Difference between revisions of "Search for patients"

Revision as of 12:17, 19 September 2013

This topic is for AquilaCRS

Use the search field at the top of the Dashboard screen or click "Search Demographics" on the left.

Search field

On the menu bar there is a search field. Into this you can enter a variety of data & press enter to perform a search for patients. The data that you enter into the search field will be automatically recognised by the software.

The results are limited to 200 records for speed. Once the results are returned, you can remove this limit to return all the results. If you need more than 200 records returning, it may be wise to consider using a query so that you can analyse the results better.

This search field is also available as the first item on the Searches drop-down menu.

See also: Query the database | Query results

Recognised Values

Text entered into the search field can be any combination of the following items, and in any order. Text is case insensitive.

• NHS Number: enter a valid nhs number. Search will find this NHS Number or the rest of the search criteria to ensure complete results.
• Gender: enter male or female
• Hospital Number: enter 'h:' followed by the hospital number. E.g. h:RM34587534
• Date of Birth: enter a valid date in the format dd/mm/yyyy, e.g. 01/04/1977
• Postcode: enter the full postcode, including space, e.g. M23 9LT. Or just enter the first part for a broader search, e.g. M23
• Research Cases: enter +research
• Audit Cases: enter +audit
• Duplicate Folders: enter +duplicate
• Vulnerable Person: enter +vulnerable
• Key words from the Folder description: prefix each word with #, e.g. #kettle #cooker #toaster
• Email address: enter any valid email address.
• Names: Text that is not recognised from any of the above are treated as names in the format given-name family-name or single words are assumed to be family-name. E.g. jane doe or doe

Example Searches

• male M23 - searches for all males in the M23 postcode area
• 4144561221 Jane Doe - searches for NHS Number 4144561221 OR Jane Doe
• 23/10/1965 female - any female born on 23rd Oct 1965.
• M23 male 03/07/1983 +audit - males in the M23 postcode district born on 3rd July 1983 that are flagged as an Audit case.
• #kettle #pan #hob #cooker #scald male - Male patients with the words kettle, pan, hob, cooker & scald anywhere in the folder description.
• +duplicates - all duplicate folders.

Search demographics

Instead of using the search field, you can search for patients by filling out a search form. Press Search Demographics on the side bar to display this page:

Fill out the form with your patients details and press Search. Note that the details you type into these fields will be remembered in the event that you have to create a new patient.

Search Tips

• Search results match ALL values e.g. (Given Name = 'Annie') AND (Family Name = 'Brown').
  • Except NHS Number that is searched for separately from the other fields. I.e. if a patient in the database has the NHS number you supply, their record will be returned regardless of whether that patient matches the rest of the values you entered in the search fields.
• Create Patient option only shown when:
  • the search criteria is sufficient to identify individuals. i.e searching for Audit folders is not sufficient, but given & family name is
  • the search criteria can uniquely identify an individual (e.g. NHS Number) and there are no search results
• Name fields are case insensitive and are searched using a phonetic matching algorithm. This means you stand a greater chance of finding the patient you're looking for, but may mean you get more search results that you require. It's not infallable, so Annie = Anny or Anne, but Tom <> Thomas.
• When entering multiple keywords, results are returned where all keywords, or part of, are matched.
• Keywords are matched with words entered into the Patient Folder Description field.
• Don't be too specific if looking for patients via free-text fields, like in the Address. If you can find by NHS Number or Hospital No. alone, then do so.
  • When searching by name use surname only in case the pt record only has initials for instance.
  • When searching by address, use town or area only & consider using part-words, e.g. "manch" or "ester"
• Postcode matches first part of or all of the postcode. For greater flexibility on postcodes use the Query functions