Dentrix Ideas

When we used to use paper charts, we were able to pick up different colored pens and write notes on the patient's chart that were always visible while we studied the chart. Many of these notes were critical, like serious allergies, need to premedicate, etc. When we went to digital charting, we "sort of" lost the ability to easily do this. While the "Alerts" submodule is used for these kinds of alerts in Dentrix, the User has to close each Alert before being able to access the Chart and that critical information becomes invisible. Previously, in MyVoice, I documented real-life instances when this caused potentially fatal consequences in my practice! In Dentrix, there is a little-known tool bar called Chart Notations that allows you to "mark up" the patient's chart, but the user has to use the mouse to manipulate the "pen" or "marker" tools or must buy a digital pen/tablet, like a Wacom, and learn how to use it to "write" on the chart. These can take up valuable counter-top "real estate" in the operatory that simply does not exist in some offices.  In any case, the "notes" come out very much like "chicken scratch" and almost illegible, unless the User really practices for a long time. Why not add a "Text Box" functionality to Chart Notations that would allow the User to create, essentially, "sticky notes" that could be positioned anywhere on the patient's chart and would always be visible? The background could be 'clear' so all you see is the text and it could include include variable fonts and font sizes, circles, arrows, colors, etc. to make the chart much clearer and more organized. The interesting part is that this exact functionality already exists inside the Presenter module. I'll try to attach a couple of screen shots showing the differences. If you launch Presenter, you can see an image of the patient's charting and you can play around with the Mark Up tool to see what I mean. I've been lobbying since 2006 for Development to 'simply' carry this functionality from Presenter and add it to the Chart Notations tool palette. What an enhancement this would be to Charting!!

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