Going-home summary rules for physicians

The going-home summary helps the patient remember what to do. It is not the legal discharge record: the papers from the care team and the hospital record stay the official source. Nurses usually compose and publish it; see After-visit summary for nurses for the steps.

Screenshot pending: staff-avs-composerThis screenshot is captured automatically from the running app with sample data.

Start from the discharge diagnosis

At the top of the composer, Discharge diagnosis (staff only) lists common ED diagnoses (head injury, laceration, sprain, fracture in a cast, minor burn, belly pain with no cause found, stomach bug, fever in a child, bladder infection, back pain, low-risk chest pain, asthma flare-up, allergic reaction, migraine, kidney stone, viral illness). Choosing one pre-fills the instructions, the "when to come back" set, a resource and a default follow-up from the templates approved at your site. Review the preview and adjust anything before publishing: the pick is a starting point, not a decision. The diagnosis itself is never shown to the patient.

Text the link to the patient's phone

Once the summary is published, Text the link to the patient's phone sends the summary link by SMS to the number the patient verified for updates during the visit. You never type or see the number (only its last two digits). The text carries no health information and opening the link asks for the date of birth. If no verified number is on file, the patient can text themselves a link from their own device.

Content rules

• No diagnosis text from the EHR is ever copied into the summary. Sections come from approved templates written in plain language and reviewed by a clinical approver.
• The optional About your visit text (up to 280 characters, where the site allows it) is visible to the patient. Write it for the patient, in plain words.
• When to come back always includes the generic set: call 911 in an emergency, call Health811 for health advice, and what to do if you feel worse.
• Follow-up entries say who and when, never why.

Medicines section

avs.medicationsSection (default off)

When the site turns it on, only prescribers can write it. Entries use the site formulary and the pharmacist-approved phrase library (how to take it), grouped as new, changed, stop taking, keep taking, up to 15 entries. Publishing needs the attestation "These entries match the prescription I gave." The patient sees "These match the prescription … gave you." At sites with an EHR feed, the default is to point the patient to their printed instructions and the portal instead.

Versions

Every published version is kept as a safety record. Edits after publishing notify the patient quietly. You can unpublish with a reason.

Related

• Patient content, where templates are approved
• After your visit, the patient's view