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Classic Waiting Room List

This option enables you to have a simple waiting room list active on the system. It is based on one list for all the consulting rooms at one location. Waiting room lists are kept on a per surgery basis.

The list will interrogate any diaries you have set-up and the summary will show who is expected.

When the waiting room list is selected from the main menu you will be asked:

Current Forward Summary Last Quit

Note: If using the 'New Style Menus' then these options will appear in the menu box.

Adding and retrieving

Normally the receptionist would access the client's record when they arrive at the surgery and enter a '+' at the management record prompt. They will then be asked for the surgeon this client prefers. Enter the user I.D. allocated to that surgeon or alternatively there is the option for don't care [0]. Then you will be asked for the reason, and you can enter a brief note of the reason for the visit if required. This client is then added to the list.

If the client is already on the diary you can use 'E'dit -> 'H'ere and this will transfer the entry over to the current list. The reason for the visit and the user it is booked for will be transferred.

The surgeon in the consulting room needs only to press '-' from either the main menu or a management record card and the system will immediately access the record of the highest client on the list who wants to see him/her and remove the client from the list.

If the receptionist enters an '!' from the client's record card this will be treated as an emergency case and will added to the top of the list.

Action: Once the surgeon has finished with the animal they can add them back to the 'Further Action' list by pressing the plus (+) and selecting the further action option (#). They will be prompted for some 'common' reasons or by using 'T'ext enter their own.

Records are recalled from the 'Further Action' list by pressing a hash (#) at the main menu or the management prompt line.

Summary of Waiting Room Options
+ Adds to Current or Further Action list.
- Gets the next animal from the current list.
! Adds an 'Emergency' (top of list) case.
# Gets the next animal from the Further Action list

Waiting room summary

The summary has 6 sections and is continuously updated every few seconds. Pressing any key will return you to the main menu.

Note: The Summary will use the terminal location to display where the client is located. If this is not set correctly you will just see the tty number of the screen being used.

See the FAQ: Customising the Summary for more details.

Automatic Exit

Normally, if you leave the summary running on a screen it will return to the main menu after 60 mins. This can be altered by adding the log off time in params.txt, use the entry

Waiting_Room_Summary_Logoff = number of mins e.g.
Waiting_Room_Summary_Logoff = 5 for 5 mins

If the summary is left on the screen overnight it will automatically return to the menu just before midnight (23:58). The Logoff setting above has no effect on this operation.

Logging of Waiting Times

Whenever anyone is removed from the Waiting Room List a note is made of how long they have been sitting in the waiting room. This is updated automatically by the system.

An option on the Statistics Menu can be used to generate the basic statistics per month. These include:

The data is in a CSV file which you can use to expand on the basic details created above. It contains the following information:

APT_DATE Date of Appointment (from MR)
APT_TIME Time of Appointment
DIARY Which diary the appointment was made in
ARV_DATE Date of arrival
ARV_TIME Time of arrival
FOR Who was the client 'booked' to see
ROOM Numerical representation of FOR
DA_TIME Time (in mins) between appointment time and arrival time
SEEN_DATE Date the animal was taken off the list
SEEN_TIME Time the animal was taken off the list
BY User who took the animal off the list
WS_TIME Time (in mins) between arrival time and seen time.
ANIMAL Premvet 5 record number
NOTES Text relating to the entry

There is a separate log for each month, they will live in the text sub-directory, and be called waitMMYYYY.csv e.g. for Jan 2001 it will be wait012001.csv for May 2001 it will be wait052001.csv etc.

Use the CSV -> Scan, option on the text utilities menu to access these.

Note: The Appointment details are taken from the diary details on the management record card - if you don't use the diary the APT_DATE and APT_TIME entries will be invalid however the waiting room times will be correct. You should also make sure your diary times use the 24 hours clock.

If the time difference is out-with the range, 2 hrs early or 1 day late then they will be reset to zero.

Current waiting room list

 This window shows the order in which the clients arrived, how long they have been waiting and the surgeon of their preference and if entered previously the reason for the visit. A '?' means that the client will see any surgeon.

On entry to the current waiting room list, the first client on the list is highlighted. If you want to access one of these clients you can select the record you require by means of the arrow keys. If you want to return to the menu you should press <ESC>, or, if <Q> is entered, you will be taken to the prompt line: 

Back Change Fwd Move Get Insert Remove Wipe Quit
'B'ack If there is more than one box full of information this option will move back up the list.
'C'hange Change an entry. Use the arrow keys to select the client to change, and you will be asked the client number, vet to see and the reason. The screen will be updated.
'F'wd Forward - Move the screen forward to display more information.
'I'nsert Adds a new record to the list at any point.
'M'ove Move a record to a different position on the list
'G'et Selects the client to see and accesses their record. This option will update the log of waiting times.
'R'emove Removes a client from the list.
'W'ipe Remove all records from the list.

Last Seen list

 This is a list of clients who have been seen recently, in order that their records may quickly be retrieved when passing them from one area to another. This is done transparently, i.e. THERE IS NO COMMAND NEEDED to put clients on to this list, and the clients can be retrieved for whatever purpose required, e.g. due to pay, due to make an appointment, they decide to buy something over the counter you want to put on their record, or they forget when you said their next appointment was just after you've got rid of their record from the screen. The amount the client owes is displayed as well as the time seen. The list will be reset when all screens have logged out. Note: If screens are NOT logged out overnight then this list will show records from the previous day.

The first client on the list is highlighted for selection with a selector bar and you may move up or down and then press RETURN to retrieve the desired client, or you may press 'Q' to exit.

Note:

Forward waiting room list

 This list (sorted by time) enables you to set up a waiting room list prior to surgery commencing - including the time the client is expected. When the client appears transfer them onto the current list or see them.

The forward waiting room list is aimed at practices that do not use the diary system. While there is an option to 'Update' this list from the diary - it is not a real-time link up. We suggest you use the Waiting Room Summary to see who is still expected in.

On entry to the forward waiting room list, the first client on the list is highlighted. You can select the record with the arrow keys if required. If you want to return to the menu you should press <ESC> at this point. If <Q> is entered you will be taken to the prompt line: 

Add Back Fwd Here Print Remove See Update Quit
'A'dd
Adds clients on to the list. You will be prompted for the client number, expected time and reason. This client will then be added onto the list in the correct order (by time).

'B'ack
If there is more than one boxful of information this option will move back up the list.

'F'wd
Move the screen forward to display more information.

'H'ere
This will transfer the specified animal onto the current waiting room list. You will be asked which vet to see, the reason given when added to this list will be carried over.

'P'rint
This will print on the printer the forward list to date.

'R'emove
If the client cancels the appointment then they may be removed via this option. You will be asked for the client number to remove.

'S'ee
This will take you directly to the management record card for the selected entry.

No logging of waiting times are made if this option is used.

'U'pdate
This will wipe the list clean. If the diaries are set up this will take today's entries from all diaries marked for waiting room list access relating to the surgery you are located at.

'Q'uit
Return to the main menu.

The maximum number of entries in the forward waiting room list is 64.

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