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This article will provide an overview of the functionality of the Notes Ability. We'll cover generating patient notes, building a note template, and show how you can set up your note templates to pull information already entered into areas of MacPractice so each note is automatically custom tailored for each patient.
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Setting Up Notes Preferences
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Before working in the Notes Ability for the first time, it's always a good idea to check and configure the Notes Preferences. Navigate to the MacPractice Menu and select Preferences. Then, search for and click on "Notes" in the Preferences Window sidebar.
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From here, you can adjust several different Preferences that impact the Notes Ability. We recommend you adjust the "Format Date As" field to fit your needs, and confirm that the print margins are correct. Once you are done, simply close the Preferences window.
Creating
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Patient Notes
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Patient Notes can be created from scratch or from a template.
Creating
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a blank Patient Note
To create a Blank Patient note, select the New Notes node in the sidebar, as in the image above, and then click the Green Plus above the sidebar. If a patient is selected, a new blank note will be generated for that patient. If no patient is selected, a patient search dialogue will pop up where you can search for and select a patient.
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Select the template in the sidebar and click the plus button above the sidebar to create a new patient note.
Drag a patient's name or a list of names from the List tab in the Drawer to the Note Template (this can be done in the Patients, Schedule, or Notes abilities). This method is typically used to create several patient notes at once.
Drag the patient name or appointment from the sidebar to the Note Template in the sidebar of the Patients or Schedule ability. This method is useful for generating a quick note when working out of the Schedule or Patients ability.
If the Appointment pull fields (not the Appointment Table pull fields) are present in a template, the note must be created by dragging the appointment to the note template in the sidebar of the Scheduling ability. Otherwise, MacPractice will not be able to determine which appointment's information should be pulled into the note.
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The Note Editor functions as a basic word processor.
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From left to right:
Styles Drop Down Menu: This drop down allows you to set bolding, italics, outlining, etc. on any text entry.
Justify Buttons: The Justify buttons allow you to set text to be justified on the left side, right side, or middle of the page.
Spacing Drop Down: This drop down menu allows you to determine the spacing between lines. This is set to single by default.
Lists Drop Down: Lists allow you to add bullet points to a list, or a numbered order to a list.
Fonts Drop Down: This drop down allows you to choose your desired font.
Color Selector: The color selector, when clicked, allows you to select any color for your text.
Image Selector: The image icon, when clicked, allows you to insert an image into the current Patient Note.
It is important to note that the Images/Attachments Ability is more suited towards storing images associated to a patient. You can learn how to use the Images/Attachments Ability here.
Categories and Parts
Categories are groupings of similar Parts, which are pre-built sections of text that can be dragged and dropped into a Patient Note. These are useful if you have a few sections of text for situations that you plan on re-using. For example, the below screenshot has the "Cold" Part in the "Subjective" category. The contents of the Part are in the Note Editor.
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When a Template is saved, it will have the Locked checkbox checked. This will prevent changes unless you intentionally uncheck the Locked checkbox.
Please refer to our Knowledge Base article on Template Basics for more information on how to create and edit Templates.
For more information on Pull Fields, please refer to Notes - Pull Field Basics.
Finally, don't forget that if you ever have any questions or you're having trouble achieving a specific result, don't hesitate to contact MacPractice Support!
Shared Templates
Within the Shared Template Node in the Notes Ability, MacPractice contains a library of templates created by other MacPractice users that can be downloaded and added to your office's database. These Shared Templates can then be customized to meet your specific needs.
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With that template file created and saved, navigate to the Notes menu again and select "Upload Notes Template to Server..." listed below "Export Template..." You will be prompted to select a file. Locate the Template you just created and saved, select it and click Open.
You'll receive an alert that will either indicate that the upload was successful, or that the note has already been uploaded. Once complete, you can then download that note from any other client.
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Third, there are several Image Pull Fields available that will allow you to pull in information from other parts of MacPractice. You can review these in the Notes - Images article.