CLN 251/252 Configuring the Epic End User Questions and Answers Rated A+

CLN 251/252 Configuring the Epic End User Questions and Answers Rated A+ Chronicles Data Structure Chronicles (filing cabinet)>Master File (drawer)>record (file folder)>Contacts (sheets of paper)>Items and Values (information prompts and answers) Chronicles Epic's database management system. You can think of chronicles as a giant file cabinet. All of the data that your staff and clinicians enter in the system is stored in this file cabinet. Chronicles manages data and provides the underlying structure that allows you to run reports and searches, analyze statistics, perform computations, import and export data, and manipulate data set structures. Master Files Information in chronicles is organized into master files. Each master file stores all of the data about one type of thing. For example, information about patients is stored in the Patient master file. The drawers in the filing cabinet represent master files. Each drawer stores all of the information about one thing. Some master files are routinely updated by your staff. For example, clinicians constantly modify and add data to the Patient master file. Theses master files are sometimes referred to as "dynamic" master files. Other master files, like the Procedure master file, are onl updated by administrators. You may hear these master files referred to as "administrative" or "static." Each master file has an abbreviated name called the INI. A master file's INI is a three character initial. For example the patient master file is EPT. Records The next level in the Chronicles data structure is a record. Within each master file, you need a way to keep specific examples of that type of thing separate. This is the purpose of records. Each record stores information about one specific entity in the master file. For example, each patient has one record in the Patient (EPT) master file. In the filing cabinet analogy, each folder represents one record. Information about doctors and other clinical staff is stored in the Provider (SER) master file in the chronicles. Each individual clinical staff member has one record int the Provider master file. Each record has a name an identification number (ID). While two names within the same master file might be the same, IDs must be unique. For example, if there are two doctors named Jane Smith at your organization, you would create two provider records that have the same name, but unique ID. Contacts In chronicles, date-sensitive information about a record is often stored within a contact. A contact is a date-specific snapshot of the data within a record. For example, in the Patient master file, the information about a patient that is specific to one hospital stay is stored in a contact. The Patient master file is unique in that it includes many different types of contacts, including hospital encounters, appointments, and telephone encounters. In the filing cabinet diagram, contacts are represented by dated sheets of paper in the file folder. In administrative master files, such as the Medications (ERX) master file or Procedures (EAP) master file, contracts do not represent hospital encounters or appointments. Instead, they represent a date-specific change in the information. The purpose of the contact is to make a change to the record that will become effective on a specific date. Prior to the effective date of the contact, the old values will be used by Hyperspace. On the date of the contract and beyond, the new values will become effective.