A case is a full report of a workplace injury or an incident involving an employee (patient). The case is usually created in an initial visit (encounter) with the patient, and is then linked to subsequent visits. A case links all follow-up visits (encounters), restrictions, accommodations, conditions, and nature of injury information. All of the documents pertaining to the case are grouped together within the chart for reporting purposes.
The terms case and incident may be used interchangeably throughout the system.
Add New Absence Management Encounter
From the Quick Links Portlet, click the Add Absence Management Encounter. The Absence Management Encounter will be opened and stay open until the patient returns to work or terminates, at which time the encounter and the case can be closed.
Set Protocol
Open the Chief complaint section of the encounter and use the autocomplete to select the Absence Management protocol.
Add New Absence Management Case
Some workflows use various documents or various encounters and may need to be linked to an Absence Management Case for tracking. To do this, a case type must first be created.
By default, the Case section of encounters will display the following case types:
- Injury (OSHA Standard)
- Injury (Non-OSHA Standard)
- Hospital
- Absence Management
- Medical Suitability for Expatriate Assignment (MSEA)
- Medical Surveillance
If you wish to document a new case, click the header or Edit (Pencil) icon of the Case section in the dynamic encounter.
Once the Case section is expanded, indicate which type of case to create on the chart by selecting the appropriate radio button. The type of case selected will determine other fields or radio button data to complete. Once you open/create a case, any documentation, encounter visit documentations, or the like can be linked to a specific case/incident the chart has had previously documented.
Absence Management Case Details
After selecting to create an Absence Management case type, subsequent data fields branch open for documenting. There are 2 required fields to capture before the system will save an Absence Management case to the chart. These are indicated by red asterisks. The other fields are optional and will most likely be keyed in at a later time, when managing the case throughout its life cycle.
The application will auto calculate the Number of calendar days absent if the First day off and either the Actual RTW date or Expected RTW date are entered.
Once the case type has been created, information can be updated as needed or used to link to other encounter visits or documents.
Plan Narrative Section
The Plan narrative section provides several system default fields to capture various absence management data. Clients may customize this section to either add or remove data collection fields (system wide) via the flowsheet titled Plan-Absence Management.
Notes/Tracking Section
This section can be used to make daily notes on the case. This section also provides a Follow update, which can be entered and visible on the Absence Management worklist.
Work Status (or Lost Time) Section
Lost time would be documented using the Restrictions and Accommodations section. Refer to the Restrictions and Accommodations help documentation for more information.
Restrictions and Accommodations
Refer to help documentation named Restrictions and Accommodations.
Linking Documents to Cases
Documents can be linked to cases. This can be done via the Edit Properties of an existing stored document. Documents can also be linked to cases when indexing from WebScan or during File Upload method. Scheduled appointments can also be linked to cases when in the Add Appointment wizard, if necessary.
Worklist
The Absence Management Worklist can be configured to display from the Quick View side menu. This worklist provides a list of all open Absence Management encounters.
Reports
The Absence Management module comes with 1 standard report. This is a report of all historical and current cases. Users can limit and/or filter data by start date, end date, encounter status and leave types. The report named Leave Types is found within the Visit bundle of reports.
Employee Portal
Request Leave of Absence
Employees may submit a request for leave of absence via the employee portal (if configured) by completing a Request Leave of Absence questionnaire/form. Employees are asked appropriate questions based on the type of leave being requested. Data from the questionnaire can be programmed to flow in the Absence Management encounter. Once the employee completes the questionnaire it is tasked to the Absence Management Department for review.
Return to Work From A Medical Absence
Employees may submit the Return to Work From A Medical Absence questionnaire/form when returning to work (if configured). The questionnaire/form can be tasked to the Absence Management department for review.
Other Health Resources
The Other Health Resources tab on the employee portal can be programmed to display links to forms or other documents on the client’s network.
Emails
The system comes with several standard emails which can be emailed to the employee either manually or configured to be sent automatically upon request. Additional email(s) as needed can be configured on client request.
Medical Leave of Absence (MLOA) Start
Medical Leave of Absence (MLOA) Extend
FMLA email template options
Learning Management System
To learn more about the Absence Management Workflow, follow the link below to the Learning Management System course: