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Checklist for Configuring Patient Assign

The optional Demand Manager application and Registration Import interface are prerequisites for running Patient Assign.

First: Steps in Staff Manager Administrator

Note: Your Staff Manager configuration may not include this optional application. To add this application to your configuration, contact your Clinical Consultant or Client Advocate.

  1. Open Staff Manager Administrator.
  2. Add the Assignment Manager permission to the appropriate security groups. Members of the Enterprise Admins security group have the permission by default. To add the Assignment Manager permission to other security groups:
    1. Select a profile in the Profiles dialog box.
    2. Click Edit. This opens the Edit Profiles dialog box.
    3. Click the Group Permissions tab.
    4. Select the security group name in the Granted Access list; this activates the Set Permissions button.
    5. Click Set Permissions to open the Set Interface Permissions dialog box.
    6. Select Assignment Manager.
    7. Select the group’s access to Assignment Manager: None, Read, or Full. The group must have Full access in order to use Patient Assign.
    8. Click OK to save your changes.

You can also set permissions to configure Assignment Manager. Repeat the steps above but select Assignment Manager Configuration in step f.

Second: Steps in Staff Manager Client

  1. Open Staff Manager Client.
  2. Add tasks to Patient Assign using the Task Control option Show in Patient Assign. Your Cerner Corporation Clinical Consultant may have already completed this step when installing Assignment Manager.
    1. From the Maintain menu, select Assignment Info. This opens the Assignments dialog box.
    2. Select a task in the left pane.
    3. Click the Task Controls tab.
    4. Select Show in Patient Assignment.
    5. Click OK to save your changes.
  3. Add tasks to Relief Assign using the Task Control option Show in Relief Assignment. Your Clinical Consultant may have already completed this step when installing Assignment Manager.
    1. From the Maintain menu, select Assignment Info. This opens the Assignments dialog box.
    2. Select a task in the left pane.
    3. Click the Task Controls tab.
    4. Select Show in Relief Assignment.
    5. Click OK to save your changes.
  4. Enable permissions for those employees who work with Assignment Manager and who are in the Unassigned Users security group.
    1. From the Maintain menu, select Employee Info. This opens the Employees dialog box.
    2. Scroll to the Permissions tab and click it.
    3. Complete the Assignment Manager permissions.
      1. Read Access to Assignment Manager Data
        • Select the check box to let the employee see the Assignment Manager pages. The employee cannot edit any assignment information.
        • Deselect the check box to prevent the employee from seeing the Assignment Manager pages.
      2. Read & Write Access to Assignment Manager Data:
        • Select the check box to let the employee see and edit the Assignment Manager pages. You must select this box for employees making department, patient, device, duty, or relief caregiver assignments.
        • Deselect the check box to prevent the employee from seeing the Assignment Manager pages.
      3. Click OK to save the changes and close the dialog box.

Third: Steps in Clairvia Web

  1. Open Clairvia Web.
  2. Create assignment partitions.
    1. From the Configure menu, select Shift Category/Partition. This opens the Shift Category/Partition page.
  3. Create a Shift Category. A shift category is a defined 24-hour staffing day. Shift categories are divided into partitions to mark the primary shift length for a profile.
    1. Click Add Category. This opens a new editing row in the Shift Categories pane.
    2. Enter a Shift Category Name in the box. For example, a nursing shift category might be named Nursing.
  4. Create Shift Category Partitions. A Shift Category Partition is block of time during a Shift Category where certain types of skilled employees work. For example, a shift category called Nursing might have three eight-hour partitions called Day, Evening, and Night, which together make up the 24-hour staffing day.
    1. Click Add Partition. This opens a new editing row in the Shift Category Partitions pane.
    2. Enter a Partition Name. For example, a partition running from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. might be named Day or 7a-3p.
    3. Enter a Start Time for the partition. A day partition might start at 7:00 a.m. or 8:00 a.m., while a night partition might start at 11:00 p.m. Assignment Manager fills the End Time box automatically based on the other partitions in the Shift Category.
    4. Enter a value in the Spill-Over Front Minutes box. Typical values are 31, 61, and 121.
    5. Enter a value in the Spill-Over Back Minutes box. Typical values are 31, 61, and 121.
  5. Click Save All.
  6. Create Additional Duties.
    1. From the Configure menu, select Patient Assign > Additional Duties. This opens the Caregiver Additional Duties page.
    2. Click Add. This opens a new editing row.
    3. In the Description box, enter an explanation for the new Duty, such as Check Crash Cart, Medication Count, or Restock Treatment Rooms. Each duty description must be unique.
    4. In the Duration box, enter the average number of minutes (0-999) this duty would take to complete for the caregiver assigned.
    5. Click Save.
  7. Create caregiver roles. Your Cerner Corporation Clinical Consultant may have configured these roles during installation.
    1. From the Configure menu, select Patient Assign > Caregiver Roles. This opens the Caregiver Roles Editor page.
    2. Click Add. This opens a new editing row.
      1. In the Role box, enter an abbreviated name for the new role. Abbreviations are limited to eight characters. Sample Role abbreviations include Direct, Meds, Orientee, Precept, and Sitter. Assignment Manager users use roles such as Assign and SAssign.
      2. In the Description box, enter an explanation for the new Role. For example, the role Orient might have the description Orientee and a corresponding Precept role might have the description Preceptor.
      3. In the % Demand box, enter the percentage of care hour demand this role covers for a patient. All roles for Assignment Manager are set to 0%. In addition, each role and its percent demand combination must be unique.
        • For a full-time caregiver role, enter 100 in the % Demand box.
        • In a unit where direct caregivers sometimes assume only a portion of the care hours, it is common to create a second Direct role with 50% Demand.
        • In units with LPNs or LVNs, it is common to add a direct RN Role of Lead at 20% Demand, which is used in combination with an LPN or LVN role of Direct Care at 80% Demand.
        • For a role like Precept, which provides a portion of direct care, you could enter 50 in the % Demand box, which would be used in combination with an assigned Orientee set as Direct Care also at 50%.
        • If Care Companions or Sitters are configured for Demand, enter 100% to offset their Event-driven care hours.
        • If iBus with Device Services is enabled: If caregivers are assigned to patients for the sole purpose of receiving secondary alerts, consider creating a role AlertSec with 0% Demand. Caregivers assigned in the secondary position with this role do not consume any of the care hours for the assigned patient.
        • Each role and its percent demand combination must be unique.
    3. Check the Include in Pt. Count box. Checking this box adds the patient to the caregiver's assigned patient count when the caregiver is assigned with the selected role.
    4. Click Save.
    5. To remove caregiver roles, click the red x in the row. Removing a role from the Caregiver Roles Editor page automatically removes the role from assigned skills on the Caregiver Role Assignment page for all profiles. If a role should no longer be used in any profile, you can remove the role with the Caregiver Roles Editor page. If a role should no longer be used by select skills or select profiles, you should remove the role from the assigned skill on the Caregiver Role Assignment page for each profile.
  8. Assign caregiver roles to profiles.
    1. From the Configure menu, select Patient Assign > Caregiver Role Assignment. This opens the Caregiver Role Assignment page. The Global Skill/Role Assignment area lists all the global skills available in a selected profile. The Role area displays all available caregiver roles. The use of global skills such as RN and PCT in Assignment Manager is optional; at a minimum, your Cerner Clinical Consultant defines the global skill Default for each profile and task.
    2. Select a profile from the Profile menu.
    3. Assign roles to skills:
      1. Select a Global Skill. You can select multiple Global Skills.
      2. Select a Role. You can select multiple Roles. Each Global Skill may have one or more assigned Roles.
      3. Click the blue arrow between the two areas to assign your selected Roles to your selected Global Skills. Once you have assigned a role to a global skill, it is displayed under the Global Skill, along with its % Demand value.
    4. Mark one or more Roles as Required to ensure that expected skill and patient coverage needs are met. This setting affects the Status icon that displays in Patient Assignment (Unassigned, Partial, Fully Assigned). A patient is considered fully assigned when a caregiver with the required skill and any one of the required roles for the skill is assigned to the patient for the duration of their stay in the unit during the partition.
      1. Under the Global Skill/Role Assignment area, click Required beside the roles that should be required for the selected global skill. For example, if the global skill is RN and the assigned roles are Direct, Precept, and Orientee, the Direct role and Precept roles could be marked as Required. A patient would be considered fully assigned when all hours for their stay within the partition are covered by an RN with either the Direct or Precept roles and be partially assigned when assigned to a caregiver with an Orientee role.
    5. Select one default Role for each global skill. If your selected facility has CareAware iBus with Device Services enabled, select one default role for each global skill for the primary alert and one default role for each global skill for the secondary alert. iBus with Device Services is required to assign communication devices to personnel. Contact your Client Advocate or Cerner Clairvia Support Services for more information on how to upgrade Assignment Manager to manage and assign communication devices. Mark a role as default by selecting Default. When employees with this skill are assigned to a patient with this alert type (optional), they are automatically assigned to the default role. Once you assign an employee, you can change the role, if necessary.
    6. Click Save to save the changes.
    7. To remove roles, click the red x in the row to remove the role assignment from the select skill. This removes the role from the Role menu in Patient Assign, but assignments saved using the role are saved for reporting purposes. Then click Save to save your changes
  9. Set the Patient Assign settings.
    1. From the Configure menu, select Patient Assign > Settings. This opens the Patient Assign Settings page.
    2. Select a profile from the Profile menu.
    3. Select skills from the Select all Global Skills that can be used to represent a Charge Nurse for this Profile box. To select multiple skills, CTRL+click the skills.
    4. Select whether to Allow 2 or more employees with the same skill and role combination to be assigned to a patient at the same time.
      • Selecting the check box means two or more employees with the same skill and role can be assigned to the same patient at the same time. For example, an ICU profile might need to assign two RNs giving direct care to the same patient at the same time.
      • Deselecting the check box means users can only assign one caregiver with a specific skill or role to a patient at a time. For example, a MedSurg profile might clear the check box because assigning two RNs to the same patient at the same time is unusual for that profile and should trigger a warning. If there is an Other patient event recorded for a patient and the Caregiver/Patient Ratio defined for the event is 2:1 or 3:1, Assignment Manager allows two or more employees to be assigned to the patient regardless of whether you selected this check box.
    1. Select a Display Priority In Note Column option.
      • Select Patient Note to see patient notes in the Patient Assignment page Note column. Assignment Manager users should select this option.
      • Select Diagnosis to see the patient's diagnosis in the Note column. To see diagnoses, however, your organization must have a Registration Import configured to send diagnosis data to Assignment Manager. If you select the Diagnosis option and that data is unavailable, the Note column remains blank unless you also select Display other option if selection is unavailable, as described in step 4f.
    2. Select a Display other option if selection is unavailable option.
      • Selecting the check box means that if your Display Priority choice is unavailable, the page displays the other option instead. For example, if you selected Patient Notes, but the patient has no note, Assignment Manager shows the diagnosis instead.
      • Deselecting the check box means that if your selection is unavailable, the Note column remains blank.

