Contact History
Communications you have had with a patient can be found in their Contact History. These include voice call recordings, video call recordings (audio only), SMS messages sent and photos received
Calls are associated to patients in 2 scenarios -
You have dialled the patient using click to call via the Active Patient or Appointments area
You have received an inbound call and have clicked on one of the patient ID popups to open the patient record
You can listen to recordings, view SMS/Photos and file all types of patient communications through the Contact History
When using the Phonebar to make and receive patient calls, and where we have been able to recognise the exact patient you are talking to, the call recording will be associated with that patient for up to 2 months (current month and previous month), photos will be kept for 28 days
The call recordings can be filed into the patient record from the Phonebar, either immediately after the call (quick file) or at a later date from the Patient’s Contact History
This guide will show you how to use Contact History to listen to associated recordings, view photos and SMS and file patient communications to their clinical record
For details on how to access all call recordings see our User Console - Call Recordings guides
Step by step guide
Accessing Contact History
Active Patient
Select the Contact History icon
A window of the Contact History not yet filed for that that patient will appear on your screen
Appointments
When your appointments list is loaded, you will see the Patient details listed
Select the Contact History icon
A window of the Contact History not yet filed for that that patient will appear on your screen
From the Phonebar
You can also view your recent patient call history directly from the phonebar by clicking this icon.
This opens up a pop-up with a user's latest call history. From here you can listen to your call recordings and voicemails from the last month
To access a call recording click the play icon.
NOTE: this will be the user’s own call recordings only
To access a personal Voicemail, click the voicemail icon.
NOTE this will be personal Voicemail messages, not Group Voicemail messages.
This will expand the line and provide an option to listen to the call recording/voicemail.
The three dots to the right allow you the option to download the message, should you need to save it to your PC.
Listening to call recordings
With your Contact History window open, to listen to the call recording click on Play recording
The call recording play bar will open. You can play, pause, skip forwards and backwards and adjust the volume from here
NOTE: A video call will only record the audio and will display in the Contact History in the same way as an audio call
Call Icons
Call Icons will help you identify if a call was inbound, outbound or missed
Icons are allocated to each call type. Below is a full list of the call icons used in the Phonebar
Inbound Call |  |
Outbound Call |  |
Missed Call |  |
Photo Message |  |
Viewing patient communications
SMS
With your Contact History window open, to view the sent SMS click on Read SMS
The SMS will display on the contact history window
Photos
With your Contact History window open, to view the photo click on View photo
The photo will open in a new window, you can rotate it and zoom in and out
Filing patient communications
Currently, filing call recordings as shown in the guide below is NOT AVAILABLE for SystmOne customers
With the Contact History window open you will see all of the patient communications not yet filed for that patient
You can use the scroll bar on the right hand side to move up and down the list. Calls, call recordings, messages, photo requests and submitted photos will be listed in date order
Select the communications you would like to file to the Patient Record, you can do this individually or file several communications at the same time
When you are happy with your selection click on the FILE TO PATIENT RECORD button
Once you have done this the clinical record will update and you will see all the filed communication history from within the patient record
The Contact History window will update showing Saved to record
Quick File
Quick File of Telephone Calls cannot be turned on for SystmOne customers
When you have turned on Quick File you will be able to file the communication with the patient into the patient record by clicking on the confirmation, rather than going into the patient’s contact history to file it later
To enable Quick File see our Settings and Preferences guide
At the end of a communication with the patient you will see a confirmation box on your Phonebar
Click on FILE CALL RECORDING to file directly to the patient record immediately
Once you have done this the clinical record will update and you will see all the filed communication history from within the patient record
NOTE: The confirmation will close automatically after 8 seconds
You will still be able to listen to and, if necessary, file the communication from the patient contact history at a later date if you choose not to file it immediately
Deleting patient communications
With the Contact History window open you will see all of the patient communications not yet filed for that that patient
You can use the scroll bar on the right hand side to move up and down the list. Calls, call recordings, messages, photo requests and submitted photos will be listed in date order
Select the communications you would like to remove from Contact History
When you have selected the communications you would like to remove click Delete
You will be notified that the item has been deleted
You will no longer be able to access the recording in Contact History, but it will be noted as Discarded
Where are they stored in my Clinical System?
Once you have saved your patient contact history to your Clinical System, they be available to anyone with access to them, from there
EMIS
There are 2 places within EMIS that customers can see communication received or made through Surgery Connect
Firstly is in the Patient Summary area where textual records of the communication is logged as well as any files associated with that communication (call recording or photos), here you can see a few call records and their recordings in the Patient Summary
As the communication is also coded, there will also be a record visible from the Care History area (though this is just a log of codes) the full details of the communication and any associated files are not available from this area
SystmOne
There are 2 places within SystmOne that customers can see communication received or made through Surgery Connect
Firstly is in the Journal area where textual records of the communication is logged as well as any files associated with that communication (call recording or photos), here you can see a few call records and their recordings in the patient Journal
As the communication is also coded, there will also be a record visible from the Read Code Journal area (though this is just a log of codes) the full details of the communication and any associated files are not available from this area
