[Gnumed-devel] Patient screen concerns (labeling and search)

[James Busser]

The patient search was really bothering me and I think I now know  
better why.... it is because it is possible, in the search input, to  
type a name other than the current patient. if you take a screen  
shot, or you are interrupted before committing the search, you have  
on-screen text appearing next to the photo and field label "Patient"  
that does *not* relate to the current patient.

Also, the current patient is not necessarily a patient. It may be a  
member of the praxis staff (since even these, without ever having  
been a patient, are required to be in the database).

Also, after accepting the name of a patient in a search result, the  
search text is replaced by the currently-active identity of the  
patient. There is some benefit to this, however the user then loses  
how they searched for this person, which has value when:
1) they may need to stay aware of a relevant alias for example on a  
hospital or test result
2) in case this was not the patient they wanted, would make it easier  
to revise the previous search
3) maybe has education value - supervisor or colleague could observe  
by looking on screen that the search was inefficient

Proposal:
- change the text next to the search box to be "Search"
- change what was previously "Patient" to be "Found" (since it may be  
a member of office staff)
- display the currently active identity of the found person next to  
"Found" in a type that is larger / bolder or otherwise has more  
emphasis than the search text (sorry I was not able to achieve this  
in the screenshot mockup)
- change the onFocus behaviour of the search text box to select-all  
instead of cursor insertion, if it is agreed that users will more  
often search for a new patient than edit/correct a previous search
- when no match was found, it requires two steps to search again...  
one to dismiss the dialog that gives you no choice except to be taken  
to the "New Patient" wizard, and another to cancel out of the "New  
Patient" wizard. Can that first dialog be modified to offer a second  
button -- even if it is not the default -- that says "Go back" or  
"Search again", and in place of "New Wizard" to say "Register new  
person" since that is, in fact, the window bar label in that next  
wizard?

Patient search.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document

Selecting patient.png
Description: application/applefile