V22.2 Release Notes

Communicare V22.2 includes updates for sending and receiving secure messages and a new, combined address book.

Updates in V22.2.38

Enhancements

  • When viewing attachments, scanned documents, care plans, letters, incoming and outgoing documents in view mode from the clinical record Detail > Document tab or Documents and Results iconDocuments and Results, the size of the file is now displayed in the status bar at the lower right.

Bug fixes

  • We've fixed a bug where you could not save a care plan and the following error was displayed if you had reviewed information on other tabs: Cannot focus a disabled or invisible window.
    Testing:
    1. In a patient's clinical record, add a new care plan or open an existing care plan.
    2. Minimise the care plan and go to other tabs in the clinical record to review information:
      • Medication Summary iconMedication Summary
      • Progress Notes iconProgress Notes or Detail tab iconDetail tab
    3. Use the Bring to Front navigation bar to return to the care plan.
    4. Observe that you can save the care plan without error.
  • When exporting patient files, comments added to a file are used in the filename. We've fixed a bug where files that used a colon (:) in the comment could not be exported.
    Testing:
    1. For an existing or new file attached a patient's record, add a comment that includes a colon (:).
    2. Save the document and close the encounter.
    3. Select Patient Summary iconPatient Summary for the test patient and click Customise.
    4. On the Clinical Record tab, set Export Documents.
    5. Click Print iconPrint.
    6. Observe that the file with the comment is exported correctly: the filename includes the whole comment, and special characters are replaced with an underscore.

Updates in V22.2.34

Enhancements

  • You can now export all clinical documents as PDFs from the Patient Summary report. For more information, see Customise the Patient Summary Export.
  • November MBS schedule, which includes higher MBS bulk billing incentive items for Commonwealth concession card holders and patients under 16 years of age. For updates and more information, see Communicare Customer Portal.
  • Updates for Specification V15.3 of the National Key Performance Indicators and Online Services Reporting, which includes a new pilot indicator PI26 - Ear Health Check and other updates. For more information, see NKPI summary.
  • MyMedicare news. For more information, see MyMedicare.

Bug fixes

  • We've fixed a bug where CTRL+ALT+B opened the combined address book instead of the EPD address book, when the combined address book was not active.
    Testing: In an environment using the EPD address book:
    1. Log into Communicare.
    2. Ensure that the EPD address book is active and the combined address book is inactive. For more information, see Address Book configuration.
    3. Press CTRL+ALT+B.
    4. Observe that the EPD address book is displayed.
  • We've fixed a bug where some incoming HL7 documents were being rendered incorrectly and the tilde-delimited tags displayed (~).
    Testing: For customers using CCareQueue_SMD for ADHA compliant, interoperable secure messaging:
    1. Log into Communicare.
    2. From the Documents & Results iconDocuments and Results > Received Documents tab, open an HL7 document, such as a Discharge Summary.
    3. Observe that the document is displayed correctly without unexpected tildes (~).

Updates in V22.2.31

Bug fixes

  • We've fixed a bug that was preventing users from completing many operations in Communicare, including opening a clinical record. Errors might include:
    • Catastrophic failure error
    • Access violation
    • Unable to complete network request to host "Firebird server"
    • Primary connection details have not been specified
    • ISC Error Message: Error reading data from the connection
    • DB is not known when trying to read a setting
    • An exception occurred opening "IntramailViewModel"
    Testing:
    1. Log into Communicare.
    2. Open a clinical record.
    3. Observe that you can open clinical records and complete other tasks in Communicare without error.
  • For the offline client and V22.2 demo, we've fixed a bug which meant that an error was displayed when users attempted to write a letter or save a care plan from any clinical record.
    Testing: In the V22.2 Communicare Demo or offline client:
    1. Log in to Communicare as ELLISONC or another provider in the offline client.
    2. Open the clinical record for any patient.
    3. On the Care Plan iconCare Plan tab, add a new care plan using any template.
    4. Click Save iconExport.
    5. Observe that the care plan is saved without error.
  • We've fixed a bug in the Match and Review Result window where users could not book an appointment from the Service List.
    Testing: For a user with Appointments and Investigations system rights:
    1. From the Documents & Results iconDocuments and Results > Investigation Results tab, open an investigation result that is linked to a patient.
    2. Click Services iconServices above the matched patient details.
    3. In the Service List, observe that you can select Book Appointment iconBook Appointment.
  • We've fixed a display bug in the Documents & Results iconDocuments and Results > Outgoing Documents tab.
    Testing:
    1. On the Documents & Results iconDocuments and Results > Outgoing Documents tab, from the Status list, select Pending.
    2. Close and open the Documents & Results iconDocuments and Results window again.
    3. Observe that the status displayed in the Status field is set to Pending, and that any status you select is retained between sessions.
  • We've fixed a display bug with the Detail tab iconDetail tab of patients' clinical records,where spurious columns were displayed when you maximised the record.
    Testing:
    1. On the Clinical record iconpatient's clinical record > Detail tab iconDetail tab, set View Clinical Items By to Class or Topic.
    2. Maximise the window.
    3. Observe that only the Date and Item Description columns are displayed and that there are no other columns displayed.
  • We've fixed a bug with the Combined Address Book, where new local address book entries did not appear in a search of the local address book after the address book was closed and opened again.
    Testing:
    1. Enable the Combined address book. For more information, see Address Book configuration.
    2. Add a new test entry to the address book. For more information, see Add and edit an address.
    3. Close the address book and open it again.
    4. With Search Online deselected, search for the entry you added in step 2. For more information, see Search for an address.
    5. Observe that the new entry you added in step 2 is listed.

