Patient Consult Summary application
Create and share a consult summary for your patient during a Video Call
The Patient Consult Summary app allows health service providers to create and share a patient consultation summary with a patient during a Video Call consultation.
This app was developed through a collaborative project supported by the Digital Health CRC Limited (DHCRC), Monash University, Healthdirect Australia, Monash Health, University of Melbourne, and Department of Health Victoria. DHCRC is funded under the Australian Commonwealth's Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Program.
The following forms are designed for organisations and clinics interested in using this application:
- To request access to the Patient Consult Summary app for your clinic(s), please use this consent form.
- For health practitioners using the app, please provide your feedback using this survey.
Watch the how-to video to see how to use the application:
Here is a link to the above how-to video.
Watch the demonstration video which shows the Patient Consult Summary app being used during a simulated Video Call consultation:
Here is a link to the above demonstration video.
How it works
Using the Patient Consult Summary App
| Click on the Patient Consult Summary app button in the Video call screen to launch the app. |  |
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The app opens and the health service provider can choose:
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| Once the desired option is selected, the details can be filled in during the consultation. The health service provider starts creating the summary by entering the necessary information for the consultation at the top, including their role, the patient's name (pre-filled but can be edited), date of birth and Patient number if mandatory in your health setting (this field can be renamed by your clinic admin so may be UR Number or other appropriate heading). |
This image shows the Default Template headings pre-populated |
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During the consultation, the health service provider can type the relevant information being discussed into the summary headings. They can create new headings and reorder easily by cutting and pasting. There are many text formatting options and the ability to create or import tables. Images can also be imported. Please note, the summary is not shared with the patient at this stage.
Click Save Template at any time to save your current summary as a personal template for later use.
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Rich text formatting
The text in the summary can be formatted to suit the consultation requirements.
Options:
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| The bold red dotted lines indicate a page break, so you can edit and format the summary correctly. In this example the table and heading could be moved down to accomodate the page break in the exported pdf. |
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| If the clinic admin has enabled dictation, a mic button appears in the top bar to allow speech to text. As with other voice to text applications, dictation is not always accurate, as it may misidentify words or pick up external sounds, so the health practitioner needs to check to ensure that the final summary sent to the patient is correct. |  |
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Preview: to preview the summary prior to sharing with the patient. Once the summary is previewed with this option, there is an option to Share with Patient (Image 2) OR Preview and Share: to preview the summary and share it with the patient at the same time. |
Image 2 |
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Once shared, both participants see the same non-editable preview screen and the health service provider has the following function buttons at the bottom.
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| In the shared summary, health practitioners and patients may see highlighted terms. Hovering their mouse over any highlighted terms will display medical terminology explanations. These explanations are sourced from Healthdirect’s glossary of medical terms and help patients understand the summary more easily. |
The explanation for ‘fever’ was added automatically, referencing Healthdirect's glossary of medical terms |
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Health practitioners can also add their own explanations to specific terms by clicking Add New Explanation. Type in the word(s) and add the explanation. The summary will update and any newly added explanations will be highlighted and display - but will not persist beyond the current call.
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This example shows the explanation for Antivirals being added by the clinician
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When the summary is emailed or saved as a PDF the highlighted medical explanations will appear at the bottom of the summary, as long as Include Terminology in PDF remains ticked. The PDF is password protected for security and the password is the patient's DOB in the format of (DD/MM/YYYY). |
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Once the summary has been discussed, health practitioners can send it to the patient or to themselves via email. Click the Email button and add the required email address. A copy of the summary will also be sent to the configured clinic email account for record-keeping purposes when it is emailed to any email address. Both health practitioners and patients also have the option to save the summary as a PDF file.
Remember that when the consultation is ended, the summary will no longer be available in the Video Call platform. There is an auto recovery of the summary, however, if the call gets disconnected or the computer crashes. |
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Configuration (for clinic administrators)
Please Note: as with all Healthdirect apps, this app does not store any data shared during the session. It does not for example, save the summary shared by the health service provider with their patient once the call ends. A copy is emailed to the configured email address for the health service once the clinician emails to any email address (patient etc) and it is the responsibility of the clinic to keep these records.
The various configuration sections of the app are detailed below. They will apply to all summaries generated in the clinic.
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General configuration The default App Name is Patient Consult Summary and this can be renamed by the clinic administrator, if desired. Enable App by clicking in the check box - it is not enabled by default. Only Enable Dictation if the health service providers will be using this feature - the speech to text will need to be checked for accuracy by the health service provider. Click Save Configuration if you make any changes. |
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Clinic Details configuration Add the clinic name which will appear in the PDF version of the summary. The configured Clinic Email Address will be displayed in the footer of the PDF summary and will receive a copy of the summary (when emailed to any other email address by the clinician). The Clinic Phone Number and Clinic Address will also be displayed in the footer of the PDF version of the summary. |
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Privacy and Patient ID configuration Encrypting the exported PDF adds another layer of privacy and security. When the PDF is downloaded or emailed, the password is required each time it is opened. The Patient ID field can be configured to suit the clinic requirements. This field can be named and you can choose whether it is mandatory and whether you require the patient to input both letters and numbers. |
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Sharing controls configuration Choose whether an email (cc) will be sent to the configured email address when the summary is emailed. Download can be disabled for all participants, if required. Emailing of the summary can also be disabled, if required. |
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Clinic Templates Enabling the Default Template gives clinicians a starting point to create their summaries, with several headings already added. This can be edited as required. Once a clinician has created the format of a summary that suites their needs, they can click Save Template to create a personal template for later use. They can create multiple personal templates to suit their consultation types. These templates will be available in the app when using the same browser and device. Clinic templates can also be created for all users in the clinic to access, The clinic admin can create personal templates and then click the 'Import from personal templates' button and save. |
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Experimental These options are experimental and can be updated or enabled as required. The PiP options allow the app to sit outside the call screen and over another window or application. As mentioned in the text, these options may not work in all browsers and there may be other issues associated with enabling these, so testing before use is advised. Please ensure you Save Configuration in each of the config tabs if you make any changes. |
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