Using Custom Kroll Comment Topics to Support Non-Dispensing Services
2023-06-06"Comments" are a powerful tool in Kroll.
Most pharmacy teams use comments to make notes on patient files, drug files, doctor files, prescription files, etc. Where they become very powerful, though, is when you start to create custom comment topics, use those to document different types of information, and then generate reports to find instances of that note topic across your database.
A few useful note topics:
- NDS Overview - template; for keeping track of service offers and dates of last service delivery for various services
- NDS Opportunity - for documenting NDS that the patient may be a good candidate for/benefit from
- Update Needed - for documenting (and resolving) information gaps.
- pDTP - For documenting potential drug therapy problems
- OTC Medication - For keeping track of non-prescription products the patient uses
- Smoking Status - For documenting smoking status
Any custom comment topics must be added into Kroll's "Lists". There is a master topics list in there... I forget the specific name.
Once they are built in, they should auto-complete based on typing the first few characters, and should be available for reporting.
Why this matters makes more sense with an example...
E.g. The "Update Needed" Comment Topic (one of my favourites)
Often, while dispensing, you may notice that a particular piece of information is missing, outdated, or would benefit from verification — but most frequently "now is not the best time to do that". So we ignore it... until later...
With this comment topic, you can note the update that is needed "update phone number", "allergies?", "indication for nortriptyline", etc.
You can also place a "Workflow Alert" on the comment so that it flags at the appropriate context (e.g. during "pickup" or "clinical verification").
And periodically, a team member could run the "Update Needed" comment report, and proactively call patients to batch-clarify the missing information.
By creating good habits around using, resolving, and reporting on these information gaps you will be able to improve and maintain the quality of information throughout your pharmacy database.
... which is an important component of effectively identifying potential drug therapy problems and service opportunities.
There are some significant possibilities here.
Important elements:
- Whole team understands the values, how to document this way, and regularly uses core comment topics.
- Learning how to recognize opportunities to use custom comment topics.
See also:
- Integrating Non-Dispensing Services into Routine Pharmacy Workflow
- Using Potential Drug Therapy Problems (pDTP) to Prime for Care Planning Services
Future Writing
- Using the NDS Overview Comment to Track NDS "Offers" and "Last Service" dates
- Using Patient Groups to manage NDS program participants and service candidates
- How a shared documentation strategy enhances pharmacy efficiency and care delivery — creating a shared language.
- Documenting reusable bits of information.
- How "Profile Completeness" makes the delivery of pharmacy services easier and more effective.