Updates in V22.2.25

Bug fixes

  • We've fixed a bug with patient-specific information added to the letter writer. If structured contacts are in use, when Additional kin information was added, inactive contacts were included.
    Testing: For health services with structured contacts enabled:
    1. On a test patient's Patient Biographics iconPatient Biographics > Social tab, add at least two people to the Additional kin information. Make one of these contacts inactive.
    2. In the patient's clinical record, click Letter buttonLetter to add a letter. Use any template.
    3. From the right pane, add Patient > Additional Kin Information to the letter.
    4. Observe that only the active contact is inserted into the letter.

Updates in V22.2.24

Bug fixes

  • For WACHS, we've fixed a bug with Manage Birth Notifications, where the window would freeze then Communicare would close.
    Testing: For WACHS health services:
    1. Click Births.
    2. Observe that the Manage Birth Notifications window opens without error.
  • For WACHS, we've fixed a bug with referral management, where if you copied a referral, multiple copies were created. A subsequent search removed the duplicates.
    Testing: For WACHS health services:
    1. In referral management, create a copy of an incoming referral.
    2. Observe that there are only two copies of the selected referral, not multiple copies.
  • We've fixed several bugs with patient-specific information added to the letter writer:
    • Additional medications were included instead of only current, regular medications.
    • If Interpreter Required was set, T was displayed in the letter.
    • If structured contacts were in use, only relationship information was displayed when Additional kin information was added.
    Testing:
    1. In a test patient's clinical record, note the patient's current, regular medication on their Medication Summary iconMedication Summary.
    2. Click Letter buttonLetter to add a letter. Use any template.
    3. From the right pane, add Clinical Record > Current/Regular Medication to the letter.
    4. Observe that the Current/Regular Medication table contains only the current, regular mediations for this patient that you noted in step 1.
    Testing:
    1. On a test patient's Patient Biographics iconPatient Biographics > Social tab, set Interpreter Required to Yes.
    2. In the patient's clinical record, click Letter buttonLetter to add a letter. Use any template.
    3. From the right pane, add Patient > Interpreter Required to the letter.
    4. Observe that Yes is inserted into the letter.
    Testing: For health services with structured contacts enabled:
    1. On a test patient's Patient Biographics iconPatient Biographics > Social tab, add at least one person to the Additional kin information.
    2. In the patient's clinical record, click Letter buttonLetter to add a letter. Use any template.
    3. From the right pane, add Patient > Additional Kin Information to the letter.
    4. Observe that both the relative's name and their relationship to the patient are inserted into the letter.

Updates in V22.2.19

Bug fixes

  • We've fixed a bug with Intramail, where the recipient of an Intramail message that did not have a patient associated with it, could not open the message and instead saw an error (External exception E0434352).
    Testing: For health services that use Intramail:
    1. Login as user A and create a new test Intramail message from outside a clinical record with the following settings:
      • Set the recipient as user B.
      • Add any subject and body content.
      • Do not associate a patient with the message.
    2. Close Communicare and log in as user B.
    3. In the footer of the main toolbar, double-click Intramail and open the test message.
    4. Observe that you can open the test Intramail message without error.
    For more information about using Intramail, see Intramail.
  • We've fixed a potential bug with old, migrated prescription medications where the old medication was included in the Finalise window if it did not have a created on date timestamp.
    Testing: For health services whose medication data was migrated into Communicare from another digital system:
    1. For a patient who was included in the original data migration, and who has old medications from before the migration, add a new medication.
    2. Finalise the prescriptions. In the Finalise Prescriptions window, check that only current medications are listed.
  • We've fixed a performance problem with large medication databases, which when writing a letter, caused the medications to take a long time to load or crashed Communicare.
    Testing: In a Communicare environment with a large number of medications:
    1. Open the clinical record for a test patient.
    2. Create a new letter.
    3. In the letter, add the Clinical Record > Current/Regular Medication object.
    4. Observe that the medications are loaded in reasonable time.

