<

Action Menus

The MedKaz has a number of "action" choices displayed across the top right of the MedKaz screens.  They are customized to meet the needs of the user so they vary depending upon whether the patient or a care provider has logged on. 

When a patient logs on, they have nine primary action choices. They include: Edit Patient Information, Sync Records, Backup/Recover, Pre-Visit Questionnaire, Reports, Forms, Health Links, Help and Log off.  Several, such as Edit Patient Information, Reports, Forms and Help, have multiple sub-choices.

Care providers have seven choices, including:  Sync Records, a patient Encounter Folder, Backup/Recover, Forms, Health Links, Help, and Logoff.  Of these, Forms and Help have multiple sub-choices.

Since it is important that you, as a care provider, understand the scope of the MedKaz System, both sets of Action Menus are described here.

Provider Action Menus

Sync Records

Sync Records connects you to the MedKaz Server where you can access records waiting to be downloaded by your patient. This function is included on your care provider screen so you know that all of your patient's recent records have been downloaded and that your patient's MedKaz contains the most recent information.

When a "flag" appears next to Sync Records, it indicates there are records to be downloaded. Click on Sync Records and a pop-up screen asks your patient to enter their password and PIN, then a screen opens listing all items waiting to be downloaded. It is strongly advised that you select and download all listed items. After you download them for your patient, you'll know your patient's MedKaz is up-to-date.

If you want to see previously synced items, put a checkmark in the Show Previously Synced Items box located in the lower left corner.

Patient Encounter Folder 

When your patient arrives at your office, several important documents will be waiting for you and will open in the Document Viewer when you log on to your patient's MedKaz.  After you view them, they remain available in this Encounter Folder so you can re-access them anytime during your patient's visit.

Most importantly, when you save your encounter records for your assistant to process, the Pre-Visit Questionnaire report, Health Summary, and Encounter Summary are all saved in this same folder.

Backup/Recover 

These functions are available to you so you can offer a backup service for your patients – for which you may charge an annual fee. 

Because HRC intentionally does not store patient records on its Server, it is extremely important that your patient's MedKaz be backed up to their computer or someone else's after each encounter with a care provider.  If your patient is uncomfortable backing up their MedKaz, they may prefer that you keep a backup for them. It is encrypted so no one can open it without the patient entering his or her user ID and password.  Should your patient lose their MedKaz or it become corrupted, they can get a new MedKaz and recover all their records from you.

If you offer a backup service, make sure that your patient's MedKaz is up-to-date (all encounter documents have been successfully downloaded).  Then select Backup from the Backup/Recover menu and specify the location on your computer where you want to save the Backup copy of the patient's MedKaz.

Backing up each time your patient's MedKaz is updated, whether to your computer or their own, ensures that your patient can restore their MedKaz to its most current state if they lose or damage it, or if it becomes corrupted. Backed up files are encrypted and require the patient's password to open.

To recover your patient's backed-up records, click on Recover and follow the instructions. 

Note that a backed-up MedKaz file can be recovered only to a MedKaz device, not to just any USB flash drive.  This ensures that emergency responders know they have their patient's MedKaz records in hand when they find the distinctive MedKaz device.  This could save your patient's life.

Click here for detailed instructions on replacing a lost or damaged MedKaz.

Forms 

You can generate four different forms from your patient's MedKaz: an Encounter Summary, a Referral Request, a Radiology Summary and a HIPAA Release.  Each opens in the Document Viewer.

Click on Encounter Summary to generate a pre-populated form containing your patient's information as well as yours.  You can use it on your computer or print out a paper copy to record information about your patient during a visit.

To refer your patient to another care provider, click on Referral Request. Your information and your patient's, including their insurance providers, will be pre-populated.  Fill in the rendering provider's name and address, your instructions, ICD9-CM code, etc. Then save it to your patient's MedKaz.  It will open when the rendering provider logs on to your patient's MedKaz.

When you send your patient for an X-Ray, CT scan, MRI or other imaging study, your patient can give his or her MedKaz to the radiology technician who, in turn, can generate a partially pre-populated Radiology Summary form for the radiologist who will read your patient's images.  The radiologist, in turn, can complete it and send it to you with their findings and assessment.  Your assistant then uploads it to the MedKaz Server for indexing, so the encounter can be included in the Encounters > Providers Table.

If your patient sees a new care provider and asks him or her to upload their records to HRC, the provider will require a HIPAA Release.  They can immediately print one out for your patient to sign by clicking on Forms > HIPAA Release.

Health Links

If you want to access authoritative health websites, click on Health Links. A window opens listing a number of clinician-oriented sites. A similar screen is displayed for patients when they log on to their MedKaz but the sites listed for them are patient-focused.

Help Menu 

The Help menu provides access to this Provider Guide, Tutorial Videos, Audit Trail information, and information about the MedKaz (including your patient's MedKaz ID number). 

Log Off

When you click Log Off to close the MedKaz application, if you have any unfinished documents, a window pops up asking what you what to do:  save the records to your computer, to your PRM or leave them as is on your patient's MedKaz. Depending upon your choice, other windows pop up to complete the process.  Then, a window pops up recommending that you back up your MedKaz.  If you select Backup, you can browse your computer's directory to select where to save the backed up file.  If you select the other choices, Skip or Cancel, the application closes.

