General Overview
Welcome to EyeCHARTS! This program was developed to provide a powerful option for eye care professionals who want the quality (but not the sticker shock!) of current electronic medical record (EMR) software. Our goals are simple: create software that is: (1) easy to use, (2) inexpensive, (3) efficient, and (4) adheres to standard SOAP format while offering the flexibility to quickly enter ophthalmic specific information. We accomplish these goals in EyeCHARTS by presenting the program interface in a familiar visual style... it looks like a paper SOAP note that many clinicians are already familiar with. Easy-to-use tabs allow jumping to different sections of the chart, just like paper chart tabs. A suite of quick-entry tools is available to enter information and numerical data with a few mouse clicks. Detailed test statements, blocks of repetitive data, and customizable descriptive statements are only a mouse click away from entry into the SOAP note. For added flexibility, almost all aspects of the pre-selected text can be customized to meet your needs.
The User Interface
The user interface of EyeCHARTS is designed to allow quick and efficient entry of patient data with the minimum of keystrokes. Ophthalmic specific charting tools are available to help create a comprehensive chart quickly and accurately. Unlike other EMR software, EyeCHARTS was create from the ground up specifically for the eye-care community.
SOAP-based Charting
The EyeCHARTS interface in based on the standard SOAP format (Subjective-Objective-Assessment-Plan), as used by most health-care professionals today. Unlike the typical checklist or exam sheet format, the SOAP format offers much more flexibility with the type of content that can be displayed and organized. It also provides a much more “readable” report. With a properly formatted SOAP report, your risk from insurance audits and legal actions is greatly reduced when compared to the indecipherable scribbles and checkmark lists that are standard fare in many handwritten charts. Imagine sitting in a courtroom, trying to explain to the jury that the checkmark you placed next to the “WNL” box for the fundus evaluation means that you thoroughly evaluated the entire retina. That checkmark may not hold up, since you have no actual record of what you observed. In our litigious age, it is equally important to note the majority of your normal findings, as well as the abnormal ones. Why? Because it shows that you did a thorough exam. Clear, well written English statements will generally impress jurors (and lawyers) much more than quickly than quickly scribbled checkmarks and notes. No matter how good a physician one may be, without proper documentation the patient chart will be considered incomplete and leave you liable for legal actions, insurance audits and potentially poor patient care.
NOTE: This is a beta (testing version) of EyeCHARTS. Not all features are fully functional, or they may work unexpectedly. Most have been identified as such, however you may come across some functions that don't seem to do anything or which cause a program crash. Make a note and fax a bug report (use menu HELP->REPORT BUG).
