How do I sign off a patient’s request?

Once you have reviewed a patient’s request and know what you would like to do next, you can sign off the request in Anima. You can sign off a request:

By clicking the red ‘Actions’ button on the side panel in the main dashboard
By clicking the red ‘Manage’ button on the pop-up screen when you double click a request.

These are the steps for signing off a patient request in Anima:

Select options: select options for the patient’s management
Confirm sign off message & notify patient: view (and edit) the message to be sent to the patient via email, SMS & in Anima once you have signed off the request. You will also be asked whether you wish to sign off the request and save to record now, or whether you wish to seek patient agreement.

If you sign off and seek patient agreement, the sign off workflow will end and we will send your plan to the patient for them to reject or approve.

If you proceed to sign off & save to record, you will then be taken through the latter half of the workflow:

Review save to record: review the notes and clinical codes to be saved to the patient’s record
Summary & confirmation: review everything that will be actioned when you sign off the request, including your actions & tasks, communications to be sent to the patient, updates to the patient’s record (including clinical codes), and chat history if present.
Sign off & save to record

How do I select next steps/ treatment options for a patient request?

When you click ‘manage’ on a patient’s request, you will be asked to select options for the next steps. The options displayed will be customized to the particular request that the patient has submitted. Use the tabs on the left to navigate through the categories (i.e. prescription change, book in for an appointment), and the drop-down menus to select the appropriate options. If the option you want to select isn’t listed, you can add your own custom option by clicking ‘Custom’ in the dropdown menu.

If there is no action required for the patient’s request, click the ‘no action required’ at the bottom of this screen to be taken to the notify patient screen.

How do I inform the patient of next steps?

Once you have selected the appropriate next steps for a patient request’s, you will be asked to confirm the sign off message. Anima automatically generates the message to be sent to patients based on the selections you made on the previous screen, which will include any instructions that the patient needs (e.g. contacting reception to book an appointment). You can review and freely edit the message that Anima has generated as you wish. You can also add your own formatting to the message.

Once you are happy with the message, select the appropriate sign off option for that request. If you select ‘sign off & save to record’, the message will be emailed to the patient once you have completed the sign off process. If you select ‘seek patient agreement’, the patient will be sent your message and asked to accept or reject the plan accordingly.

What is the difference between sign off & resolve and sign off & seek patient agreement?

There are two sign off options in Anima:

Sign off & resolve: we recommend this option in the vast majority of cases. This will sign off the patient’s request and mark it as resolved, and enable you to save the request to the patient’s record. To use this option, select this option when prompted after reviewing patient communications for the request. At the end of the process, we’ll show you the action plan that we’ll communicate to the patient based on your selections (you can freely edit this action plan if you wish). The patient is sent this action plan, and the request is resolved. It will no longer appear in the patient requests tab, and you will be able to complete the relevant tasks.

Sign off & seek patient agreement: we recommend this option if you need explicit patient buy-in for next steps, such as if you are prescribing a new medication. To use this option, select this option when prompted after you have reviewed the patient communications for the request. This will end the sign-off workflow, and the patient will be sent your plan to accept or reject. The request is not marked as resolved and nothing will be saved to the patient’s record until the patient accepts the plan. The status of the patient request will update to ‘waiting for patient’ on your dashboard until the patient accepts or rejects the plan. You will receive a notification when the patient accepts or rejects the plan. You will then be able to resolve the request by confirming the plan and saving the request to record.

How do I save the patient’s request and my plan to the patient’s record?

If you select sign off & save to record, you will be taken to the save to record screen. Start typing the patient’s PC into the first textbox to select a problem code. The other fields (history, clinical codes, examination, plan) will be pre-populated for you (including with the relevant SNOMED/ Read 2 codes) based on the previous screens, but you can amend the text as you wish. Click ‘save to patient record’ to save the information to the patient’s record in your EHR.

If you use another EHR that Anima is not integrated with, you can still click continue. On the next screen (summary confirmation), you’ll be able to copy everything to your clipboard and paste it into your EHR manually.

I don’t have enough information to sign off a patient’s request. How can I get more information from a patient?

If you don’t have enough information to sign off a patient’s request from the information they’ve submitted in their request, click the ‘Message Patient’ tab in the pop-up window. Here you can message the patient for clarification or confirmation of the information they have provided. The patient will be notified immediately that they have received a message from their practice and will be able to reply from their Anima account. Only practice staff can initiate conversations; patient’s cannot message the practice first. Conversations also expire after a set timeframe. You are also free to contact patients in other ways e.g. via phone or text.

I need more help

If you require assistance with an issue that is not addressed in these FAQs, please contact one of the Anima team using the details we gave you during onboarding, or email support@animahealth.com.

Updated on: 16/08/2023