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Link User Guide

  • Updated

This User Guide provides an overview of how to user the OSCAR Pro Link Module.

It includes basic functionality guidelines as well as workflows walkthroughs from the perspective of Covering and Primary clinics in an FHO.

What Is Link?

OSCAR Pro Link is a data sharing module enabling seamless medical data exchange between multiple, independent OSCAR Pro systems.

Designed with FHO groups in mind, it serves two main purposes:

  • Allow physicians to easily access patient data from other clinics within their specific FHO group. Commonly used for after-hours visits.
  • Enable health professionals serving patients across multiple clinics in the FHO group to access patient records while working at a clinic other than the patient’s “home” clinic.

What Terminology Is Used For Link In This Document?

A Linked Group refers to a set of individual OSCAR Pro systems connected together.

When discussing clinics and practitioners, we use the terms Primary and Covering.

The table below provides a summary of important definitions associated with Link:

 

Primary Clinic The clinic where the patient's main record is stored and their primary physician works.​
Primary Physician The main physician responsible (MRP) for the patient's care at the primary clinic.​
Covering Clinic A non-primary clinic the patient visits, e.g., for after-hours care.​
Covering Practitioner The practitioner seeing the patient at a covering clinic.​
Linked Group A set of clinics that have been agreed to be linked together for clinical information sharing.
Linked System A system that is linked with others as part of a Linked Group
Linked Results Page The page showing whether there are matching patients across systems in your Linked Group

 

Do I Have Link On My OSCAR Pro System?

Link is not enabled by default on all systems. An OSCAR Pro Technician configures it across the group’s OSCAR Pro systems after receiving consent from the lead physician.

If Link is enabled in your OSCAR Pro, the Patient Search section will display an additional column showing the Link status for each demographic.

If such Link statuses do not display, this indicates your system is not configured with Link.

Link Demonstration Video

How Do I Search for Patients in Link?

Matching patients via the Link integration are visible on the Link Patient Results page.

You can access the Link Patient Results page by clicking the Link status icon for any demographic. This icon is available in the following locations:

  • Top of the Master Record
  • Top of the eChart
  • Patient Search
  • Health Card Validation (accessed via Search Bar on Schedule)

At the top of the Link Patient Results section, the first bar displays the patient's information from your local demographic record:

The Available Records section shows whether there are any patients with the same HIN exist in any other systems within the Linked Group.

For each patient entry under Available Records, the following details are displayed:

  • Link Status Icon: The existing Link Status associated with this patient
  • Physician MRP: The name of the MRP set in the demo record of the associated system
  • Clinic Name: The clinic name of the system the record is coming from
  • Clinic Info: The Address, phone and fax of the system the record is coming from
  • Patient Information: The name, dob, and sex found for this HIN in the associated system
  • Download: a button that exports the full eChart + Documents from the associated system

What Do The Various Link Patient Statuses Mean?

The table below provides an overview of the existing Link Statuses that can be associated with a demographic.

This icon is accessible in the following locations:

  • Top of the Master Record
  • Top of the eChart
  • Patient Search
  • Search Bar on Schedule (Health Card Validation screen)
Icon Name Description
Records Available This patient has records in other linked systems within your Linked Group, but the patient is not linked.
Linked Record This patient is linked to a Primary Record. Data from covering clinic is sent to the Primary Clinic.
Primary Record This is the Primary Record that my local (covering) patient is linked to. Or this is the Primary Record that other systems are linking to.
No Records Available This patient does not have any records in other Linked Systems (based on HIN)
Locked Record This patient has been blocked by the associated system from being linked to.
Connection Issue There is a connection issue and correct status cannot be obtained.

 

Basic Link Functions

Linking a Patient

  • Navigate to the Link Results Page by clicking the Link Status Icon
  • Click the Link Icon next to the desired patient
  • Review prompt and click LINK RECORD

Result:

The Link Status of the patient is changed to Primary Record (blue) to indicate my local record has been linked to this remote record.

Data from the Primary Record will now appear in the eChart of linked Covering Clinics.

A Tickler is sent to the associated MRP to advise that the patient has been linked

Unlinking a Patient

  • Navigate to the Link Results Page by clicking the Link Status Icon
  • Click the Link Icon associated with the desired patient
  • Review prompt and click BREAK LINK

Result:

The Link Status of the patient is changed to "Records Available" to indicate that this patient has results, but is no longer linked.

Data from the Primary will no longer appear in the eChart of linked Covering Clinics.

A Tickler is sent to the associated MRP to advise that the patient has been unlinked

 

Blocking Patient from Link

  • Navigate to the Link Results Page by clicking the Link Status Icon
  • Click on the "Patient Record Sharing Enabled" to toggle it OFF
  • Review the prompt and click DISABLE SHARING

Result: 

The patient cannot be linked by other systems in your Link Group.

Any existing Links are automatically broken

A Tickler message is sent to the associated MRP's to indicate the Link has been removed

How Do I Use Link As a Covering Clinic?

Link facilitates the following key workflows at a covering clinic:

  • Administrative Staff search for and link the patient.
  • Practitioners review shared data during the encounter
  • Practitioners can send a customized Tickler/Message to the Primary Physician (optional)

Administrative Use Of Link at a Covering Clinic

Scenario: A patient whose Primary Physician is at another clinic in the Linked Group visits your clinic after hours for care.