Updates in V22.2.17

Enhancements

We've changed the location of the Unlock Communicare login window, displayed after a period of inactivity, so that it is displayed only over the top of Communicare windows, not other applications.

Bug fixes

  • We've fixed a bug with data access to updated libraries which was detected when appointment SMS reminders failed to send.
    Testing: For health services that use SMS appointment reminder templates:
    1. In Communicare, for the period since you upgraded to V22.2, run Report > SMS > Batch Report Summary.
    2. Observe that SMS messages are being successfully sent.
  • For WACHS, we've fixed a bug with referrals.
    Testing: In a Communicare WACHS environment with Incoming Referrals enabled:
    1. As a user with the Referral Management system right, create a new referral:
      1. In Referrals > Manage Incoming Referrals, create a new, test referral.
      2. Provide information in the required fields.
      3. Set the priority to anything other than Awaiting Triage.
      4. Click Save and Close.
    2. Open the referral again and book a new appointment with the required information.
    3. Click Save and Close.
    4. Observe that the new referral is saved and closed without error.

Updates in V22.2.11

Enhancements

  • We've added support for real-time prescription monitoring in WA, called ScriptCheck WA (SCWA). To use ScriptCheck WA in WA localities, you must upgrade to Communicare V22.2 and install the March 2023 MIMS update (18) or later.
  • We've added a default configuration file for CCareQueue_SMD, so that Communicare upgrades do not affect custom configurations at your health service.

Bug fixes

  • We've fixed a bug which meant that RTPM was not working on computers where the computer time was set to a time zone under UTC+10.
    Testing: For a health service locality using RTPM, with a time zone under UTC+10, for example, Perth UTC+8:
    1. In Communicare, for a patient, add or repeat an S8 medication.
    2. Observe that after you save the medication, a response is returned from RTPM with an alert. For more information, see Enable and use RTPM.
  • We've fixed a bug that was preventing intramail from loading completely in systems with a large volume of messages.
    Testing: If your health service uses intramail:
    1. In the Communicare main toolbar, double-click your unread messages to open the Intramail window.
    2. Observe that the Intramail window opens, messages are loaded and the spinner disappears.
  • We've fixed a bug where incoming messages using the Secure Message Exchange were rejected with an error if they contained long names. Long names are now truncated.
    Testing: For health services using the Secure Message Exchange and CCareQueue_SMD to send and receive secure messages using HL7 V2.4 or HL7 V2.3.1:
    1. Have a message sent to your health service with a receiving doctor's name or patient's name longer than 40 characters, a lab name longer than 55 characters, or an address longer than 100 characters. For example, HDWA - King Edward Memorial Hospital - Intensive Care Service
    2. Observe that the message is displayed on the Documents and Results iconDocuments and Results > Received Documents tab without error.
  • We've fixed a bug where outgoing documents were failing to send using the Secure Message Exchange to HealthLink recipients.
    Testing: For health services using the Secure Message Exchange and CCareQueue_SMD to send messages to HealthLink recipients using HL7 V2.4 or HL7 V2.3.1:
    1. In the combined address book, search for and save a contact from HealthLink.
    2. Write a letter and send it to that recipient.
    3. Observe that the message is sent without error and is displayed on the Documents and Results iconDocuments and Results > Outgoing Documents tab.
  • We've fixed a bug where for patient records with medication requests updated in the offline client, the record was not synchronising to the online client.
    Testing: For health services that use both the offline client to work remotely and medication requests:
    1. In the Communicare online client, for a test patient:
      1. Add three medications.
      2. Create a medication request and include all of the new medications.
      3. Synchronise Communicare to the offline client.
    2. In the Communicare offline client:
      1. For the same test patient, stop two of the medications you added in step 1 .
      2. Add two new medications.
      3. Create a new medication request that includes the one remaining medication added in step 1 and the two new medications.
      4. Synchronise the Communicare offline client back to the online client.
    3. In the Communicare online client, for the test patient used above, go to the Medication Summary and open Medication Requests iconMedication Requests.
    4. Observe that the latest medication request in the online client has been updated with the changes made in the offline client.

New features

Secure messaging

Previously, Communicare used CCareQueue_Results to process incoming messages for most health services. In V22.2 and later, to support secure messaging, Communicare can use the Secure Message Exchange and CCareQueue_SMD to send and receive secure messages using HL7 V2.4 or HL7 V2.3.1.

With this work, we've added support for searching additional online provider directories, specifically HealthLink.

To upgrade to Communicare V22.2, contact Communicare Support who will implement the upgrade and change your health service over to the Secure Message Exchange.

