Introduction
Creating a letter to provide to a patient, use as an order, or forward to another care provider is an essential part of healthcare. The ability to print or directly fax this letter is core functionality within Canvas. Please see our letter templates article to learn how to create templates that can be used in the letter note type. Users also have the ability to add attachments to letters that can be previewed, printed, and faxed as packages. Please see our letter attachment article for more details.
Key Objectives
- Letter note overview
- Attachments to letters
- Missing letter template placeholders
- Editing restrictions in letter notes
- Preview, Printing, and Faxing letters
- Actions and fax statuses of letter notes
Step by Step
Letter Note
Letter Notes are available as one of the default note types in Canvas and can be disabled in the Note Types setting. The top of the letter note has drop down menus that allow users to select a sending provider, custom template (optional), and sending location. If no template is selected the user is free to type out the content of the letter as needed.
NOTE: When letter content is complete, the letter can be previewed, printed or faxed. See below for details.
Attachments to Letters
Users have the ability to add attachments to letters that can be previewed, printed, and faxed as packages. Please see our attachments to letters article for more details. Patient associated resources that can be included as attachments:
- Patient chart notes
- After visit summary
- Labs
- Imagining Consult reports
- Uncategorized documents
- Chart documents
- Administrative documents
- Consents
Missing Letter Template Placeholders
When using a templated letter with missing placeholders the placeholder is displayed in red bolded font in the note body. This red bolded text does not show up when letters are printed or faxed. Instead a blank space will take the place of the missing placeholder. A warning is also displayed if the patient is missing any of the expected placeholders. To resolve the warning, add the missing details. Once the placeholder details have been added you will have to reload the template by refreshing and re-selecting the desired template again.
Restrict Enduser editing
You can restrict whether an endusers can make changes within the letter template from the patient's chart by selecting the setting. This will prevent endusers from editing the content of the letter within the letter note. Endusers that attempt to edit the letter will see the message below.
Preview, Print, and Fax Letters
Letter templates can be previewed, printed, and faxed utilizing the functionality buttons located in the footer of the letter note.
To preview a letter, select the button to open a PDF preview in a new tab. Chrome native actions are available in the top menu of this PDF preview. Once previewed, users can navigate back to the patient chart to continue to edit, print, or fax the letter.
To print a letter, select the button to collapse the letter and view a print preview. Ensure print preview looks correct and make changes as needed to the print settings. Users can then choose to print from the print module or navigate back to the letter note to make edits. Once printed, the letter note collapses and can no longer be edited. The following message will also display at the top of the letter note:
"Printed ____ ago on ____"
To fax a letter, select the button to open the fax module. In this module you will need to provide the recipient name and the fax number with no spaces or special characters. If your organization has the fax cover sheet setting enabled please see the related article for more details. Once the appropriate fields have been filled out select . After faxing, the letter collapses and can no longer able to be edited. The top of the letter note will display the message below along with the status of the fax. See below for actions and statuses of Letter notes.
"Faxed ____ ago on ____"
Actions and Statuses of Letter Notes
Letters have several actions that are able to be taken after a letter is completed or a status that is displayed.
- Collapsed note - denotes a completed letter that has been printed or faxed. Clicking the collapsed header expands the letter and allows the user to repeat a preview, print or fax action
- Action log - in the note header, actions such as drafting, printing or faxing are captured with the date the action was completed
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Fax status - within the action log in the note header fax status is displayed
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- Fax sending via Sfax - Sending fax is in process through third party vendor Sfax
- Fax delivered - Sfax has returned a status of a successfully delivered fax
- Fax failed to deliver - receives a status directly from Sfax such as "Blocked Number" or "Number Busy"
- Failed to connect to Sfax - Sfax failed to connect
- Sfax is not configured - Sfax has not been configured in the instance
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- Missing template placeholders - When using a templated letter with placeholders a warning will be displayed if the patient is missing any of the expected placeholders.
FAQs:
Q: How many times does Sfax try to send a fax before it is determined to be failed?
A: Each fax is tried 3 times.
Q: Will I receive a notification for fax status?
A:Fax status is only captured in the note header. Sfax provides the ability for users to receive email notifications for successful and failed faxes.
Roles
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- Provider
- Clinical Staff
- Administrative Staff
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