Viewing a patient's measurement trends (Longitudinal Reporting)
Longitudinal Reporting shows how a patient's clinical measurements have changed over time. It brings together the measurements recorded across all of a patient's visits and presents them as a trend chart and a visit-by-visit grid, so you can see the full picture at a glance instead of opening each record one by one.
Longitudinal Reporting is currently available for ophthalmology records only, covering measurements such as intraocular pressure (IOP), biometry, refraction and visual acuity.
What you will see
- Measurement tabs: measurements are grouped into tabs (for example IOP), plus an All tab that shows everything together.
- Trend chart: numeric measurements plotted over time, one line per measurement.
- Visit grid: a table with one row per visit, showing the recorded values side by side.
Depending on the version your site runs, the screen layout may look slightly different, but the same information is shown.
How to open it
- Open the patient's ophthalmology clinical record.
- Select the Longitudinal Reporting button in the record header.
- On the desktop, the report opens in its own window titled Longitudinal Reporting. In HealthTrack Online, it opens in a new browser tab.
Adjusting the view
- Date range: the view opens showing the last 12 months. You can switch to 6 months, 12 months, 2 years, all visits, or a custom range. The date range changes what is displayed on screen; the patient's full history is always loaded, so widening the range does not require a refresh.
- Eye display: for eye measurements you can chart both eyes together, use the toggles at the top to split them into separate charts, or show only the right or left eye.
- Combined: single chart - right and left overlaid.
- Split: OD and OS side-by-side with shared y-axis.
- OD: right-eye only.
- OS: left-eye only.
Printing and copying
Longitudinal Reporting is a viewing tool. It does not save a report to the patient's record or create a document. To keep or share what you see:
- Select Print to print the current view.
- Select Copy to copy the chart as an image, or the grid as a table, ready to paste into a letter or another program.
- Table: copies table as text.
- Chart: copies chart as an image. Select the 'Show values on chart' option to add a number to each point.
If you need the trend as part of a document, copy the chart and paste it into a letter.
Key Information
- The report shows one patient at a time, across their whole history.
- A measurement only appears if your site has it configured for Longitudinal Reporting. If a value you record is not showing, contact HealthTrack support to have it added.
- Access requires the permission to view clinical records. If the report will not open for a user, check their permissions.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The option is not available for a non-eye record | Longitudinal Reporting currently supports ophthalmology records only | No action; other record types are not available at this stage |
| A measurement is missing from the chart or grid | The measurement is not configured for Longitudinal Reporting at your site | Contact HealthTrack support to have the field added |
| The report will not open for a user | The user's security group does not include permission to view clinical records | Review the user's permissions |
| The screen looks different at another site or workstation | Different sites can run different versions of the screen | No action; the same information is shown |
| You cannot find a saved copy of the report | Longitudinal Reporting does not save anything to the record | Print the view or copy the chart or grid into a document |