Addendums Update

Available with software version updates released 8/21/14 or later, two overrides are now available that are specific to Addendums.  Addendums as a new feature were requested by several agencies.   Software capability to provide an original document date and signature along with any subsequent late entries or corrections was needed due to  requests by state surveyors and for instances when medical record reviews were requested.  Addendums have also been provided to assist agencies with HIPAA requirements related to data integrity standard 164.312 (c)(1) in the security Standards, Technical Safeguards as agencies “implement policies and procedures to protect electronic protected health information from improper alteration or destruction”.  As guidelines for clinical note writing and incorporation into the clinical record can differ according to state or other certifying body regulations, a new override has been added to allow an agency to indicate a different time frame for document locking then the default of 48 hours.  Agencies will be able to enter 3-14 days.  The override can be found in Other Set up, System Overrides tab, Security tab.  In the same tab we have also added an override to turn off Addendums as a feature for those agencies who have determined/documented the feature is not needed to maintain document integrity and/or may have other policies and procedures in place to maintain original document dates and signature and capture document addendums.