• Doing electronic patient charting is ANNOYING and takes a LONG TIME – Remind me why we are doing this?

  • The State of New Jersey, in its wisdom and through the Department of Health, requires all NJ EMS agencies, including MSHVFAS, to submit PCRs electronically.  NJ aggregates the individual agency data and sends it to NEMSIS, the National EMS Information System.  Very smart people crunch the data and determine best practices and protocols for improving patient outcomes.  Read more here.  Timely and accurately completing the call sheets on ImageTrend helps us comply with the law.

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• Electronic charting takes forever, what with having to put Not Applicable in every open box.  Is this right?

  • An ePCR should take you about 10-15 minutes to complete unless you have a CPR or other complex call.  Simply put, if a crew didn’t do a particular action, skip and leave it blank, including the whole CPR and Accident pages if the call didn’t involve an MVA or CPR.

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• I’m not getting 100s on ePCR validation scores.  Is that a problem?

  • No.  Most correctly completed call sheets’ validation scores will range from 70s to 80s.  The system will not accept a call sheet with a score lower than 60.  If you complete a call sheet and the validation score is in the 50s, it’s an indication that something else may need to be completed.

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• In the ImageTrend form, under Patient Assessment => Symptoms/Impressions => Provider’s Primary Impression, what do I put if it’s an RMA and the patient looks fine? All of the options indicate something is wrong with the patient.

  • Chose Not Applicable from the drawer (minus sign) icon:

 

 

• The specifics of my call are not an option in the pull-down menu? What do I do?

  • You can enter that information at the end of the narrative. Note: If you auto generate a narrative, it will not write over any information you have already entered. The auto narrative can be inserted either before or after any information you have already input in the narrative box.

 

• The medication/medical history/allergies for my patient are not listed on the form. What do I do?

  • Please enter that information in the area for the narrative. After doing this, please email the IT Department at it@mshvfas.org with the subject as “Missing Medication/Medical History/Allergies”.

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• The auto narrative is worded incoherently? What do I do?

  • You should edit the narrative so that it is written in proper English with appropriate grammar.

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• Do I have to complete both the eCPR report and the paper call sheet?

  • Until further notice, both call sheets must be completed in its entirety.

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• Can I take the iPad out on calls and complete the paper call sheet after?

  • Yes, you can complete either call sheet in the order desired, as long as they are both filed correctly. Moreover, since the ambulances do not have WiFi capabilities, you must begin a new incident before leaving the building. Once out of WiFi range, the eCPR report can be filled in.