Context: Therapy protocols help organize the delivery of tests and therapies across multiple encounters for a specific health condition. Therapy plans are patient-specific instances of therapy protocols, with elements selected to suit unique patient needs and constraints.
Answer: When a physician modifies an order in a therapy plan, (s)he will need to re-sign the plan in order for changes to propagate to subsequent encounters. There are some special considerations:
- If the patient’s plan encounter is ‘today’ with a status of ‘arrived,’ signing a plan-related order will trigger a pop-up that notifies the provider that the patient is currently receiving a relevant intervention.
- If changes were intended for an intervention already underway, the provider must call the administering provider(s) to halt a potentially inappropriate medication administration. No call is needed if the ordering physician does not want changes reflected in the current therapy plan intervention.
- Because changes to therapy plan orders do not change interventions underway, a warning reminds physicians that their work is reflected in future treatments.
