Working through the Distribution List
The Distribution List is HealthTrack's practice-wide queue of outgoing documents. Every letter, report and referral that needs to reach a GP, specialist, interested party or patient passes through it. This article covers the everyday reception and admin tasks: checking what is waiting, printing mail items, fixing errors and resending documents.
Each clinical record also has its own Distribution List of recipients for that document. This article is about the practice-wide screen where sending is tracked and worked.
Opening the Distribution List
The Distribution List is accessible via Workflow > Distribution List - it shows pending, completed and manual items for the whole practice. Each entry is one document going to one recipient, so a letter with three recipients appears as three entries.
How a document gets here
When a report or letter is finalised, or an outbound referral is created, an entry is added for each recipient on the document's Distribution List. How each entry travels depends on the recipient:
- Referring doctors and specialists are sent the document using their registered delivery method, such as secure messaging (HealthLink, Medical Objects), fax, or email. See How to add a distribution method.
- Doctors at your own practice receive the document as an internal review rather than an outgoing message.
- Patients receive the document by your practice's default patient method, which is mail unless your practice has set this otherwise.
- Recipients with no registered electronic method are flagged as manual, so staff can print and post the document.
Only documents with a Final status are sent. A draft document sits on the record without sending and without showing an error, so if a distribution seems to be doing nothing, check the document's status first.
Understanding the statuses
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Pending | Waiting to be sent, or waiting for a staff member if the entry is flagged Manual. |
| Sent | The document has gone out and HealthTrack is waiting for the recipient's system to confirm receipt. Secure messaging and fax confirmations can take a while to arrive. |
| Delivered | The recipient's system has confirmed the document arrived. |
| Error | Sending failed. The entry carries a note explaining why. |
| Complete | The entry is finished and needs no further action. |
Printing mail items
Mail items never send themselves. When a recipient's method is mail, the entry waits on the Distribution List for a staff member to print it, post it and mark it complete.
- Filter the Distribution List to the pending mail items.
- Print each document.
- Mark the printed entries as complete so they leave the queue.
Fixing an item with an error
When sending fails, the entry is flagged Manual and the error note on the entry names the cause. The standard fix is:
- Open the entry and read the error note.
- Fix the underlying cause (see the table below).
- Select OK on the error.
- Untick Manual. HealthTrack picks the entry up again within a few minutes and automaticallty resends.
| Common Error | What it means and how to fix it |
|---|---|
| The recipient does not have a valid auto process method | The recipient has no working electronic delivery method registered. Set up their delivery method on the Referring MO Details screen, then clear the error. Until then, print and post the document. See How to add a distribution method. |
| Message too large | The recipient's secure messaging service rejected the document for size. Reduce the attachments or send it another way, such as fax or post. |
| Invalid address | The recipient's secure messaging address is wrong. Correct it on their details, then clear the error. |
| Fax failed after retries | The fax service gave up after several attempts. Check the fax number is correct and the receiving machine is working, then clear the error. |
| Email failure | The error text names the cause. Check the recipient's email address first. |
To clearly see error messages at a glance, right-click the header at the top and select Column Chooser - then, in the 'Customisation' pop-up, double-click on Error Message. This will add in a column which displays the full error message so you don't have to click into the error icon for each entry.
Referrals travel the same way
Outbound referrals are delivered through the same queue. When you create an outbound referral, it is added to the Distribution List and sent using the recipient's delivery method, and you can track its progress and fix any errors here in the same way as a letter or report.
Why didn't my document, letter or message send?
- The document is still a draft. Only FINAL documents send. A draft sits on the record with no error and nothing sent until it is finalised. See How to manage documents.
- The entry is stuck on Manual with an error. Read the error note, fix the cause, select OK and untick Manual. The entry stays put until the error is fixed.
- The recipient has no valid auto process method. Their document falls back to you for printing. Register a delivery method for them on Referring MO Details so future documents send automatically.
- It is a mail item. Mail items wait to be printed by design. They are not stuck.
- It is an SMS or email message to a patient. Patient messages do not travel through the Distribution List. Check the message log to see whether the message was sent and delivered. Message errors there are acknowledge-only: you cannot retry from the error screen, so resend the message from the screen you originally sent it from.