“Hold For” Order Tracking Report

Whenever I’ve had to “hold for a representative”, I usually have to recount the information I’ve already given to that representative.  It is as if “holding for” is really a state of being in limbo, a sub-waiting room of sorts.  I’m still waiting, just in a different place.  Sometimes active orders have the status of Hold For instead of Active, as below, and like the example, are in limbo.

The reason that the order status is not Active is because the To Be Done Date is what is called a “fuzzy” date.  A fuzzy date is any date that is not exact.  Instead of November 30, 2010, a fuzzy date would be Before November 30, 2010.  When an order is entered with a To Be Done Date set for a fuzzy date, the system classifies the status as Hold For because it is holding for the exact date. 

Sometimes a fuzzy date is used in the instance of ordering a lab test to be done before the patient’s next appointment, or after a particular date due to insurance billing guidelines.  The problem is that the patient presents to the lab when they are instructed, regardless of how that is input into the system.  If you don’t want a patient to have a lab drawn until after November 1, 2010, then put that as the To Be Done Date, just November 1, 2010, and the lab will know not to draw that lab until that day or after.  If you want a test done before a certain day, tell the patient. 

When an order is entered with a fuzzy date and has the status of Hold For, it will not show up in the order tracking reports run by each office.  These reports are run to ensure that results are received and patients are having all the tests ordered for them by the provider.  If orders are missing from this report, they can’t be tracked which does not allow for the best patient care possible. 

To track orders with a status of Hold For, use the Order Tracking Report with the status of Hold For only, removing Active and In Progress, and remove the dates in the To Be Done Date field and the Expiration Date field.  Once you’ve run this report and found those orders with a status of Hold For, you can edit the order to adjust the status to Active.

To edit the order, right click on the order and choose Edit.

In the To Be Done Date field, you will see that there is a fuzzy date.  Click on the calendar next to that field.

At the top, there are circular buttons for On, Before, After and Approximately.  A fuzzy date means that Before, After or Approximately is checked.

Click the On button and set the date as appropriate.  Click Ok, Commit, Save & Continue.