Barnestorm Boost: Messaging

Your Current Processes:

Using hand written notes to relay messages to other staff.
Sending/receiving text messages.
Relaying messages via phone calls.

Benefits If You Change Your Process:

Automatically send messages to other Barnestorm users instead of use of paper notes (saves time).
The messages do not get lost of forgotten. The person who sends the message can see what they sent and when, so there is a record of communication.
You have a list of messages sent to other employees in your Barnestorm login and they can be resent at any time or cc’d to other staff members (convenient).
Messages can be printed as needed if a non-Barnestorm user needs a copy (convenient).
The receiver of the message will get a notification pop-up when they receive a new message.

New Process Details:

Get creative with ways to use the messaging feature.

Use messaging to send frequent reminders to staff. If you are currently handwriting reminders, messages, etc. to other staff members, then you can use the messaging system to send them a message, like an email. The messaging system allows you to indicate which patient the message is regarding, if the message is patient-related.

If there are messages you send frequently, you can insert the phrase into the Text Item to save time. An example of this would be when a Case Manager or Nursing Supervisor is reviewing a patients chart and notices a conflict in documentation, she can message the clinician who needs to correct or give clarification. The clinician receiving the message will see a pop-up message in the lower left corner of their screen, notifying her or him of a new message. The staff sending the message also has a history of the message with the information and when it was sent. That message can be re-sent at any time, forwarded to a different staff member, or printed.

Messaging also offers a handy tool to create reminders for yourself. You set the date and time for the reminder to pop up, as well as a note on the topic. When the reminder pops up, you have an option to reset it or dismiss it. You have an option to assign a chart number to the reminder as well, allowing you to set patient-specific reminders.

Get creative with your reminders and add new Text Items for your most common phrases (see screen shot for an example).

Example Message Topics: Correct documentation, review OASIS, order special supplies, reminder to pick up supplies, call insurance re:authorization expiring, new admission, new referral for disciplines.

Suggestion on how to start this process:

Start with Text Items

Ask staff what messages they relay on a regular basis.
Collect the most used messages and type them in Word (or Notepad).
Go to the Text Item feature in Barnestorm Office and create a new code for each phrase. Copy the phrase from Word and paste into the Text Item screen in Barnestorm. (How-to article link for this step is below.)
Helpful Tip: Enter a category name for all of your messages/reminders; ie. “Message”. When you select a Text Items, you can narrow down your search to just that one category (see screen shot attached for an example).
Helpful Tip: If you normally use one block of text with options, you can create one text item and then add all choices in the phrase. The person creating the message can simple delete any choices not needed.
Helpful Tip: Leave blank lines in the message Text Item for staff to "fill in the blank".

Sending Messages

Select a few employees to start using the messaging feature.
Have them send messages back and forth for a couple of weeks.
During the testing weeks, have the employee give feedback on what the process for your agency should be and if any other Text Item codes should be created.

Checks and Balances:

If you feel the need at first,you can always print the messages after sending them so that the receiving employee has a paper copy. Then once you feel comfortable you can eliminate the printing part. You’ll always have a copy of the message sent in your Barnestorm login, as long as it was not deleted.