What is this page?

When you log into Anima, you’ll be shown your dashboard. The dashboard contains all the active patient requests at your practice. You can action all patient requests directly from your dashboard, and access all other parts of the Anima platform, including your user settings and contacting patients.

The welcome banner at the top of the page tells you how many reviews are assigned to you, and how many Anima reviews you have completed since your last Anima session.

What does a patient’s request tab show me?

The patient requests tab shows a list of all active patient requests at your practice with basic information about each request, such as the patient’s name and information, the type of request they have submitted, when their request was submitted, and its status. The table shows actionable requests by default.

You can customise the appearance of this page using one or more of the filters at the top of the page:

Filter by type: choose whether you want to view only medical requests, only admin requests, or all requests
Filter by status: choose whether you want to view all requests (some requests may not be actionable by the practice because, for example, you are waiting for a patient to provide more information or accept an action plan)
Filter by assigned: choose whether you want to view only the requests assigned to you, or all requests across the practice.

You can assign patient requests to different staff members at your practice by clicking the icon in the assign column and selecting from the list.
When you click on a patient’s request, a side panel will appear displaying the most important information from a patient’s request to help you make a decision quickly. Double click the patient request to bring up more information.

What does a request’s status mean?

All patient requests have a status that will be displayed in the dashboard. A request’s status will usually be ‘requires action’ (with further detail provided depending on the specific request e.g. requires action - new patient request), or ‘waiting for patient reply’, if the patient has been asked to provide more information, or if you selected sign off & seek patient agreement in the sign off process.

Requests with a ‘requires action’ status need the practice to do something. Requests where the status is ‘waiting for patient’ will still appear in your dashboard as they haven’t yet been fully signed off, but there is no action for the practice to take.

The status of a request will also be colour-coded according to its urgency - i.e. if the patient has reported high-risk symptoms in their request, the status of their request will display as red.

By default, your dashboard will only show requests that have not yet been resolved i.e. requests that have not been signed off. To also view requests that have been resolved, use the status filter to view ‘all requests’.

How do I find a patient quickly?

You can search by patients by name or condition by using the search box at the top of the dashboard.

You can also sort your dashboard using the columns - click the column titles to sort by name, last updated date & time, or by status.

Viewing patient information in the dashboard side panel

Clicking once on a patient’s request will display a side panel next to your dashboard. This side panel will give you a summary of the patient’s request to help you quickly assess how the patient is doing. This will vary slightly depending on the patient’s particular request or indication, but for medical requests, this will usually include:

Summary: a summary of the patient’s basic information, including their indication and NHS number.
Risk: an overall assessment of how the patient is doing. This is calculated by Anima based on what the patient has reported in their request, and is represented as a colour-coded status bar. Green means the patient is low-risk, amber means the patient is medium-risk, and red means the patient is high-risk. The arrows indicate how the score has worsened or improved since the patient’s last comparable request (i.e. the last request they completed for the same problem). A dash means the score hasn’t changed.
Symptoms: the incidence and severity of the patient’s symptoms. This is calculated by Anima based on what the patient has reported in their request, and is represented as a colour-coded status bar. Green means the patient has reported no/mild symptoms, amber means the patient has reported moderate symptoms, and red means the patient has reported worsening/severe symptoms that may require further investigation. The arrows indicate how the score has worsened or improved since the patient’s last comparable request (i.e. the last request they completed for the same problem). A dash means the score hasn’t changed.
Adherence (only for some chronic conditions): how well the patient is sticking to their treatment. This is calculated by Anima based on the patient’s submitted requests and represented as a colour-coded status bar. Green means the patient has high adherence, amber means the patient has acceptable adherence, and red means the patient has poor adherence (and may benefit from their treatment regimen being amended). The arrows indicate how the score has worsened or improved since the patient’s last comparable request (i.e. the last request they completed for the same problem). A dash means the score hasn’t changed.
Headline scores: the colour-coded tiles beneath these scores display the most important information for that patient’s indication based on what the patient has reported in their request. The colours of these tiles allow you to assess the patient’s status at a glance. For example, tiles for a patient who has submitted an asthma review would include tiles for their ACT score and their rescue use.
Green tiles indicate that this indicator is well controlled; red tiles indicate that this indicator may be a cause for further investigation or discussion.
Review history (click to expand): clicking on review history displays a graph showing the patient’s risk, symptom and adherence scores over time (depending on how many requests the patient has submitted for that indication). This allows you to easily identify trends and spot deterioration early.

Viewing more patient information

To view more information about the patient’s request, double click on the request in your dashboard.
A pop-up screen will appear with further information from the patient’s request. The ‘patient request’ tab provides further information from the patient’s request, including summary notes and recommendations generated by Anima, and key indicators. Any images that the patient has submitted in their request will also be viewable here.
The ‘message patient’ tab allows practice staff to send messages to patients in Anima to clarify anything the patient has submitted in their request, or ask for further information. Patients will be notified that they have received a message from their practice and will be prompted to reply in Anima. Only clinical users can start conversations (not patients), and conversations will expire after a set amount of time.
‘Manage’ button: click manage to be taken to the sign-off page.

How do I know which patients I am responsible for?

You can use the ‘filter by assigned’ filter on the dashboard to view only the patients that have been assigned to you.

To change who a patient is assigned to, click the assign icon for the particular request on your dashboard. This will allow you to search staff at your organization and reassign the selected request.

How do I know which patients I should prioritise?

You can use the colour-coded status indicators next to each patient request to help you prioritise requests. Any patient that reports high-risk symptoms in any of their requests is automatically labelled with a red status indicator. You can then sort your dashboard by status to view red requests at the top of your dashboard. Clinicians will receive digests by email informing them of new high-risk patients, and how many high-risk requests they have assigned to them.

How do I make sure I don’t miss anyone?

A patient’s status can help you keep track of patients - patient requests will be listed with the status ‘requires action’ if the practice needs to take action. You can also sort your dashboard by last updated, which will show the date that the patient last submitted a request. You will receive email reminders for requests that have not been actioned after a certain period of time.

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