This function is useful for the following:
- Pieces of information that tend to remain consistent, but are relevant in multiple scenarios - e.g. smoking status
- Pieces of information that evolve over time e.g. Problem lists
- It should not be used for clinical information such as lab results, examination findings, clinical observations such as blood pressure
Details
In the Cortex Designer, the controls for data reuse are under the Data Attributes panel.
There are several options when setting up data reuse. The options define which previous episodes will be presented i.e. from the exact same workflow or from the same component regardless of workflow.
- 'From Matching Workflow' - Only the data from when that component was completed in exactly the same form (e.g. Gen Med ward round note).
- 'From Document Types' - The data from when that component was completed in the specified document types - Clinical Note and/or Clinical Summary and/or Care Plan. This are broader criteria.
If a Designer intends for data to be reused, then the data key must match exactly. It is recommended that the data key should indicate that it is a reuse component and therefore should not be changed.
It is good practice to maintain a list of the forms that the component is used in, so that if there is a need to change the editor or viewer labels, this is done across all the forms that use that component.
Data keys
It is important that data keys associated with reuse components are specific and unique. The following structure is recommended
- All keys begin with 'reuse_do_not_alter'.
- Then either 'global' (for reuse components that may be used across the organisation) or the name of the service/departments (e.g. genmed).
- Then description of the component itself.
Examples:
- reuse_do_not_alter_global_smokinghistory
- reuse_do_not_alter_genmed_problemlist
Clinical use and tips
Scenarios where reuse of data can improve clinical workflow include -
Where data is stable, but useful to be visualised across multiple workflows. For example, smoking status.
- In this case, you might choose to setup reuse to occur across all clinical notes, summaries and care plans.
Where data evolves over time. For example, problem lists
- in this case, a Designer might set up a problem list component in an admission form, that then matches with the ward round note and the discharge form.
- On each ward round the problem list can be brought forward and updated.
Note that Clinical documents drop off the Cortex app timeline after a period of time (typically 60-180 days depending on the organisation), which also means the data for reuse is no longer available. If there is a desire to have a Problem List available for reuse at admission for patients that are frequently admitted, it may be more appropriate to have a Clinical Summary that stays live across admission episodes which contains the Problem List component.
Care is needed that this function is used appropriately, and not in circumstances where the information may be highly changeable, for example clinical observations.