[Gnumed-devel] Consultation editor... refactor how/when it is offered, and rename to Encounter editor

[James Busser]

On patient activation, if an encounter was not already running, I  
surmise an encounter is auto-opened and defaults *invisibly* to the  
user-modifiable default value "in surgery".

At patient activation it would be great for the user to be offered a  
tweaked version of the current Consultation Editor (better renamed  
the Encounter editor).

Depending if the last encounter was below its maximum duration  
setting, the user is offered -- not through a dialog, but as a button  
within the editor -- whether to continue the present encounter, whose  
details are clear by their presentation to the user. The user can  
then better decide whether to:
- continue the encounter *without* yet modifying any values
  (maybe they are just coming back to extend their notes without a  
change in RFE)
- continue the encounter *with* modification, because the patient has  
returned to ask about something more, so the user wants to extend the  
RFE
- or start a new encounter

A new encounter supercedes (yes??)  the old one as the most-recently  
*started* encounter and therefore it is only this newer one which can  
get offered, within its life span?

Progress note activity (as opposed to EMR viewing activity) predicts  
the need to input the encounter type and RFE and AOE details. Thus, I  
suggest that upon clicking the Progress Note tab, the Encounter  
editor be made available. This is the most natural point in which to  
suitably set the Type or expand/update the RFE of the encounter. I  
suggest that the AOE may be better updated later in the encounter  
i.e. at the point of choosing to "finish" it.

What is the level of agreement (or any disagreement) on the above?  
Should it be a preference in

	GNUmed > Options > User interface > Progress note handling >  ??? On  
entry prompt summary

By the way, if, during an "in surgery" encounter, a user wanted to  
put in Past History items and, to decouple the clinical dates did

        EMR > Start new encounter

this would prevent the "in surgery" encounter from being continued,  
even though it would still be within its maximum allowed?