SOAPedia Home > Documentation > Chart - Workspace > 3. Docutainers Menu > 08. Handouts
08. Handouts
Table of contents
- 1. Interface
- 2. Functionality
Introduction
Handouts in SOAPware 5.0 provide dynamic new capabilities that are unmatched by paper charts or other electronic health records. Now, not only can you store text in a handout, but you can add images, graphs, and other content as well. In addition, you can select and print handouts manually, or have SOAPware insert them into an encounter automatically using keywords.
Paper Connection
In a paper office, handouts typically consist of collections of paper documents that must be found and copied when needed for a patient. However, it is possible to overlook handouts that might pertain to a given problem.
Many offices may also use pre-printed pamphlets for handouts, but these must be stored, which limits the expanse of topics and the quantity of handouts available.
And while some progressive semi-electronic offices might store handouts as electronic files, these must be stored, searched for, and printed by leaving SOAPware, which creates unnecessary work and reduces productivity and accuracy of care.
Changes from 4.x
In SOAPware 4.x, handouts were simple text documents. It was possible to select handouts based on keywords that read only from the Assessment and Medication fields.
In SOAPware 5.x, handouts are still selectable by keywords and can still be organized by categories, but now they can also be found easily through a Search window. Because of this, it is no longer necessary to search through categories to find a handout.
In 5.x, handouts are much more than mere text documents. A SOAPware 5.x handout is actually a Document than can contain any number and type of Document Items, including material that is copied and pasted from the internet, graphics and tables. Although most handouts will probably still consist of text-based files, this makes it possible to create handouts as collections of related Document Items, rather than just single documents.
Interface
The Handout Manager has three main areas.
The left side of the manager has a text box, used for searching by keywords, and the Handout Manager quick access buttons: Search, New Handout, Remove Handout, Print Handout, Download, and Upload. Below these is the list of available Handouts, which can be sorted by clicking the head of the column you wish to sort by. These columns are "Name", which displays the name of the handout, and "Action", which will display either "Share" for handouts already on your local system, or "Download" for handouts available for download from the SOAPware Online Library.
Note: If you cannot see this section, it is hidden from view; click the Splitter Bar to expand it.
Note: In order to see handouts available for download, you must have the "Include Online Library Items" box checked.
The top right section of the Handout Manager contains the document demographics for Handouts. These include Name, Description, Author, Email, and Keywords.
Note: If you cannot see this section, it is hidden from view; click the Splitter Bar to expand it.
Finally, the lower right section of the Handout Manager contains a preview window that displays the content of the handout currently selected from the handout list.
Not only can the Handout Manager itself be resized, but the individual sections within the Handout Manager can be resized using the splitter bars between the sections.
Functionality
The Basics
The Handouts Manager is accessible by selecting Handouts from the Documents menu, located on the main SOAPware menu bar. You can also open the Handouts Manager by pressing Alt + O.
Selecting Handouts Within the Handouts Manager
To select a handout, first click to place your cursor in the search box. Type a keyword associated with the handout that you wish to use. For example, if you were looking for a handout on how to care for an ankle sprain, you could type "ankle". Once you have entered your keyword, either press "Enter" or click the "Search" button. If there are handouts associated with your keyword, they will appear in the handouts list.
Select the handout you wish to use. A preview of the handout will appear in the right side of the Handout Manager.
Selecting Handouts Automatically
You can have SOAPware look at your current SOAP note and automatically select and insert the appropriate handouts, based on keywords in the Assessment and Medications fields.
To do this, you can either select "Select Handouts" from the Documents menu, located on the main SOAPware menu bar, or you can press Control + H. SOAPware will look to see if there are any handouts linked to keywords appearing in your current SOAP note. If there are, the handouts will automatically be inserted into the Plan field.
For example, you have prescribed the medication Trental to a patient, and have entered Trental into the Medications field of a SOAP note. Pressing Control + H (or choosing Select Handouts from the Document menu) will insert Handouts: Trental in the Plan field of the SOAP note.
Note that this function will only choose and insert handouts if there are handouts in SOAPware that match an appropriate keyword from the current SOAP note. If you attempt to use this function and nothing happens, there are no handouts in SOAPware that match your current SOAP note.
Manually Inserting a Handout into the Current Document
Once you have selected a handout, you can choose to insert it into the currently active document. To do this, simply click the Insert Button, located under the handouts list.
Adding a New Handout
New handouts can be created in the Handout Manager by clicking the New Handout Button (or by pressing Control + Alt + N).
Clicking the New Handout button will open the Create New Handout dialog box. Give your handout a name that best describes its content and purpose, and click "Create". A new, empty handout will appear in the handout preview window.
First, complete the document demographics information. The new handout’s name will be filled in automatically. Type in a short description for your new handout, the name of the author, the author’s email, and any keywords you would like to associate with this handout. Remember, these keywords are what SOAPware uses to find your handout, so be sure to include them.
If you would like to change the font within the handout, select the text that you would like to change, and Click Edit, Font. Make the appropriate changes in font face, size, etc. and Click OK.
To create the content for your new handout, you may type information, copy and paste information from another document, or drag and drop various document items such as images, audio files, video files, or other content. Your new handout is automatically saved when you are finished creating it.
Editing an Existing Handout
To modify or customize an existing handout, you must first select that handout to make it appear in the preview window. Make any changes that you wish to the handout in the same way that you would if creating a new handout, and close the Handouts Manager. The handout will now appear with any edits or modifications you have made.
Deleting an Existing Handout
To delete an existing handout, you must first select the handout to be deleted. You can do this by searching for the handout by keyword, and selecting if from the handouts list.
Once you have selected the handout to be deleted, click the Remove Handout Button (or press Control + Alt + R). SOAPware will ask you to confirm that you wish to delete the handout. If you are certain that you wish to remove the handout from SOAPware, click "Yes", and the handout will be removed from the list. If you change your mind, click "No".
Printing a Handout - Individually
Note: To print handouts, you must have a printer attached to the computer, either directly or through a network.
To print a handout, you must first select the handout that you wish to print. You can do this by searching for the handout by keyword, and selecting if from the handouts list.
Once you have selected the handout to be printed, click the Print Handout Button (or press Control + Alt + P).
Print Handouts – With a Report
Most of the time you will want to print Handouts with a printed report that you’ve designed with the Document Designer. You can automatically set a report to print handouts in the Document Design Properties - Macro section.
Note: If you have selected and added handouts to print with a report and decide that they shouldn’t be printed, instead of editing the document design, simply delete the Handouts: command from the Plan field. If you would like to prevent an individual handout from printing, click the name of the handout and uncheck the selected handout in the box that pops up.
Using the SOAPware Online Library: Upload and Download Handouts
The SOAPware Online Library contains handouts that have been created by SOAPware users like you. You can download these handouts for use, and contribute your own handouts for others to download and use.
To Download a handout from the SOAPware Library, you must first ensure that you have told the Handout Manager to include online handouts. To do this, place a check in the "Include Online Library Items" box, located in the lower left corner of the Handout Manager. Handouts available for download will display in the Action column as "Download". Select the handout you wish to download by clicking on it. Then, click the Download Button (or press Control + Alt + D). The selected handout will be downloaded and stored for use in SOAPware.
To Upload a handout that you have created, first, select the handout you wish to share with the SOAPware community. You can do this by searching for the handout by keyword, and selecting if from the handouts list. Once you have selected a handout to upload, click the Upload Handout Button. SOAPware will confirm that your handout has been uploaded. To exit the upload confirmation, click "Okay". Once your handout has been reviewed but the SOAPware staff, other SOAPware users will be able to download and use your handout.
