[Gnumed-devel] Encounter defaults

[Jim Busser]

Appended EMR Journal result of creating a person from an EMR export (single 
record, CA-MSVA format). Right now only the name, dob and sex are imported.

In looking at what is rendered as the Journal, I realized patients are nearly 
always going to be created in a separate step from an actual clinical 
encounter. The time interval between creation and the clinical encounter would 
be as short as minutes only  in the rare case where the previously unknown 
patient rushes into a practice desperately unwell and needs to be seen 
immediately.

I am also mindful that it will most often be praxis front desk staff that 
create a patient and after inputting the necessary information they may be 
unlikely to retouch that record until after the encounter timer has auto-closed 
it. It is likely that the encounter will carry whatever encounter type was the 
default for the praxis and will likely be inappropriate.

Would it be acceptable to introduce into the GNUmed "stock" encounter types

        person creation

and for this to be treated as the default

        Encounter: person creation

in the person creation step, even ignoring whatever the praxis had otherwise 
set (for example "in surgery")?

In those cases where the person (patient) *does* get seen shortly thereafter, 
is it easy for the clinician to make the clinician encounter different from the 
person creation encounter?

-- Jim

Chronological EMR Journal
=========================
Patient: Lastname, Firstname Xx (m), No: 21
Born   : 24/12/1960, age: 49y 10m

.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|   Happened |       Doc |     | Narrative
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2010-11-19 |      LMcC |   … | Encounter: in surgery 2010-11-19 08:45 - 08:45 
(2010-11-19 08:45)
|       None |      LMcC |   O | Allergy state: unknown, unasked (2010-11-19 
08:45)
`------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Exported: Fri 19 Nov 08:53:04 2010