    3. Select the Role Menu Display Option.

      1. Select Show all skill and role combinations to display all roles defined for all skills in the Role list of the Caregiver table on the Assign Patient view of the Patient Assign page. This option allows any caregiver, regardless of their skill, to be assigned to any defined role and % skill hours.
      2. Select Show roles for the caregiver plus all required skill and role combinations to display all roles defined for the skill of the caregiver and any role marked as required on the Caregiver Role Assignment page.
        1. When you select this option, you can then select the option Show all skill and role combinations when there are no Demand care hours. You should select this option to show all roles defined for all skills for any caregiver with a skill that is not configured for Demand. For example, if Demand hours are configured only for RNs and PCAs, but LPNs frequently float to the unit, selecting this option lets users to assign any defined role and % skill hours to the LPN. You should note that this option is not used in Assignment Manager.
    4. Select a Shift Category from the menu. Assignment Manager uses your selected shift category partition set when making assignments for each profile. The Shift Category that displays on the patient assignment page is the shift category in effect on your selected date. This selection sets the shift category that is used in Patient Assign and Department Assign for the profile. The same shift category must be used in each feature; changes made here change the shift category configured for the profile in Department Assign. Changes to the selected shift category take effect on the first date in the future that has no saved assignments. For example, if you save assignments for tomorrow and then change the shift category, the shift category displays in the shift category list in Patient Assignments the day after tomorrow. In order to use the new shift category tomorrow, you should first remove tomorrow's assignments; the new shift category is then available in the list and can be used to make assignments.

    5. Select the Display Alerts box if Assignment Manager should display alerts as described in Patient Assign Alert Messages. Deselect the box if Assignment Manager should not display patient assign alerts.

