Creating Patient Letters / Documents

See also:

Contacting by Letter under Contact Lists

Creating a Recall Letter in Presentation Manager

Portal blog and video: Creating letter templates

Patient letters can be created directly from the patient file by clicking on the Create a Patient document button wherever it is visible.

They can also be created from multiple other locations within EXACT, including all locations where Contact Lists are used (see Contacting by Letter under Contact Lists).

If EXDOC is installed these letters are automatically stored on the patient’s Contacts tab and can be viewed and/or edited by double-clicking on the required letter.

NOTE: Without EXDOC the letter symbol will indicate the creation of a letter, but the actual letter itself will need to be either saved manually on one of the practice's computers or printed in duplicate and the copy held on file.

Letter Templates are used when writing letters. These templates contain the standard layout and wording common to all letters of the same purpose, and merge fields that are automatically resolved with actual data when the letter is processed. For example, all referral letters will contain merge fields for basic information about the patient such as name and date of birth, and may begin with a first sentence of ‘Thank you for seeing…’

When you select the ‘Create a Patient document’ button a Document Details window will appear:

DocumentDetailsWindow1-nums

Complete the following fields (as appropriate) to create the document:

		Provider: Click in the field and use the selectors to select a Provider under whose name the document will be written. Note: If you are logged in as a Provider, your Provider Code will appear here by default, and if the patient has a Provider assigned, that Provider will display by default.
		Specialist: Click in the field and use the selectors to select a Specialist under whose name the document will be written.
		Category: This defaults to Admin Document but you can select an alternative type from the list. Click button to display the View Contact Categories window, where you can Add, Edit and Delete categories: There is no limit to the number of Categories that you can create. These Categories are significant in the Patient File Contacts tab (as indicated below), where contacts can be displayed/sorted by the Category. Note also how the template Description field is shown under the Description column:
		Description: Type a description for the document content. This will be displayed in the list of contacts.
		Document Templates pane:
		Templates: These can be Standard (delivered with the software), created/customised and/or imported. EasyPost templates display the EasyPost icon: Arrange templates by dragging them into folders templates into folders. Hover your mouse cursor over a template to display an Edit and a Delete button. Use the +1 button at the bottom of the screen to add templates by means of the Create Template screen. Edit button : This opens the RTF format document for editing using Microsoft Word (or the Presentation Manager window, if it is enabled). A Merge Fields selector overlays the document, enabling you to conveniently insert merge fields into the content. For details on editing, see Creating a New Template.
		Categories: Use these as a means of rationally arranging templates (drag templates into folders). Create any number of Categories. Hover your mouse cursor over a category to display a Delete button. Add categories from three locations in the Document Details screen - see , , . You can also select and add Categories from the Create Template screen.
		Preview of the selected template.
		Add new category button:
		+1 button opens the Create Template window. See Creating a New Template.
		Print: Print the selected letter template for this patient.
		EasyPost: Click to send the template to EasyPost (populated with the selected patient's details) for third party printing, addressing and posting (requires the EasyPost module and Presentation Manager).
		Preview: Without Presentation Manager this will pop up the template document for viewing. With Presentation Manager, this displays the document preview at right, with merge fields populated with sample patient details:
		Cancel button: Cancel the document details and close the window.

NOTE: If you have Presentation Manager enabled, the Document Details window will have a preview window and slightly different fields.

The Document Details window enables you to write to the patient as well as create/modify the Letter Templates that are the basis of the individual letters written.

Letter Templates can include merge fields. These are placeholders for patient, provider, specialist, practice and other details that can be inserted directly into a letter from EXACT, which are replaced with actual data when the letter is processed.