careso wrote on Monday, March 24, 2014:
How could I change the default option of “Yes” to “No” in the Review of Systems form? I’m not an SQL or programmer expert only a simply Open EMR user. Can I do it?
fsgl wrote on Monday, March 24, 2014:
In ROS, select not applicable by doing nothing, or select yes or no by clicking either one. In ROS Checks, select by clicking the item.
careso wrote on Wednesday, March 26, 2014:
No, I’m sorry fsgl, I think my question was not correctly stated, what I am asking is: How can the default option of “N/A” in the ROS Checks can be changed, so that when accessed by the user all defaults are marked as “NO”, so that the user may only choose “Yes” on the conditions observed as such.
This will permit the user to save time not having to choose “NO” on all but the ones that are applicable.
I imagine this must be done in the menu option: “Administration”; “Other”; “Database”. I have observed there is a file name: “form_reviewofs”.
Are there instructions on how to do this?
Thank-you for your response.
fsgl wrote on Wednesday, March 26, 2014:
It would involve code changes, not something one would want to undertake in the absence of an IT background.
The database should not be trifled with.
anonymous wrote on Wednesday, March 26, 2014:
Take a peek at /interface/forms/ros/FormROS.class.php lines 31 through 168.
tmccormi wrote on Wednesday, March 26, 2014:
I have to say that, while technically it’s pretty easy to do, medically it is not a good practice.
N/A - means that the provider did not ask the question
No - means that they did and the answer was NO
Yes means that they did and the answer was YES and some additional info should be included that is Objective in the course of the encounter.
If you skip the active step of answering ‘No’ then, medically, the visit is incorrectly documented
–Tony
careso wrote on Wednesday, March 26, 2014:
I agree that it’s a matter not to be trifled with, and I acknowledge it’s something beyond my computer know how, that is why I ask the forum.
But is there anyone that can?
I did look at: interface/forms/ros/FormROS.class.php, it’s precisely the ROS form with the “N/A” default, but how can I use this document?, Can I change the “N/A” to “No” and somehow upload it to the database?
Thank-you Frankie.
tmccormi wrote on Wednesday, March 26, 2014:
That said all you need to do is change the “N/A” in all the var statement to “NO” and save the program in the same location for it to work for all future ROS forms
–Tony
careso wrote on Wednesday, March 26, 2014:
Thank-you Tony McCormick for this important fact.
I will foward your response to our medical staff for their consideration.
blankev wrote on Wednesday, March 26, 2014:
As a general Practitioner, I agree with Tony! You ask the question and get an answer. YES/NO. For future reference it is not important to know if all questions are asked, but it is important of in the history of the client there was or there were no complaints.
Thumbs UP for Tony’s remark, do not accept the easy way out!
anonymous wrote on Wednesday, March 26, 2014:
I think there are situations where this would be medically sound. Consider a review of systems checklist that is filled out by the patient upon intake and reviewed with the provider during examination. In this case it is much more convenient to check only the boxes that apply. All other fields would be marked no be default.
blankev wrote on Wednesday, March 26, 2014:
Would be great if the client can do it direct in OpenEMR. Saves some paper work…
Could be done with a special User User: ROS, PW: YES012345NO allowed to implement YES/NO under supervision of a Nurse or Front desk person.
Need to give the User ROS just enough ACL functions to use the ROS-form.
BTW an extra workstation somewhere in the office might be handy and would not disturb the workflow of others.
tmccormi wrote on Wednesday, March 26, 2014:
If the patient specifically checked the 'NO" box on paper instead of skipping the question, then sure. But do they, really? 
–Tony
kodusote wrote on Saturday, March 29, 2014:
When the ROS form is saved, only items for which a selection was made appear in the Encounter summary page that is “NULL” is the default (not N/A) if no radio button was selected for the item. If “NO” is selected for all items by default, then the summary page of each patient will be filled with all the items in the ROS with response as NO. As Tony said, this would be medico-legally incorrect if the questions were not asked. Doctors requesting for the change should be informed on how the system treats the form and the medico-legal implication of having the system automatically give a “NO” answer even when the question was not asked.