    6. Select a Display Caregiver Availability as option. This setting affects the Caregiver table of the Patient Assign page Assign Patients view and the Summary by Caregiver view and printable view.
      1. Percent Assigned: Shows the caregiver's availability calculated as Hours Assigned divided by Hours Available.
      2. Hours Unassigned: Shows the caregiver's availability calculated as Hours Available minus Hours Assigned.
    7. Enter the number of Hours in the past to determine continuity of care. The value must be a number from 0 to 168. This option is part of the Assign for Continuity feature in Patient Assign. If you enter 48, Assignment Manager assigns those caregivers, by role, who were assigned to the patient within the last 48 hours. If more than one caregiver in the same role was assigned to the patient within the time limit, Assignment Manager selects the caregiver who cared for the patient most recently. For example, assume RNs John and Jane are available. They both cared for the same patient in the role Direct Care Assign during the last 48 hours, but John was assigned 24 hours ago, while Jane was assigned only 12 hours ago. Assignment Manager would then give the patient to Jane when assigning for continuity. In addition, if your facility is configured for iBus with Device Services, the assign for continuity also assigns caregivers based the primary and secondary alert positions.
  10. Click Save.
  11. If you want, you can set how the application displays caregiver and patient names and whether the application displays genders for caregivers and patients.
    1. From the Configure menu, select Demand Manager > Facility Settings. The Facility Settings page opens.The Patient Progress Manager tab is active by default.
    2. If your organization has multiple facilities, there is a Facilities list on the right side of the page title bar. Select a facility from the menu.
    3. Click the Patient and Caregiver Identifiers tab to make it active.
    4. Complete the items in the Caregiver Identifiers section.
      1. Select a Name Display order:
        1. Select Last, First to display caregivers' names in last name, first name order, such as Smith, Jane for a caregiver named Jane Smith.
        2. Select First Middle Last to display full names, such as Jane Elizabeth Smith.
        3. Select Abbreviation to display abbreviations instead of names, such as JSmith-RN.
      2. Select a Display Gender Column option.
        1. Select Yes to display caregivers' genders throughout Assignment Manager.
        2. Select No if you do not want caregivers' genders displayed.
    5. Complete the items in the Patient Identifiers section.
      1. Select a Name Display Order.
        1. Select Last, First Middle to have patient names displayed in last name, first name, middle name order, such as Smith, Jane Elizabeth for a patient named Jane Elizabeth Smith.
        2. Select First Middle Last to have full names displayed, such as Jane Elizabeth Smith.
      2. Select a Display Gender Column option.
        1. Select Yes to display patients' genders throughout Assignment Manager pages and reports.
        2. Select No if you do not want patients' genders displayed. Note that you can still select gender as a patient identifier even if you select No for Display Gender Column (see the following step).
      3. If you want, you can complete one or more Identifier rows. Depending on the options you select, Clairvia Web displays patient identifier information in Assignment Manager.
        1. Select an Identifier. The options are National/Medical Record Number, Patient Encounter Number, Date of Birth, Gender, and Unique Encounter Number. Once you select an Identifier, the rest of the row becomes available for editing. An x is displayed at the end of the Identifier menu. If you click the x, the row reverts to its default state. You can only select each identifier once.
        2. Label: Enter up to four characters to label your selected identifier. For example, if you selected Date of Birth as the identifier, you might enter the label DOB. Each label must be unique.
        3. Select a Display On Screen option.
          1. Select No if you do not want the patient identifier and its label displayed in Clairvia Web.
          2. Select Yes to display the identifier and its label in Clairvia Web as a patient identifier. Note that only two patient identifiers can be displayed at a time.
          3. Select Yes and Hover to display the identifier and its label in Clairvia Web as a patient identifier and when users position their pointers over the identifier. Again, only two patient identifiers can be displayed at a time.
          4. Select Hover to display the identifier and its label in Clairvia Web only when users position their pointers over a patient's name or any other patient identifier.
        4. Select a Display On Reports option.
          1. Select No if you do not want the patient identifier value displayed on reports as a patient identifier.
          2. Select Yes to display the identifier and its label on reports as a patient identifier. You can only select Yes for two patient identifiers at any time.
        5. If you want, you can enter a number from 1 to 99 in the Truncate To box. This truncates or cuts your selected identifier to the number of characters you entered. If you do not want to truncate the identifier, leave this box blank. Note that Clairvia Web truncates the identifier starting from the right.
    6. Click Save to save your changes for your selected facility, or click Save to All Facilities to save these changes to all facilities in your organization.

See Understanding Assignment Spill-Over Time for more information about spill-over time.

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