Chapter 12 12. Data Entry Tips and Shortcuts

12.1. Opening and Closing Sections in the PHR

Expand or collapse all sections or the PHR by clicking Show All or Hide All links near the top right of the Health Summary page.

Show or hide individual sections by clicking the Show or Hide links in the top right corner of each section.

12.2. Using the PHR's Drop-down Lists to Enter Data

Once the user begin typing in a field with many possible responses, such as Medical Conditions or Drugs, the PHR will display a list of options based on the first few characters typed. The list of suggestions will become shorter as more letters are typed. Additionally, the PHR will offer synonyms based on the words entered. For example, the terms chest and thorax are synonyms. If the word thorax is typed in the Medical Conditions section, the list of selections will include chest pain, chest trauma, thoracic surgery, hemothorax, etc., all of which relate to medical conditions associated with the chest.

For fields with only a few possible responses, such as Status or Allergy Type, the PHR will immediately display a list of options before a response is typed. For example, when you click inside the Allergy Type field, a list will pop up with the options Food, Medication classes, Medications specific and Other.

There are several ways to select an option from the list:

Continue typing until the correct option is highlighted, then press the Tab or Enter key.
Point to the correct option on the choice list with your mouse and click it.
Use the Up Arrow or Down Arrow keys to move the highlight bar to the correct option and press the Enter key.

· If the list of options is a numbered list, you need only enter the item number next to your selection and the text will be filled into the form.

If you are unable to find your desired option in the drop-down list, describe the condition in your own words. The system will italicize the text and turn the input field orange to remind you that you are not choosing an item from the selection list; however, the system will still accept and store the text.

12.3. Bypassing Drop-down Lists

In most fields selecting from the drop-down lists is optional. For example, if you do not find the id of a drug you are taking in the drop-down list, you may type it in yourself. The system will italicize the text and change the background of the field to orange to remind you that you are not choosing an item from the drop-down list; however, the system will still accept and store the text.

In a few special fields, such as the Status field in the Medical Conditions section of the PHR, the system will limit entry to one of the valid items from the list. Any invalid data you enter into the field will be deleted.

12.4. Entering Dates

There are three ways to enter a date in any date field in the PHR:

Manually type the date in your preferred format. Once you type your entry, the PHR will convert it to the standard format used by the PHR system.
Click on the calendar to the right of the field, find the correct date in the pop-up, and click it.
Use one of the date shortcuts outlined below which will allow you to enter dates using a minimum number of keystrokes.

12.4.1. Shortcuts for entering today's date and related dates

You can enter today's date by typing T or today (either upper or lower case).
You can also type the words tomorrow or yesterday as a substitute for entering numeric dates.
The letters D, W, M, and Y (either upper or lower case) can be used as shorthand to for the words days, weeks, months (30 days), or years (365 days).
You can enter days of the week by entering the full name of the day or an abbreviation for the day such as mon, tue , wed, thur, or fri.
The letters D, W, M, and Y (either upper or lower case) can be used in conjunction with a whole number n, and a plus or minus sign (+ or -) or the words next or last as shorthand to for the words days, weeks, months (30 days), or years (365 days). For example,
To enter dates in the future, you can use a plus sign (+) or the word next. Typing T+n ( D,W,M,Y) will allow you to enter a specific number of days, weeks, months, and years in the future. For example, entering T+3M will input a date that is exactly three months from today's date. Entering next y will input a date one year from today's date.
For dates in the past use a minus sign (-) or the word last. Typing T-n ( D,W,M,Y) will allow you to enter a specific number of days, weeks, months, or years in the past. For example, entering T-1W or T-7D or the words last w will enter a date of one week ago. Entering last m will input a date exactly one month ago.
Please note that entering the letters D, W, M, or Y alone will input the current date. For example, entering the letter y will input today's date; however, entering yesterday will input yesterday's date. The fastest way to enter yesterday's date is by entering t-1.

12.5. Entering Times

Enter times using either whole numbers (hours) or using hours:minutes format.

Once you enter a time, the PHR will convert it to a standard time format with either an AM or PM designation.
If you enter the time using numbers between 1 and 12 and do not designate AM or PM, the time will be set to AM hours.
Use the numbers 13 through 24 for PM hours or enter the time followed by P or PM.
You can enter a time of "now" by typing N or Now (case is not important).
For times in the future, use a plus sign(+). That is, N+n would be the current time plus n number of minutes.
For times in the past, use minus sign(-). That is, N-n would be n minutes before the current time.

