How Do I Save This For Next Time?

The Unofficial Guide to macros, favorites and other lists in Firstnet

For many things you do in Firstnet, there are lots of steps and it would be nice to save something once you have it the way you want it. This is called many different things (that's what happens if you have too many programmers not talking to one another) —favorites, macros, "My List", custom forms, and probably others. They're all basically the same.

The rest of the FAQ is on another page.

Saving Reason for Visits for the note template (Called Favorites)

You can make a quick list of Reason for Visits rather than having to search through the Reason for Visit tab in the Open Note dialog box. Open the Open Note dialog box (Document menu, Open submenu, Open... item). Select the Recent tab and you'll see the past 20 or so templates that you've used. This can be useful by itself, or select the note template you want to save, then click the Add to Favorites button. .

Using a Saved Reason for Visit

On the Open Note select the Favorites tab and select the item you want and click OK. .

Saving Notes (Called Macros)

You can save sections of a note (the nine sections are Basic Information, History of Present Illness, Associated Symptoms, Review of Symptoms, Past Medical/Family/Social History, Physical Examination, Medical Decision Making, Procedure, and Impression and Plan). It is most useful for creating a negative review of systems or physical exam that you will use, then modify for each patient. Having a common HPI or family history is less likely to be useful.

Set the section up the way you like, with the items circled, backslashed and free-texted appropriately. Then right-click the title of the section (in this case, Review of Systems) and select Save Macro As....

You'll get a Save As dialog box. Pick a good name and click OK. Don't select the Create as Shared checkbox unless you cleared that with the rest of the department.

Using a Saved Note

If you saved a macro, there will be a blue M next to the section name. Click it (not right click) and select the name of the macro you want. Your section will be instantly filled in.

Saving Orders (Called Favorites)

Either when you search for an order: or after an order has been written, on the Orders tab: Right-click the order you want to save and select Add to Favorites.... Save with a name you like. You can also create folders to organize your favorites.

Using a Saved Order

When searching for an order, click (not right-click) the Browse item and select Favorites, then select the item you want.

Saving Patient Instructions (Called Custom Instructions)

Start with one of the existing patient instruction sheets and edit it to your liking:

On the left-hand pane, right-click the item you want to save and select Save Custom Instruction as and save it as Personal:

Save with a name you like in an appropriate folder (you have to choose a folder; most likely "Injury & Illness" or "Forms":

Using a Saved Patient Instruction

In the left-hand browsing pane, select the Custom item and expand it by clicking the + sign, then click the folder you want and select the item you want on the right-hand pane:

Saving Diagnoses (Called My Favorite) and Looking Them Up

For your final diagnosis in the Impression and Plan you want an ICD-9 code. Often, the program gives you a list of good choices based on your reason for visit. If you want a different code, click Diagnosis code search...:

You will get a list of diagnoses already entered, but they will have a Dx Type of "Reason for Visit" which is associated with Cerner's database, not the ICD-9. You need to click the Add Diagnosis button:

This brings up the Diagnosis Search window:

Search for a diagnosis the way you search for a Reason for Visit, in item 1 in the upper right. Make sure that you search with "contains" in the far right to get all the terms, and "Terminology" in the pane under that. Click Search by name and pick the term you like that has an ICD-9 code. To use it for this patient, double click it so it ends up in the bottom, "scratch pad" pane. To save it for future use, open the "My Favorite" folder on the left (item 2). If there's a folder in there, use that. If not, create a new folder by right-clicking the My Favorite and selecting Add Folder...:

Create a folder with a name you like and a Folder Type of "Diagnosis":

In the original Diagnosis Search window, drag the term you want (item 3) into the folder (item 2).

Using a Saved Diagnosis

In the Diagnosis Search window, open the folder in the "My Favorite" folder and double click the item you want. The term should appear in the bottom pane. Click OK.