System Parameters - Clinical

Control the availability of optional attributes (data fields) on the clinical record

• Alcohol - set to record alcohol factors for conditions
• Actual Duration - set to enable users to record an actual duration in minutes for a clinical item
• Episode - set to enable episode of care, for example, First, New, Ongoing
• Reason for Encounter - set to add a checkbox to each clinical item where clinicians can indicate if this item is the reason for the encounter. The first item recorded as a reason for the encounter for a service is the default reason for encounter. If the Reason for Visit is also set, the reason for the encounter is added to the Reasons for Visit list in the Progress Notes.
• Always record date and time - set to ensure that both the date and time are recorded for all clinical items and their qualifiers, even if Date only is set for a clinical item type. Use to update existing clinical items so that the time can be recorded.

Control the availability of optional attributes (data fields) on investigation print-outs, for example, pathology requests:

• Bulk Assignment Request Form - enable to print a label on investigation request forms and remove the need for doctors to sign the request forms. Before enabling this parameter, check with your pathology lab that they can accept such a request form. See also the option to allow investigation requests on behalf of another claiming provider.

• Free text medication - determines how both chronic medications and acute medications are entered. Deselect to allow users to select specific medication types from those defined in the Communicare database. Enable if you don't want your users to be able to select medication types and to force them to enter text describing the medication (either chronic or acute).
• Summary Items By Default - enable to add clinical items on the patient summary page automatically without user intervention, using a pre-selected setting for the clinical item type. If your organisation has large sets of clinical terms (such as ICPC-2 PLUS) deselect this option.
• Obstetrics Summary By Default - enable to add clinical items to the obstetrics summary page automatically without user intervention, using a pre-selected setting for the clinical item type. If your organisation has large sets of clinical terms (such as ICPC-2 PLUS) deselect this option.
• Allow Tabs in Clinical Items - set to enable tabs to be shown in clinical items. To find out how to show tabs in a clinical item see Clinical Item Type Properties.
• Reason For Visit - set to enable clinicians to specify the main reasons for a patient's visit to the health service in the progress notes. If both Reason For Visit and Reason For Encounter are set, Reason For Encounter is displayed in the clinical item. Items set as Reason For Encounter are listed in the first available slot in the Reason For Visit.
  • Reason For Visit Lookup - the name of the general lookup table used to specify reasons for visit that are specific to your health service. For example, Checkup, Followup, Treatment and so on.

• Simple - enable to display the Date, Class, Status, Description and Comment for all items selected to appear on the Summary.
• Consolidated - enable to display the Occurrence (how many times), First date, Last date and Description for clinical item types selected to appear on the Summary.

• Enable label printing - set to enable printing of supply labels
• Print Labels by default - set to print labels by default for all new medications.
• Default label count - sets the default number of labels to be printed during supply or when supply labels are reprinted

• Brand Prescribing - set to display and prescribe drugs by brand name.
• Generic Prescribing - set to display and prescribe drugs by generic name. To meet the requirements of the Active Ingredient Prescribing legislation (2019), set to Generic Prescribing. Also set Show generics in drug browser to ensure consistency with generic prescribing.
• Generic Prescribing Mandatory - set to force a prescriber to prescribe only generic medications. This setting may be used to meet the requirements of the Active Ingredient Prescribing legislation (2019), however using this option will have implications when prescribing drugs included on the LMBC, where a clinician may determine that a brand is clinically relevant.
• Enforce choice of once off/short course or regular medication - set to require prescribers to select either once off or regular medications.
• Make Once off/Short Course prescription duration mandatory - set to require prescribers to enter a duration for once off or short course prescriptions.
• Print prescription by default - set whether prescriptions are automatically marked for printing or not when finalising prescriptions. If set, in the Finalise Prescriptions window, valid PBS prescriptions are set to print by default. In either case the prescriber may override the default and choose not to print.
• Use Health Centre Prescription defaults - set for new medications to be made regular by default with an until date of 365 days.
• Show generics in Drug Browser - set to allow prescribers to view generic medications by default when browsing the MIMS Drug Browser.
• Use default prescription repeats - set to automatically add the maximum repeats allowed by PBS to the Repeats field when prescribing.
• Show Prescribers Comments - set to print comments on the prescription.
• Use RTPM Service- for clients in the Victorian Health region, set to force Communicare to send information to the Safescript service on the internet. The URL used is listed on the Web Services tab.
• Require password on adverse reaction prescribing - set to require clinicians to enter a password if they attempt to prescribe a medication for which the patient has an adverse reaction of any allergic reaction type recorded. If the clinician continues with the prescription, the action is logged in user_log. A password is required by default.