12.6. Fixing Input Errors

If information that the PHR does not understand is entered (such as a date in an incorrect format), the system will sound a soft beep, highlight the field in red and shake the field from right to left (as in “no”).

To make changes to an item that has already been saved, click the icon at the beginning of the row to edit or delete the item. Note that fields prefixed with a * are required fields.

12.7. Table of User Functions and Shortcut Keys

The following table of user functions and shortcut keys provides alternative methods of navigation and data input that will allow users to minimize typing when creating or updating PHRs.

Function	Click on(icon)	Key short cut	Comment
Information links
Access field help		None	A help icon appears adjacent to every field name. The system will display a pop-up help text window when you click this icon.
Dismissing pop-ups; including field help, information buttons, and reminders	Close button	Return, Tab or any alpha key.
Obtaining clinical information specific to a problem, drug, allergy (and most other items chosen from a menu)	button	None	Click the button adjacent to the name of a medical condition, drug, test, allergen, or other item selected from a menu and the system will link to a page of information about the item.
Editing previously saved health information		None	Click the icon adjacent to the name of a medical condition, drug, test, allergen, or other item selected to edit or delete the item.Note: On the View & Edit Results Timeline page, the edit icon will appear at the top of the data column you wish to edit.
Navigation
Move to next (R to L) open field in form	Click on the field of interest with the mouse.	Return Tab Ctrl+Right Arrow	Form navigation is from left to right and then down (as on a typewriter) When you get to the last viewable field on a given screen, the focus of the navigation returns to the top field of the form.
Return (back up) to the previous field (L to R)	Click on the field of interest with the mouse.	Shift+Return Shift+Tab Ctrl+Left Arrow
Navigating through a table	Click on the field of interest with the mouse.	Use Ctrl+Arrow to move up down, right or left
Up one row in the same column	Click on the field of interest with the mouse.	Ctrl+Up Arrow	When in the top row, Ctrl+Up Arrow leaves the table and goes to closest field before that table.
Move right one column in the same row	Click on the field of interest with the mouse.	Ctrl+Right Arrow	Moves right one column at a time across the table. When at the left-most column, wraps to first column of the next row. When at the end of table, behaves like a Tab.
Move down one row	Click on the field of interest with the mouse.	Ctrl+Down Arrow	Moves down one row at a time in the same column. When at the end of a table, jumps to the first field after the table.
Move left	Click on the field of interest with the mouse.	Ctrl+Left Arrow	Moves left one column at a time across the table. When at the left-most column, wraps to first column and last field of the row above. When at top left-most field, moves to the field immediately preceding that table. Behaves like a Shift+Tab.
Select menu item	Click on the menu item.	Down Arrow moves the menu highlighting to the next lower menu item	Pressing return places you on a highlighted menu item and selects it.
Select menu item	Click on the menu item.	Up Arrow moves the menu highlight to the preceding item in the menu. When you reach the top you wrap to the bottom of the list.	Pressing return selects that item and puts it in the current input field.
Miscellaneous
Storing the information in a form	Press the Save button at the bottom of the form	Ctrl+Return (also used for enlarging field size)
Enlarging field size		F2 toggles between open and close. Press F2 once to open and once again to close	The field will open as large as it can to accommodate what you have been typing. As you keep typing, the system adds additional lines as needed.
Adding hard returns within field		Ctrl+Return	Adds hard returns in a field.
Editing
Cut and paste		Highlight with shift keys, Ctrl+X to remove, Ctrl+C to copy, Ctrl+V to paste somewhere else in the current form or another program.
Deleting Rows	Right-click mouse, select Delete		Place your cursor in the row to be deleted, right-click the mouse, and select Delete from the list of actions.
Undo	Highlight the text with your mouse and press the Backspace key.	Ctrl+Z	Changes the contents of the field to the previous value.
Sort by table column	Click on top of column	Not applicable	For columns that are sortable. Clicking on the header of that column will sort the table by that column via an arrow icon in the header. Clicking twice sorts in the other direction. This works for tables in the form and for tables in the menu selection box.

Table of User Functions and Shortcut Keys