In a paper office, vital signs readings are often recorded directly into an encounter note. While this serves for the individual encounter, it does not provide an easy means of tracking possible changes in a patient’s vital signs.

Since any changes might be indicative of an undiscovered problem, the ability to track changes can greatly enhance and improve the overall level of patient care.

In SOAPware, not only are vital signs easily entered and recorded in the Vital Signs section, they can easily be moved to the current SOAPnote via a few clicks of the mouse or a keyboard shortcut.

While very similar in overall function to the Vital Signs section of SOAPware 4.x, many changes have been made to the interface and graphing capability.

The result is a Vital Signs section that is better integrated with the patient chart, and easier to use than ever.

The Vital Signs section consists of three areas.

1. The top section is where a graph is displayed when data is selected for graphing.

2. The middle section contains the Vital Signs editor, which allows entry and modification of vital signs readings, and choices of vital signs to be graphed in the graph section.

3. The bottom section has a printer button.

You can resize these sections by using the splitter bar that separates them.

To access the Vital Signs section, choose Sections, Vital Signs from the Chart menu located on the main SOAPware menu bar.

NOTE: A patient chart must be open in order to access the Vital Signs section.