Patient Record (PAS) Lookup

Your PTS application is likely to be connecting to a patient record database of some sort. This is the facility that looks up the patient details on the booking in screen.

By far the most popular choice is to connect PTS to the JAC/WellSky/CMM (hereafter "CMM") dispensing database, and our technician will have created this link for you during installation if the option was available to them.

When the CMM database (or other patient record database) is moved or modified (e.g. as part of an upgrade or server decommission) the link between PTS and the patient record database will be broken.

It's worth pointing out that PTS remains usable even if the patient lookup goes down - users can just enter patient details manually.

PTS 5.0.3.1 and newer

Starting in PTS 5.0.3.1, the PAS link information is stored in Application Settings and is modifiable by a system administrator. The relevant settings are as follows:

• LOCALIDF
  Format of Local ID. This allows prefix or suffix characters to be added to Local IDs. Alternatively you could handle this in the query itself.
• LOCALIDQRY
  Query used by booking-in screen when searching for a patient using localID. PTS will look for the following field names returned by the query: NationalID, LocalID, Title, Forename, Familyname, Gender, Mobile, EMail, DOB, Address.
• NATIDF
  Format of National ID. This allows prefix or suffix characters to be added to National IDs. Alternatively you could handle this in the query itself.
• NATIDQRY
  Query used by booking-in screen when searching for a patient using nationalID. PTS will look for the following field names returned by the query: NationalID, LocalID, Title, Forename, Familyname, Gender, Mobile, EMail, DOB, Address.
• PASDSNS
  Patient Lookup DSNs. This can also be set to a direct connection string.

Assuming the data structure of the new patient record database remains the same as before, more than likely you'll only need to amend the PASDSNS setting and/or the server data source itself to repoint it to the new database location, however an advanced user could redesign the queries here if necessary. Use aliases in the queries to ensure the field names match what is required by PTS.

PTS 5.0.3.0 and older

If you are running a slightly older version of PTS the data source name will be hardcoded - PTSPAS - so you should locate this data source on the PTS server and either modify it, or replace it with a new data source while retaining the PTSPAS name.

Much older versions of PTS had the patient record connection information embedded in a DLL file that cannot be modified. If this is the case you should contact us to arrange a PTS software update.

Timing of the update

We're commonly asked if we can implement the update beforehand on a test basis and have it ready for the CMM server switchover. Unfortunately this isn't logistically possible. Firstly, until the new server is live, we cannot test a connection to it. Secondly implementing the change prematurely would break the existing patient lookup for no good reason; there is no mechanism to connect to two databases from one data source.

Essentially when the connection would pass any meaningful test, the change would be ready to implement anyway.

It's important to reiterate the non-critical nature of this facility. It is just an auto-complete of the patient's name on the booking in screen which can be typed in by hand at any time.