Last review date 03/02/2023
We often get asked why Arden's referral forms are only accessible from the Communication templates rather than directly from the various 'Condition' or 'Review' data entry templates. To ensure data is merged into a referral form or letter the data has to be committed to the patient's record first. Whenever data is added via a template, that data is only committed to the record when you click on 'ok' or 'Suspend'. Up to this point, SystmOne cannot merge this data.
This means that if we had referral form buttons on the 'Conditions' or 'Review' templates you would have to close the template and then reopen it to access the referral form. Therefore it is just as easy at that point to click the Orange arrow to access the 'Communications' template and referral forms. By using the 'Communications' template to refer you follow a standard referral process and have access to other functions such as referral safety netting, resource links etc.
Referral forms are constantly being updated and added, which means each time we amended the 'Condition' or 'Review' templates with new referral links that the data entry template becomes unavailable until you restart SystmOne. As the 'Communications' templates are opened from a protocol, to ensure you are presented with the correct communications template for your area, any amendments to the template do not cause the same unavailable error message.