Changes to Communicare for secure messaging include the following:
  • If your health service is moving from legacy Argus to the new Argus online provider directory that uses FHIR R4, details for your local Argus contacts will be updated as part of the upgrade process.
  • For pathology and imaging results:
    • Qualifiers will be included in incoming investigation results sent securely by labs, similar to the existing functionality. PDF, HTML and text results provided by the lab are displayed with other incoming results on the Documents and Results iconDocuments and Results > Investigation Results tab.
    • If a time zone is provided in the result sent by the lab, the time is converted to local time. If no time zone is provided, the time included in the result is used verbatim.
  • For incoming messages:
    • We've added support for HL7 V2.3.1 REF and HL7 V2.3 ORU incoming messages. For more information, see Incoming documents and results.
    • We've added support for incoming HTML documents. HTML documents are displayed with other incoming documents and letters on the Documents and Results iconDocuments and Results > Received Doc
    • On incoming messages, the receiving provider is matched using the Medicare provider number included. If the provider name is different, the name included in Communicare is listed as the provider in Documents and Results iconDocuments and Results, rather than the name sent in the message.
    • We've added new options to Secure Message Exchange configuration so that the Communicare Implementation team can set the preferred paths for incoming documents from different SMD vendors for your health service. For more information, see Incoming document status.
  • For outgoing messages:
    • Outgoing messages are sent using HL7 V2.3.1, unless the recipient supports HL7 V2.4 according to the online provider directory. For more information, see Outgoing documents.
    • Communicare sends both PDF & RTF message formats. Recipients receive either the PDF or the RTF, depending on which format is listed in the online provider directory. If a recipient can receive both formats, Communicare sends PDF only.
    • Outgoing CDA documents such as eReferrals and discharge summaries are sent using HL7 MDM where support by the recipient is listed in the online provider directory. For more information, see Outgoing documents.
    • Outgoing HealthLink messages contain an EDI code for your organisation so that the message recipients can reply to your address if required. This is configured in System Parameters - Secure Messaging.
    • For documents sent using secure messaging, the secure message status & the recipient's name are now displayed in the patient's clinical record, Detail > Document tab. For more information, see Detail tab.

Combined Address Book

We've added a new, combined address book to make it easier to search online provider directories, and add addresses to your local address book. The combined address book replaces the EPD address book.

In V22.2, the EPD address book is deprecated. However, select customers can choose to continue to use the EPD address book if required. If you have a requirement to continue using the EPD address book, discuss this with Communicare Support when you schedule your upgrade to Communicare V22.2.

Note: If you use HealthLink as your online provider directory service, you must use the new, combined address book.

Using the combined address book, you can search your local address book and multiple, online provider directories from the same place and clearly see which contacts are available for secure messaging.

From wherever Communicare calls the address book, such as referrals, imprest, consolidated orders, and transport, the combined address book is now displayed.

The frequency at which the online provider directory service is checked for updates to entries saved to the local address book is configurable. For example, by default, specialties and service types are updated from the provider directories every 7 days.

For more information, see Search for an address and Add and edit an address.

When you are upgraded to the combined address book, information in your local current address book is migrated to the combined address book. Entries are migrated to an equivalent field, except for Phone A/H: if you have values in this field, it is saved to the Comments field. For configuration information, see Address Book configuration.

Minor enhancements

  • In the To Do list, we've added an option to hide incomplete referrals and display only recalls. Set Hide referrals or right-click and select Hide referrals. For more information, see To Do list.
  • In the Documents and Results iconDocuments and Results > Investigation Results > Match and Review Results window, we've added a link to the Service List window, so that you can view a patient's last or next appointments and book an appointment while reviewing results. We've also increased the size of the Match and Review Results window to make it easier to review results.
  • We've added new data objects to the Letter buttonLetter writer in the following groups. Add this information to your templates or use it in a blank document when writing a letter or referral.
    • Clinical Record, the following new values are sourced from active referrals listed on the Clinical record iconClinical Record > To Do list:
      • Referrals (All)
      • Referrals (Overdue)
    • Patient - the following new individual items for the first name and full name of emergency contact details in addition to the existing emergency contact item. Values are sourced from Patient Biographics iconPatient Biographics > Social tab:
      • Emergency Contact First Name
      • Emergency Contact Full Name
      Tip: If your health service uses structured contacts, use Additional Kin Information instead.

Central Data changes

You can review new clinical items and reports using these reports:
  • Report > Reference Tables > Clinical Item Types Added - enter the days since the upgrade and choose Central.
  • Report > Database Consistency > Central Reports

Installation Requirements

  • Communicare V22.2 is supported on Windows 10 and later and Windows Server 2016 and later. Security and other updates from Microsoft must be installed as they become available.
  • .NET 6 is required for the Communicare server
  • .NET 4.8 is required for the Communicare client
  • HQBird 2.5.9 is now an external dependency. Firebird 2.5 and earlier is no longer supported.