Letter Defaults

1. Display the Letter Defaults page: On the Main Menu, click Settings > Clinicals. In the left menu, under Practice Links — Forms and Letters, click Letter Defaults.
2. Click Add new.
   The Add Letter Default view appears.
3. Provider — The default selection is to display the letter default for all providers.
   To limit the letter default to specific providers, click the Selected option and then select the providers who should use this letter default.
4. Appointment type — The default selection is to display the letter default for all appointment types.
   To limit the letter default to specific appointment types, click the Selected option and then select the appointment types that should use this letter default.
5. Paper form — Select the paper form to use for this letter default.
   Note: Only forms marked as letters on the Clinical Paper Forms page appear in this menu. The incoming status of the form on the Clinical Paper Forms page should be set to Review.
6. Role — Select the types of recipients for this default letter. Recipients include Patient, Primary Care Provider, Insurance Adjuster, and medical specialties.
7. Auto-creation — Select this option to create the letter automatically, so that it is listed in the Letters section in the Sign-off stage of the encounter. For more information, see Auto-created and preferred letters.
8. Auto-approval — Select the desired option.
   Auto-approving letters makes them appear in the Letters section of the encounter with the Approval timing menu pre-set to Approve at checkout, On next business day, or Approve at encounter close. You can turn off auto-approval for a specific letter at any point prior to the approval point (checkout or encounter close): change he Approval timing menu option (in the Letters section) to Leave in REVIEW and click Save.
9. Delivery method (Does not affect letters to patients) — When you select a letter default in the Letters section of the encounter or order group, the default delivery method depends on the letter recipient.

Letter recipient is not the patient — The default delivery method is Submit by Direct. You can select Submit by staff or Submit by athenaFax as the default delivery method for the letter default.

 

Letter recipient is the patient — You cannot edit this field for letters to patients. The default delivery method is one of the following:

• If the patient is registered for the Patient Portal, the default delivery method for the Patient Care Summary and other patient correspondence is Close and Email Patient. At checkout, users can select the Notify by Staff option from the menu to make the letter available for staff to print.
• If the patient does not have access to the Patient Portal or if the Patient care summary and patient letter delivery preference option on the Quickview is set to Paper, the default delivery method is Notify by Staff. At checkout, users can select the Close option from the menu.
10. Click Save.

1. Display the Letter Defaults page: On the Main Menu, click Settings > Clinicals. In the left menu, under Practice Links — Forms and Letters, click Letter Defaults.
2. Click the edit link next to the letter default that you want to update. The letter default details appear in the fields at the top of the page.
3. Edit the fields as desired.
4. Click Save. The updates appear in the list below.

You can edit the Patient Care Summary letter default (you can also create your own Patient Care Summaries and edit them).

Note: You can automatically generate a Patient Care Summary to be sent to the patient only.

1. Display the Letter Defaults page: On the Main Menu, click Settings > Clinicals. In the left menu, under Practice Links — Forms and Letters, click Letter Defaults.
2. In the Existing Letter Defaults list, locate the Patient Care Summary letter that you want to edit and click edit.
3. Provider — Click the Selected option and then select the providers who should use this Patient Care Summary.
4. Appointment type — Click the Selected option and then select the appointment types that should use this Patient Care Summary.
5. Paper form — Select Patient Care Summary.
   Note: Only the athenahealth clinical form titled "Patient Care Summary" is transmitted to the Patient Portal or Patient Information Center. You cannot configure other clinical paper forms to function as a Patient Care Summary.
6. Role — Select Patient.
   Note: You can automatically generate a Patient Care Summary to be sent to the patient only.
7. Auto-creation — Select this option.
8. Auto-approval — Select an option. If you select On next business day, athenaOne automatically approves all unapproved Patient Care Summaries at 8:00 p.m. local time on the next business day.
   Note: You can override the auto-approval setting in the letter default on a letter-by-letter basis in the Letters section of the current encounter.
9. Delivery method (Does not affect letters to patients) — You cannot edit this field for letters such as the Patient Care Summary where the Letter recipient is the patient. The default delivery method for the Patient Care Summary is one of the following:
• If the Patient Portal or Patient Information Center is enabled for your organization, the default delivery method for the Patient Care Summary is Close and Email Patient. At sign-off, users can select the Notify by Staff option from the menu to also make the letter available at checkout for staff to print.
• If the patient does not have access to the Patient Portal or Patient Information Center, or if the Patient care summary and patient letter delivery preference option on the Quickview is set to Paper, the default delivery method is Notify by Staff. At checkout, users can select the Close option from the menu.
10. Click Save.

1. Display the Letter Defaults page: On the Main Menu, click Settings > Clinicals. In the left menu, under Practice Links — Forms and Letters, click Letter Defaults.
2. Click the delete link next to the letter default that you want to delete. The letter default is deleted from the list.

1. Display the Letter Defaults page: On the Main Menu, click Settings > Clinicals. In the left menu, under Practice Links — Forms and Letters, click Letter Defaults.
2. Click the Show deleted link.
   Deleted letter defaults appear disabled in the list.
3. Click the undelete link for the letter default that you want to restore. The item is restored to your list, and the audit history of the item is preserved.

1. Display the Letter Defaults page: On the Main Menu, click Settings > Clinicals. In the left menu, under Practice Links — Forms and Letters, click Letter Defaults.
2. Click the edit link next to the letter default for which you want to view the audit history. The item details appear at the top of the page.
3. Click Audit history above the Save and Cancel buttons.
   The audit history appears.
   

Auto-approving letters makes them appear in the Letters section of the encounter with the Approval timing menu pre-set to Approve at checkout, On next business day, or Approve at encounter close. To turn off auto-approval for a specific letter at any point prior to approval (checkout or encounter close), change the Approval timing menu option (in the Letters section) to Leave in REVIEW and click Save.

1. Display the Letter Defaults page: On the Main Menu, click Settings > Clinicals. In the left menu, under Practice Links — Forms and Letters, click Letter Defaults.
2. Click Add new to create a new letter default, or click edit to update an existing letter default. Additional fields appear.
3. Auto-approval — Select Never, At checkout, or At encounter close.
4. Click Save.

You can configure auto-created or preferred letter defaults for commonly used forms — such as school sports and return to work forms, as well as consult letters to referring providers and primary care providers — and map the letter defaults to the appropriate appointment types and providers.

For both auto-created and preferred letters, the provider can view, edit, and approve the letter from the Letters section.

An auto-created letter default is a letter that you configured on the Letter Defaults page for athenaOne to automatically create in the Sign-off stage of an encounter for specific providers or appointment types. These letters appear under the Letters heading in the Sign-off stage of a patient encounter.

To create an auto-created letter default, you must select the Auto-creation option on the Letter Defaults page.

A preferred letter default is a letter that you can choose to create during the Sign-off stage (athenaOne does not create and send the letter automatically). These preferred letters appear in the Preferred Letters list when you click the plus icon next to the Letters heading.

To create a preferred letter, do not select the Auto-creation option and set the Auto-approval option to Never.

athenahealth administers letter defaults for the Patient Care Summary. By default, Patient Care Summaries are set to approve automatically "On next business day," but they are approved immediately if the encounter is closed. To change the auto-create or auto-approve behavior, or to change the appointments and providers that the Patient Care Summary applies to, please contact the CSC by selecting Support > Create Case or Call in the Main Menu.