Clinical Computer Systems Training

PowerChart

Web-Based Training - PowerChart Fact Sheet

Getting Started

New Accounts (For new staff) Call the Helpdesk to have a new account created. Include your full name, date of birth, department, designation, who you report to and number where you can be reached.
Logging in

Password- Minimum 6 characters

  • Will expire every 180 days
  • If you forget your password - Call the Helpdesk to have it reset

Note: Do NOT share your password with anyone. This is your electronic signature.

Organizer/Icons

Tool Bar Icons allow you quick access to the most frequently used functions in PowerChart

Find Patient  Allows you to search the data base for a particular patient. For the quickest search, use the patient's PIN.
Change User  Using the Change User Icon pauses, but does not completely shut down PowerChart and therefore significantly decreases the time it takes to log-in. Use Change User when you are finished with your instance of PowerChart and want to leave it ready for the next user.
Suspend  Using the Suspend User Icon pauses, but does not completely shut down PowerChart and therefore significantly decreases the time it takes to log-in. Use Suspend User when you are going to step away from the computer for a minute, but still want to keep your instance of PowerChart going.
Exit  Ensures that you exit PowerChart completely.
Launch Application  Allows users to launch other applications such as, PM Locator, Explorer Menu from PowerChart. Still requires you to log in to these applications using your log-in and password.
Launch Web Browser  Allows users to launch MicroMedex website to search for drug information.
Clinical Calculator  Provides the users with a simple on-line tool that will perform basic clinical calculations.
Print  Allows users the ability to print a patient list in a report format with fixed headers.
Inquiry  Allows users the ability to launch Micro Inquiry, a tool that gives easy access to microbiology results in an easier to read format than viewing the results individually in Powerchart.
As of  Updates all information to the current time.
List Maintenance  Allows you to create different types of patient lists.
Add Patient  Allows you to add patients to a personal list.
Remove Patient  Allows you to remove selected patients from a personal or relationship list.
Add/View Sticky Notes  Allows you to add an electronic sticky note to the patient's record.
Properties  Allows you to apply different filtering criteria to your lists. The Proxy tab within Properties, allows you to give permission(proxy) to other providers to have access to your patient lists.
Select All Patients  Allows you to select all patients on a list to copy to another.
Clear All Selections  Allows you to clear the selection of patients they have made.
Copy  Copies a selection of patient names, so that users can put them on another list.
Paste  Pastes a selection of patient names to a list.
Hide Selected Rows  Allows you the ability to hide selected patient names on their lists.
Customize Columns  Allows you to select which column headers are displayed on their lists as well as the order they are displayed in.
Print Another Users List  Allows you to print another users list. This type of list is in a report format with fixed headers.

Note: These functions are also found on the drop down menus in the Menu Bar.

Organizer/Lists

The Organizer lets you create patient lists that allow easy access to your patient's chart. Some of the types of lists that you can create are:

Location When you build a Location list, all patients currently registered to that location appear automatically. You can't add or remove patients from this type of list. This list is updated as patients are admitted or discharged to that location.
Location Group When you build a Location Group list, the names of the patients admitted to the specific locations within the predefined location group are listed automatically. You cannot add or remove patients to or from the list. These groups are created by Information Management department at the request of endusers.
Medical Service When you build a Medical Service list, the names of the patients admitted to the service you have selected are displayed automatically. You cannot add or remove patients from this list.
Personal/Custom When you build a Personal/Custom list, patients must be manually added or removed from the list. It is not automatically updated by the system.
Provider Group When you build a Provider Group list, patients with relationships established with you or other members of the group are displayed automatically. You can add and remove patients from this list.
Visit Relationship When you build a Visit Relationship list, patients with whom you have established a relationship, E.g., PGY are displayed automatically. You can remove patients from the list, by inactivating your relationship with the patient.

Note: You are able to apply filtering criteria to any of the lists you create by using the Properties icon. You can change the name of any list by clicking on the list name in the List Maintenance window and then clicking on it again. This opens an edit box in which you can change the name.

