The electronic signature functionality allows you to sign progress notes to approve their content and/or verify their accuracy.
Once signed, progress notes are locked from further editing - UNLESS your agency has turned on the Progress Notes Versioning feature, in which case, see the Progress Notes Versioning page for more information.
Staff with the authority to sign notes do so using a Click to Sign link available when viewing the note in report mode, and may also assist others (clients or other authorized individuals) in signing. Clients with AWARDS logins can also sign notes on their own without staff assistance if the program has been set up to allow it.
The E-Signatures Configurations tool determines who has the authority to sign progress notes, when, and how:
- Progress Notes E-Signatures Configuration Overview & Instructions- This enables agencies to create custom signature sets to designate who should sign progress notes, and which options they will have in the signing interface. It allows for the establishment of different signing rules for different note types and/or program types, as well as for the creation of default signature sets to be used when rules are not defined.
Instructions
To access and electronically sign a progress note or to assist a client or other individual in signing, complete the following steps:
Note: the process for e-signing a progress note varies slightly for clients with their own AWARDS logins. These clients can complete the signing process without assistance by selecting Client Records from the AWARDS Home screen, clicking Progress Notes, and then clicking the date link for the note that needs to be signed. From there, their signing process is the same as laid out below, beginning with Step 6.
Also note: The instructions below detail the process of generating a Progress Notes Report to access a note for signing. Notes can also be accessed for signing by going into the Progress Note Index in data entry mode and clicking the underlined note date to open the note in report mode. The Client History Report can also be used to access notes for signing. If you access a note in either of those ways, skip ahead to Step 6.
- From the left-side global navigation menu, click the Reports icon.
- On the Reports Index page, select the appropriate Program from the Program drop-down menu and then locate the Progress Notes Report.
- Click on the Progress Notes Report. The Progress Notes Report Selections page will display.
- Configure the report criteria as necessary. Note: for more information on available progress note report settings, see Viewing a Progress Notes Report.
- When you've set the appropriate criteria, click Show Notes. The Progress Notes Report will display.
- Navigate to the portion of the page containing the note you wish to sign. Select either:
- Click to Sign - For staff that are eligible to sign the note
- Allow Client to Sign - For Clients who are eligible to sign the note and have an AWARDS login. Also available for staff who are assisting eligible client's with signing.
- Allow Other to Sign - For a note that was configured to include an e-signature for someone other than an employee or client.
- Click for Refused/Unavailable - For notes that are configured to allow the recording of a signature refusal or the unavailability of a needed signature.
- When Sign Now is clicked, the following takes place:
- The note is signed and the e-signature is displayed with that note on the Progress Notes Report page. The signature for staff members is composed of authority level, followed by signer name and credentials, job title, the signature image (if selected), and the date and time the note was signed.
- Keep in mind that if any other staff member or the client previously signed the same note, the new signature is added to those existing signatures. In such cases, reviewer signatures are listed after the note writer's signature.
- The note is locked from further edits. Notes that have been signed and locked in this manner are shown with a lock and key icon next to them in the Progress Notes Index in data entry mode as shown here:
- If your AWARDS database is configured to use the Interoperability Center and the Notes as Encounters on CCDA feature has been configured to trigger a CCDA for notes of this typewritten in this type of program, a CCDA encounter is now generated. If necessary, it can be viewed from within the Transmitted Messages component of the Interoperability Center, where it will be listed as an outbound CCDA.