Programmed Touchpad buttons can be used to quickly enter information into Patients’ SOAP notes. This will speed up the process of creating complete, legible and accurate SOAP notes. It also is very beneficial in multiple Provider clinics to help unify and format SOAP notes.
Touchpad buttons can represent a single value, which is entered immediately into the SOAP note when selected or can represent a list of items. The Provider can then select from the list what to enter into the SOAP note. Lists can contain up to forty different values. This allows an almost unlimited amount of options for entering SOAP note information.
Each button comes pre-configured to perform specific functions: for example, the Blue Spine Segment keys enter a value into the SOAP note and highlight the Spine Segment. During the programming of the buttons, you can change the default function of any of the buttons.
To access Touchpad Programming:
- Click on the Touchpad Button (located at the top of the VTC - may be within the Utilities Menu) with your mouse.
In the Touchpad Programming Window:
- Select the Button you want to program
- Once you select your Button, note the Default Function of that button as described in the Key Command drop down menu – for now, leave the default Key Command
- Label line 1 and Label line 2 will be used to Title the button – enter a ‘title’ for what the Button will represent
- Choose if the Button (key) should generate a List of Items or enter a single value only
- Single Value: type in the value to the text box. There is no practical limit to the length of a single value.
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List: type in the value for each item in the list – the lists are limited to 40 items only, but each item can be unlimited in length. - Type your information for the list item in the large box on the right (SOAP Note for button 0) and remember to enter a title value in the left side Value box for each note.
- Click SAVE when complete
- Test the programmed button by opening a test Patient file and pressing the button. Your programmed value or list should appear. The Touchpads on the other computers will automatically ‘download’ the programming, when you restart Atlas on those computers.
Follow the above tutorial to program the Light Grey and Red buttons. Also use this tutorial to re-program or add to the OBJ or SUBJ or FREQ buttons. Messages for CA and Patient can also be programmed using this method. Buttons that are already user-defined can be reprogrammed using this option.
Programming your touchpad is easy; deciding what information to program can be hard! When programming; try to think of things that you would put into a patient’s notes frequently and program that information first. Remember the touchpad is a tool to enhance your practice and make notation easier. Try to program frequent keystrokes into your touchpad but not to be too specific. It is easy to add or edit touchpad buttons as needed.