Check if the Patient Exists Locally in OSCAR

  • If the patient already exists and is linked, no further action is needed.
  • If the patient is not in the local OSCAR system:, create a new demographic record (ensuring HIN is entered).

Determine the Patient's Primary Clinic

  • Ask the patient for their primary clinic/physician and verify using the Link Patient Results.
  • Or click the "PDF Chart" button to review which remote record has the most content.

Link the Record

  • Click the Link icon to associate the record with the correct result.
  • The MRP at the Primary Clinic is notified via Tickler that their patient has been linked to another record.

Practitioner Use Of Link at a Covering Clinic

After the patient is linked, the practitioner can:

  • Navigate to the eChart (e.g., by clicking E on the schedule screen).
  • View both locally entered data and remote data from the Primary Record in one eChart.

Data coming from the Primary Record displays with a chainlink icon to indicate its coming from another source.

In the example below we see three allergies:

The top two have been entered locally

The third (FISH OIL) is being directly pulled from the Primary Record.

The following clinical data will automatically appear in the eChart for the covering practitioner, if available from the Primary Record.

The data is pulled in real time.

  • Medications
    • NOTE: At this time Link remote data is only supported to display in the Classic Rx UI (Not Pro UI)
  • Allergies
  • Preventions
  • CPP

    • Social History
    • Medical History
    • Ongoing Concerns
    • Reminders
    • Other Meds
    • Risk Factors
    • Family History
  • Encounter Notes
  • Documents
  • Labs
  • eForms
  • HRM Documents

Sending eChart Data to the Primary Clinic

Covering Clinicians use the eChart as they would for a local patient.

When a Covering Clinician saves the following data in the local eChart, it is automatically sent to the eChart of the Primary Record

  • Medications
    • NOTE: At this time Link remote data is only supported to display in the Classic Rx UI (Not Pro UI)
  • Encounter Notes
  • Preventions
  • eForms

All entries sent back to the primary system are incorporated into the permanent record and will remain visible at the primary clinic and any other linked covering clinics.

NOTE: If the patient becomes unlinked from the primary clinic, only locally entered items will be visible in the eChart. Items from the primary clinic that were viewed while linked will no longer appear. To view those items again, the eChart must be re-linked to the primary clinic.

Sending Notifications to the Primary Physician

After using Sign and Save on an encounter note, the covering physician is prompted to send a message to the Primary Physician. Options include:

CREATE TICKLER

  • Sends the encounter note to the Primary Record’s eChart.
  • Creates a Tickler for the Primary Message to alert them of the visit. Message is customizable.

SEND WITHOUT

  • Sends the encounter note to the Primary Record’s eChart without creating a Tickler.

How Do I Use Link as the Primary Clinic?

There are no specific administrative functions for Link at the primary clinic, other than the ability to check which covering clinics are linked to a given eChart.

Identifying if eChart is Primary Record

In the demographic record, the Link Status Icon appears Green for primary records. Clicking the symbol displays a list of clinics in the Linked Group. 

Review the Link Status Icon section for more information on each status

Practitioner Use of Link at the Primary Clinic

Practitioners work with the eChart as they would with any patient.

Relevant medical data entered will be visible for covering physicians that are linked to the Primary Record when they access the eChart.

Updates you make will be visible to covering physicians at any linked clinics when they next access the eChart.

When a Covering Clinician saves the following data in their local eChart, it is automatically copied to the eChart of the Primary Record

  • Medications
  • Encounter Notes
  • Preventions
  • eForms

Data sent from the Covering Clinic to the Primary appears with a chain link icon next to it.

In the example below, we see 6 medication entries in the eChart. The bottom two contain a chain link icon indicating this data was transmitted from a covering linked eChart:

NOTE: data transmitted from the covering clinic becomes a permanent part of the Primary Record eChart. It will remain part of the Primary Record even if patient is unlinked.

Completing Ticklers Sent from Covering Clinic

There are three types of ticklers sent to the primary physician (MRP) when a Covering Clinic links to or updates the eChart:

Updated notifications: Indicate that a physician at a covering clinic has chosen to send a Tickler back to the Primary Physician. It may include a default message advising that this patient has been seen, or a custom message that includes additional information or a proposed task.

Linked notifications: Indicate that a covering clinic has linked to the eChart at your clinic. No action is required unless you need to inquire with the clinic about this action.

Unlinked notifications: Indicate that a covering clinic has unlinked the eChart. No action is needed.

 

In all cases, the practitioner can mark tickler as "Complete" once you're finished. It is not possible to send a tickler back to the Covering Clinic at this time; any follow-up must be done by phone, email, or another method.

I have Used Link before. How is it different in OSCAR Pro?

Indivicare users who have experience with Link will find that OSCAR Pro has identical workflows to what they are used to.

Here is an outline of the minor (visual) differences in OSCAR Pro Link

  • The User Interface (UI) to link and unlink patients has been updated. Most warning text remains the same.
  • The function to block a patient has been changed to a "disable" toggle
  • The Tickler UI for covering after encounter sign has been updated
  • The Primary Status colour is no longer Orange. It is now Blue
  • The Linked status is now Green colour.
  • The Orange status now indicates there is a technical issue.

How Do I Get Link?

Please contact our support team if you are interested in getting the Link integration.