How to add a distribution method

HealthTrack supports multiple document exchange providers for electronic distribution, including Health Link and Medical Objects. Whether it is electronic or manual, a doctor's distribution method is set up in the Add/Modify MO Details screen.

Set up a doctor's distribution method

Go to Admin > Referring MO Details.
In the Surname / Provider Number field, enter the doctor's surname or provider number and click Search.
Select the doctor from the results list.
Click Edit at the bottom of the screen.
In the Document and Report Distribution section, select the distribution method:
- Mail - HealthTrack flags the document for manual printing and posting.
- Fax - HealthTrack flags the document for fax delivery.
- Electronic - HealthTrack sends the document through a document exchange provider.
If you selected Electronic:
- Select the provider from the drop-down field.
- Enter the doctor's electronic address (i.e. HealthLink EDI, Email address etc.) in the Comms User/ID field. Your document exchange provider supplies the value required here.
- If a printed copy should also be sent, select the Additional Manual Copy Required checkbox. HealthTrack then sends the document electronically and also flags a printed copy.
Click Save.

If a doctor's Document and Report Distribution fields are not set up, HealthTrack flags their documents as manual. Staff will need to print and post those documents from the Distribution List.

How HealthTrack chooses the delivery method

The method you set here is the recipient's registered method. When a document is ready to distribute, HealthTrack works out how to send it to each recipient in this order:

A method set directly on the distribution entry (an override), if one has been chosen.
The recipient doctor's registered distribution method - the method you set on this screen.
For an internal doctor, the document goes to their internal review rather than being sent out.
For a patient recipient, the practice's default patient method (usually mail).
If none of these gives a usable electronic method, the entry falls back to manual print and is flagged on the Distribution List with the message The recipient does not have a valid auto process method.

This is why a recipient with no registered electronic method, or an electronic address left blank, will not send automatically. The document is not lost - it drops back to manual print for staff to handle from the Distribution List.

Automatic electronic distribution is a licensed feature, and each provider has to be enabled for your site. If the feature or the chosen provider is not licensed or enabled, every entry is treated as manual print.

Documents only send once they are finalised

HealthTrack only distributes a document once it has reached its Final state. A document still in Draft is invisible to the background sender: it will not distribute, and it will not show an error. If a document appears to be doing nothing, check that it has been finalised.

Referrals are the exception - a referral can distribute without waiting for the document to be finalised.

When a document will not send electronically

The two most common causes are:

The recipient has no registered electronic method. Check the doctor's Document and Report Distribution fields in Admin > Referring MO Details, and confirm the Comms User/ID is filled in for electronic delivery.
The document has not been finalised. Finalise the document, then check the Distribution List again.
Not for Distribution is ticked in the record/document's Info screen.

If an entry has already dropped to manual because of an error, staff can fix the cause, clear the error, and un-tick the manual checkbox so HealthTrack picks it up again on the next run.