aethelwulffe wrote on Tuesday, February 07, 2012:
Hi Brady, remember, I am just providing user feedback here.
I agree that the messages function could use any and all improvements you state. By all means, get to work on it if you wish. I never “dismissed” the messages module, just stated that I have never succeed in getting anyone to actually use it, and I can see why. My function here is to state observed behavior of >this< contribution, and report usage feedback to the developer to make decisions.
I feel perhaps you also misunderstand my role. I do not get an opportunity to “train staff” very often. We are talking about 5 installs and about 175 users. I just *ahem* help them out by handing them the tools and any documentation available. What we are getting here is the raw feedback from people who see a tool, decide how they are going to use it, and the resulting noise. I figure that is what will happen with the broader population, no?
Thus we are left with the end result: Include the reminder tool, provide an explanation of it’s specific uses and limitations, and severely limit how it can be applied (no send to multiple if multiple are not guaranteed to receive it, right?), or do the last few tweaks that make it a pretty nice communication option as a “post-it” note tool. This tool has features that folks immediately want to use. The Executive Director here wants a message tool that jams the note directly in the face of an overworked counselor that is using the EMR from 3 counties away. This can do that. They can also figure out how it works on their own, and are not scared off by the 1984-looking table with the messages. That interface, and the distinction between office notes, patient notes, and “messages” kinda blows their little minds -very little, in some cases ;). The messages tool has languished for a long time in dis-use (except for patient notes) for our users, and is out of “development” as it were. This new tool is indeed simple, but is already closer to being the desired feature that folks want than the other options, and is being actively worked on….so naturally it’s the bandwagon.
There are many left-overs and legacies of the same things that are not quite fleshed out, yet get re-invented over and over. How many ROS forms? How many reports *almost* work? How many contribs that never really worked so good? Why is billing data scattered all over the system (ref entering HCFA referring provider)? Because they are each little bits of a coding project that sort of got abandoned and re-started in some other way than written out and re-started in a code maintenance cycle, right? Coding vs. Development, Carpentry vs. Architecture. Two different topics, Ja?
This wee bit of code is nicely modular, and can be popped in anywhere with the include AND is pretty decent modern code and style over-all. Very nice start if you ask me. I like it, but that in no way is to say that I dis-respect the contributions of the folks that made any of the other communications features, or any other legacy bits and pieces all over the place. Here we are though. We have added a few more tables to OpenEMR to handle this (up to what now? 158-160 tables for the average install?). Seems like we should make full use of it and perfect something before wandering off. Do that, expand it just a wee bit, and then you can just trash the original messages system, Fully integrate them, or just keep the old Dr Frankenstein approach.