Using Document Designer Commands in a SOAP Note

Several Document Designer data item commands can be used to pull information from other parts of the patients chart, provider manager, contact manager, or the patient's account. This lesson will discuss how to use the data item commands within the SOAP Note and how to create a template using data item commands.

Example of a Template that Contains Data Item Commands

Example of a Docuplate that Contains Data Item Commands

Document Designer contains multiple data item commands that can pull information from various areas of SOAPware, and place information on a printable document.  Data items can come from the patients chart, Provider Manager, Contact Manger and a patient's account.  

Many of these data item commands may also be placed into a docuplate.  When the docuplate is inserted into the patient's chart, the data item command will automatically place the desired information into the patient's chart.  

There are several exceptions and specific behaviors that must be understood before attempting to use these data item commands:

  • Data Commands CANNOT be cut and pasted into the patients chart.
  • Data Commands or SMARText items for data commands must be inserted within the Template Manager, WITHOUT a patient chart open.
  • Data Commands for  Contact Manager CANNOT be used in the patients chart.
  • Data Commands or SMARText items for data commands CANNOT be used in a Default SOAP Note or Summary Template.

SMARText Items for Data Commands

SMARText Items for Data Commands

SOAPware has created unstructured SMARText items for all Document Designer commands.  The exceptions would be the commands that pull over from contacts, as well as the patient's picture.  

These particular commands may be found on the SOAPware Cloud Library.  To search for them, open the SMARText Items Manager by hitting F10 on your keyboard or by going to Docutainers > SMARText Items.

  1. Search for the items by using the keyword designer.  Each of these SMARText items have their own unique shortcut code.  This shortcut, when inserted into a template or directly into a patient's chart, will automatically enter the corresponding information into the documentation (as shown in the previous example).
  2. To download an item, highlight the desired item.
  3. Click the Download button.

Creating a Template the Contains Document Designer Commands

Creating a Docuplate the Contains Document Designer Commands

The following steps will guide the user thorough creating a docuplate that contains Document Designer commands.

  1. Open a test patients chart.
  2. Create a new SOAP Note
  3. Clear out all SOAP fields by going to Edit > Clear All SOAP Fields. (As shown in the screenshot above).

Open the Templates Manager by going to Docutainers > Templates or by hitting F6 on the keyboard.

  1. Click the New Template (green plus) button to create a new blank template.
  2. Enter a Shortcut, Description and Keywords for the new template.
  3. Click OK.

Now that we have created a blank template, we are ready to add the Document Designer data items to the template.  Before adding in the document designer data item commands, remember to close the patient's chart that is opened in the background.

Within the Docuplates Manager (F6) select the new template and edit it within the right side window.  Create the template as desired while inserting necessary data item commands using their shortcut codes.  For example, type the shortcut code sumact then hit the spacebar (use Shift+F11 if you have not downloaded this item previously).  This will enter the data item command #$SummaryField Active Problems$# which will pull the information from the patient's Summary Active Problems section and insert it into the SOAP Note once the template is added to the encounter.

Continue creating the template and inserting the shortcut for the desired data item commands.  Once the template is complete, it will be automatically saved within the Templates Manager.

*Note:  Remember that the patient chart must be closed to complete this process.  If a chart is open behind the Template Manager, that particular patients information will be inserted into the template rather than the data item command.

Insert the Edited Template into a Patients Chart

Insert the Edited Docuplate into a Patient's Chart

One the user has finished creating the template, it can be inserted into the chart.

  1. Open a patien's chart and click Insert within the Templates Manager.
  2. This will place the template into the patient's chart and convert the data item commands into information that is pulled from other sections of SOAPware.  

*Note: Templates that contain data item commands, may be used as a user's default template.  However, these data item commands will NOT pull information into the patient's chart.  In order for the data item commands to work, the template must be inserted into the chart and not used as the default template.

Inserting the Document Designer Data Items Directly into the Patients Chart

Inserting the Document Designer Data Items Directly into the Patient's Chart

Document Designer data items can also be inserted directly into the patients chart using their shortcut code.  For example, in the screenshot above, we can insert the patients last visit date using the shortcut code "schpredate".

To do this:

  1. Type in the shortcut code schpredate (or download it using Shift + F11).
  2. Hit the space bar on the keyboard to expand the shortcut code.