Amazing Charts alpha v4

Very nice Dr. Fishman.

Although the demos remain specialty specific, it is obvious that DNS with AC can be done readily with any specialty. AC presents the appropriate navigational specificity and DNS fills in the data. Good combo. :-)

Eric Fishman:

Here is a link to a couple of videos we've produced showing how Dragon NaturallySpeaking Medical works with Amazing Charts: http://www.1450.com/dns/amazingcharts/

Great demos.

I would say AC would be very slow / hard to use without Dragon. Exception: if you are an excellent typer (40+ WPM).

AC's extremely weak templating text macros are a significant problem.  Much of the time, it would better to skip the Text Macros and just dictate.

 

I find the native Amazing Charts templates to be helpful with some things, not so helpful with others.

I use one Amazing Charts macro/template in the HPI field with wildcard fields to fill in the patient's name, age and sex, because many people have unusual names which Dragon might not translate so well. I have one patient whose first name gets transcribed in many hilariously inappropriate ways. I have not yet come up with a way to use DNS to pull demographic data from my AC database.

I also use the Amazing Charts physical exam templates because they are so rapidly accessible. Click, click, click. Exam over.

Sometimes I use the AC templates to chart while I'm on the phone.

By the way, I should mention that many people use QuickKeys or similar typing macros to similar effect.

I have heard you complain about AC's templating system before, Murdoch. My major complaints pertain to the way they are formatted. What are your complaints?

bcmd:

By the way, I should mention that many people use QuickKeys or similar typing macros to similar effect.

I have heard you complain about AC's templating system before, Murdoch. My major complaints pertain to the way they are formatted. What are your complaints?

AC has no templates !

It's mislabeled.

It should be called Text Macros, as you say.  Clickable options that merely spit out text are macro text spitters, not templates.

Quick Keys-type programs are great and would be superior to AC's native text macros simply because you wouldn't have to bother with the mouse.  Keyboard - Mouse - Keyboard transitions really slow MDs down.  To be able to use AC well, you MUST be a good typer or dictate alot of it. 

>>AC has no templates !<<

Ok Jason, start a new thread on the, "Operational Definition of a Template."

Good point on the AC text spew.

Well, AC doesn't meet the most basic definition of a template such as:

- being able to "choose" something/anything over something else. 

What makes a good vs. great template is a worthy beast to define  

Thanks for your definition. I see that Chris agrees with you, so I will assume that is a commonly held understanding of "templates".

You understand that I am new to the forum. I am wondering if you could provide me with a link to a glossary of EMR-related terms, so that I don't misuse terms in the future.

My definition of a "template" is something like:

tem·plate also tem·plet - n.
2. Computer Science
a. A document or file having a preset format, used as a starting point for a particular application so that the format does not have to be recreated each time it is used.

In this sense, of course, Amazing Charts has templates.

I suspect the glossary is yet to be written ... but usage defines what terms mean.

I think a lot of people would classify what you describe as a macro instead of a template in that a chunk of text is inserted into your note without regard to the patient specifics.  The same thing happens with DNS spoken macros.

To my mind a template is at a higher level than just a chunk of text.  It adapts to the patient's particular details ( eg. correctly identifying the gender in sentences ... although I note also that ecw doesn't do this ) and may involve graphical elements that the user interacts with.

In Synapse, we call what you describe as templates "macros".  Synapse templates can invoke other templates in a chained/branching sequence, allows the user to make choices, and involves complex GUIs that can popup.

I guess in the end it depends upon what school you attended.  Let's hear what other programs mean by a template, and what functionality they bring.

See, if anything, I would call Synapse's feature a "macro:"

n. pl. mac·ros Computer Science
1. A single, user-defined command that is part of an application and executes a series of commands.
2. A shorthand representation for a number of lines of code.

The word template has been used for decades to refer to pre-written word-processing documents, virtually identical to what Amazing Charts offers. This is in fact what Microsoft Word refers to as a "template", and so it is known to everyone who uses that program.

I were writing the EMR glossary, I would term what Amazing Charts and Dragon NaturallySpeaking provide as a "template", as I believe that is the common usage that defines the term.

I would either call the (admittedly more powerful) feature that Synapse delivers a "macro" or possibly a "macro template".

Synapse has Macros and Templates.  Without question Synapse has the best Templates for any EMR under $5,000.    I'll post some.  In combination with my INKing templates - it's a deadly combo 

Sounds great. I'd love to see them.

First off, the important thing here is ...

I can make these templates myself. There is a template language that is in English.

You don't need to be a programmer to learn how to make your own templates.

The templates have the standard stuff:  blank lines, checkboxes, radio buttons, spinners, drop downs, etc.

The idea here is ... make templates for key stuff, and it is powerful and saves lots of time over the long run !

 

 

I have created some unreleased software I use for "mini-templates".

It's killer (flexible and fast)

 

When you complete a "macro/template", is it converted into text, or does the completed form itself stand as the actual record?