Ticklers

Ticklers are reminders associated with patients. They comprise of:

• To dos such as an action to take on a result
• Investigations
• Prescriptions

Ticklers can be invoked by the use of a function key, or, there may be a button that brings up the ticklers for a particular task.

The components of a tickler are:

• The date by which it is due
• Priority
• The task itself
• The creator of the tickler
• The person assigned to do this task
• Notes attached to the tickler

The Date

The date can be selected by using the date selector next to the date field, or, more quickly, by typing in the future date using the date dialect.

This takes the format of:

n [d| day|days | w | week | weeks | m | month | months | y | year | years ]

so, you can type 3 months, or 3 m and the field is replaced with a date 3 months in the future. If you omit the text following the number, then days are assumed.

Editing Ticklers

You can edit an existing tickler by clicking on it in the list of ticklers. This opens up the edit fields, and so allows you to alter status, make notes, or reassign the tickler to another staff member.

Since ticklers can be reported upon, it is important to close them off so that they do not appear in reports. Ticklers are considered closed when their status changes to completed or cancelled.

Any changes to a tickler are reflected in the change log, which is a shared tab next to the notes tab.

Associating Ticklers With Inbox Items

A result in the Inbox can be associated with a tickler.  This makes workflow sense as you want to do something about an Inbox item.  To do this, double click on the Inbox item

to bring up the tickler. Note that new fields appear indicating that the tickler is regarding a result, and the record number ( in this case 2380 ).  If you click on the Display button, it will show the result in a popup.

Associating Ticklers With Encounters

When you are inside the consult/encounter editor, there is a tickle button

that brings up the ticklers but with a type Consult, and the record number referring to this consult.  The Display button will then show the consult in a popup.