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Administration
Communicare Administrators can tune the way in which Communicare works at your health clinic.
System Administration
System administration functions affect all Communicare users and should be used with care.
CAT Export Tool
Use the CAT Export Tool to export datasets defined by the Improvement Foundation from Communicare as XML. These XML datasets can then be loaded into PEN CS' Clinical Audit Tool (CAT).

Administration
Communicare Administrators can tune the way in which Communicare works at your health clinic.
- System Administration
  System administration functions affect all Communicare users and should be used with care.
  - System Parameters
    If you belong to the System Administrators user group, you can configure Communicare by setting system parameters.
  - Organisation Maintenance
    Configure Communicare for your organisation by setting organisation parameters. Changes to organisation parameters affect the Communicare system for the organisation and all workstations.
  - User Groups
    Users of the Communicare system are organised into groups. Rights to access various parts of Communicare are given to these groups of users.
  - Reference Tables
  - Appointment Session Templates
    Appointment Session Templates identify when appointments can be made, in a general way. They are used as a template for creating the sessions into which appointments are actually booked.
  - Providers
    The Providers window lists clinicians who have been added to Communicare as providers at your health service.
  - Medicare Number Import
    Patient Medicare numbers can be imported directly from files provided by Medicare Australia.
  - Patient Import
  - Communicare Security
    Communicare's security scheme is designed to be easy to maintain yet effective. It works on 3 layers: SYSDBA, ADMINISTRATOR, MEDISYS.
  - Daily Process Service
  - Automatic Patient Status Change
    Every night the server will check the Inactivity years in system parameters and use it to change a patient's status after the specified number of years, based on the existence of contact services and patient address.
  - Terminal Server and Communicare
    The Communicare client can be installed on a Terminal Server.
  - Backup Regimes
    Backups of your Communicare database are critical for business continuity in the event of a disaster. Communicare is automatically backed up to the server nightly. Your site should take regular backups of these backups.
  - Disaster Recovery
    In the event of disaster, call Communicare Support on 1800 798 441 and follow these steps to recover your data.
  - File Transfer
    Communicare demos and updates are available from the Communicare User Portal - Help and Support tab.
  - Firewall Configuration
  - Upgrades
    Communicare upgrades are performed remotely by Communicare Support at a time arranged with the system administrator.
  - Database Connection Settings
  - Central Data
    Communicare maintains and distributes a specific set of Clinical Item definitions. Centrally maintained Clinical Item definitions are referred to as central items.
  - Terms Conversion
    Together with your Implementation Consultant, when your site goes live with Communicare, a clinician with Administrator user privileges can use the Terms Converter tool to convert local terms into centrally maintained terms, for example, ICPC-2 PLUS terms.
  - CAT Export Tool
    Use the CAT Export Tool to export datasets defined by the Improvement Foundation from Communicare as XML. These XML datasets can then be loaded into PEN CS' Clinical Audit Tool (CAT).
  - Background Processes
    Communicare runs a number of server-side background processes that integrate with various external services.
  - Communicare Logs
    Adjust the level of detail recorded in Communicare logs if required.
- Tools
  Use these tools to help manage Communicare.
- Regular Administrator Tasks
  There are several regular maintenance tasks for the Communicare Administrator to perform.

CAT Export Tool

Use the CAT Export Tool to export datasets defined by the Improvement Foundation from Communicare as XML. These XML datasets can then be loaded into PEN CS' Clinical Audit Tool (CAT).

Running the CAT Export will generate a pair of XML files: a de-identified data XML file and a link XML file to re-identify the data should the organisation require this. Each linked XML file is unique to each export created and cannot be used with other de-identified XML files.

Restriction:

Running data extracts will put additional load on the server and slow down other users. Please do not run extracts during normal clinic hours.
Offline (data sync) client installations will run the export from the offline database. Data will only be as up-to-date as the last sync date.

To run the CAT Export tool:

From your computer's Start menu, select Communicare > CAT Export.
Select the localities for which you want to export data. Select either:
- Export All Localities Together to generate a pair of XML files containing all the data from all localities. The file names for this pair will contain the ALL_LOCALITIES string.
- Individual localities for which you want to generate data. A pair of XML files containing the data for that locality only are generated. The file names for these files contains the locality name.
In the Output Location field, enter the folder where the generated XML files are saved. If the PEN Clinical Audit Tool is installed, this location defaults to the data location specified by the tool.
From the Reference Date calendar select a date from which you want to export. This field defaults to today's date.
Click Export.

The export may take some time to complete. When the operation has successfully completed, Export successful is displayed in green text above the Export button.

For information on using PEN CS' Clinical Audit Tool, see CAT4 User Guide.

8 October 2025