Patient Action Menus

When a patient logs on, they have nine primary action choices. They include: Edit Patient Information, Sync Records, Backup/Recover, Pre-Visit Questionnaire, Reports, Forms, Health Links, Help and Logout.  Several of these, such as Edit Patient Information, Reports, Forms and Help have multiple sub-choices.

Edit Patient Information is a key Action Menu item. It contains five important functions:  Edit User Info, Change Password, Change PIN, Patient Setup, and Request Records From Care Providers.

If your patient wants to change their demographic information that appears in the identity box on the logon screen, they click on Edit User Info.  A window opens asking them to enter their password and PIN.  A second window opens in which they can edit their information and upload a new picture.

The Change Password and PIN windows are self explanatory.  Your patient accesses them to replace the temporary password and PIN you gave them when you dispense the MedKaz to them.  They can change them again anytime they feel their password or PIN may have been compromised.

Patient Setup is a very important Action Menu both initially for your patient to sign up with HRC and enter their personal and medical information, and whenever their personal information changes.  Detailed instructions telling your patient how to sign up are included in their Patient User Guide.

Your patient can access Request Records From Care Providers to assemble their records from their past and other current care providers.  They may do this themselves or hire HRC, for a nominal fee, to do it for them.  If they elect to assemble their records themselves, they are given instructions on how to proceed, plus pre-populated transmittal forms and HIPAA releases to send to each care provider.  If they want HRC to do it, they are instructed how to proceed.  In either case, when their care providers send their records, HRC will process and index them at no charge and download them to their MedKaz.  Your patients should assemble as many of their past records as possible so you and other care providers can access them.

Sync Records works the same for the patient as for care providers. It takes your patient to the MedKaz Server where they can access and download records to their MedKaz.

Backup/Recover Your patient uses these functions to protect against losing their MedKaz or if it should be corrupted.  They work the same as for care providers.

Pre-Visit Questionnaire  A day or two before keeping an appointment with you or another care provider, your patient should complete this questionnaire in the privacy of their home - when they are not tense or rushed as they might be in their care provider's office. 

  1. Patients are asked to list the medications they actually are taking.  They select these from a drop-down menu listing all their medications. If they are taking something not listed, they can add it to their list. This complete and timely information is not available in advance anywhere else.
  2. They are asked to name the care provider they are scheduled to see. They can select them from a drop-down menu listing all their care providers. If they are seeing a new provider, they click on Add Another and pop-up widow appears in which they enter the care provider's name, address, etc.  They can complete this new care provider information if they have it, or they can click the Search for Care Provider button and select from the list that appears the provider they have an appointment to see.  (This information is drawn from the National Provider Identifier database.)
  3. They are asked the Reasons/Complaints for seeing the care provider.  If their reasons are not listed, they can enter up to three others on the form.
  4. They are asked a series of questions that relate to the types of complaints they have.  The number of questions asked depends upon the number of complaints they have and their answers to the questions.
  5. When they have answered all the questions, it creates a report summarizing the patient's answers – but in clinical terms so they are more meaningful to the care provider they are scheduled to see.
  6. The report is stored on your patient's MedKaz, waiting for the particular care provider to log on.  When the care provider does, it is one of the documents displayed in the MedKaz Document Viewer for the care provider to read.

Reports  Your patient can generate four reports from their MedKaz: individual lists of Immunizations, Medications, Allergies, and a Health Summary.  These reports open in the Document Viewer and can be printed out.  Your patient can give them to whomever asks for this information.  They are particularly helpful if the patient is a child and must give this information each year to their school or camp nurse.

Forms Your patient can generate the same four forms from their MedKaz as a care provider can do when they log on: an Encounter Summary, a Referral Request, a Radiology Summary  and a HIPAA Release.  Each opens in the Document Viewer.  They function and serve the same purposes as the forms available to a care provider.

Health Links  If your patient wants to look up health information, in general, or after they have been told they have a particular illness, they click on Health Links. A window opens listing 12 of the most popular and respected web sites relating to health, including Mayo Clinic, the NIH and WebMD.  They click on the one they want to access, and the site opens. 

This Link is particularly helpful to a patient who was told he or she has an unfamiliar illness whose name they don't remember.  When they get home, they can log on to their MedKaz, open the care provider's progress notes, find the name of the illness and immediately access a web site to learn about it.

Help Menu The patient's Help menu provides access to the same type of information as the provider's Help Menu.  It includes:  a Getting Started Guide,  a patient-focused User Guide, Tutorial Videos, Audit Trail information, and information about the MedKaz (including their MedKaz ID number).

Log Off  When the patient clicks on Log Off, a window pops up suggesting that they back up their MedKaz and gives them three choices: back up, skip backing up, and canceling the Log Off.  These are the same backup choices offered to a care provider.  By presenting these choices, it is easy for the patient to back up their MedKaz; they have to make a conscious decision not to.