Flowsheet

Default Display Settings Results are displayed in reverse chronological order, with the specimen collection time displayed in the column header. There are colour and character indicators associated with all results. Each clinical workstation has a key to these indicators. The flowsheet is set to display 5 days worth of results at one time.
Note: If you are in a critical care area, you might want to change the setting to display only those results completed within the last 24 hours to decrease the time it takes to open a patient's chart. In the flowsheet, go to Options Properties Defaults Tab and change the default to 1 day back.
Note: Any default on the flowsheet is completely customizable to each individual user's preferences. Please see PowerChart manual for detailed instructions.
General Lab Results All results are displayed in the cells of the flowsheet. Click on a cell to view reference ranges in the status bar. Double click a cell to view additional info including reference ranges.
Note: If you see a comment within the cell, such as "See Report" or "See Comments", the results will not be viewable in PowerChart. You must consult the printed Lab Report.
Microbiology Results Microbiology results display on the flowsheet with either REVIEW or C REVIEW. C REVIEW is generated for a true Positive result. All other results are marked REVIEW and need to be looked at to determine if they are positive or negative. If a result has Susceptibilities, it will have a Susceptibilities tab when you double click on the result. If you see an asterisk beside an antibiotic, you need to double click to see the footnote that the lab has entered about that antibiotic.
Pathology Results Pathology results display on the flowsheet with the lab accession number. Supplementatl reports for the same test, will display with the same accession number on a separate line. If you see a status of "In Error" on the Flowsheet for a Pathology result this means that the report has been retracted by the Pathology department. You can double-click on the report, but nothing will launch.
Radiology Results Radiology results display on the flowsheet with "In Progress" if they are Preliminary results and will display with the test name in the cell of the Flowsheet once they have been "Transcribed" or "Completed".

Order Status

Look at the Orders Status tab to check the progress of a specimen.

Ordered - indicates that a specimen has been received in the lab and an Accession # given. In Process - indicates that the specimen is currently being processed for it's result. Some partial results may be viewable in PowerChart.
Completed - indicates that either a lab specimen is finished being analyzed or that a Radiology report for a test that has been completed has been signed off by a Radiologist. The results should be viewable in PowerChart. Canceled - indicates that a specimen has been canceled by the patient care unit or the Lab. This action has occurred prior to the order becoming active.
Discontinued - indicates that a specimen has been discontined by the patient care unit or the Lab. This action has occurred after the order is active. Ordered (Exam ordered) - indicates that a Radiology procedure has been ordered, but it has not yet been started in the Radiology department.
Ordered (Exam started) - indicates that a Radiology procedure has been ordered and that the exam is being performed in Radiology, but is not yet complete. Ordered (Exam Completed) - indicates that a Radiology procedure has been ordered, and the procedure is complete.

Note: If there is any dispute about the status of a sample, or the length of time it is taking to process, please contact the lab directly for information.

Patient Information

This tab contains demographic information about the patient, as well as a summary of the patient's encounters with London Health Sciences Centre

Patient Address/Health Plan This tab provides basic patient information such as address, phone number, Family Physician and religion. It also includes an Alias Box that indicates other hospital PINs and the patient's Health Card Number.
Contact Information This tab provides information about the Person to Notify, Next of Kin and Power of Attorney.
Visit List This tab shows a summary of the patient's encounters with this facility. You can get information on each visit, such as the Attending Physician, by clicking on the appropriate line.
Intellistrip This tab gives you a longitudinal view of the patient's history with this facility. Each line represents an encounter. As the system grows, icons will appear on the Intellistrip to represent such things as x-ray reports and Discharge Summaries.
Allergies This tab displays Allergy information entered by Pharmacy and other designated health professionals. This tab can also be found at the same level as Patient Information beside Orders. Information on this tab should be reviewed with the patient/family on every encounter for accuracy and discrepancies reported to Pharmacy, so that they can be corrected.