How to Record Client Allergies, Alerts, and Advanced Directives in ElderSuite

📝 Overview

Staff who work with a client need to know about allergies, safety concerns, and advance directive paperwork before they start their day with that person. In ElderSuite, all of this lives in one place on the client's record: the Other tab of the Client Information window, opened from the Client Center.

The Other tab keeps three kinds of information apart. The Allergies box holds medication and food allergies and feeds the allergy line in the eMAR and eTAR. The Alerts box holds anything else staff should see at a glance, and it stands out in bold red on the client list. The Advanced Directives check boxes record which directives the client has on file, and they print on the client's Contact Information Assessment (Form ES1000).

⚙ How It Works

Open the Other Tab on the Client's Record

From the Client Center, click Client List, select the client, and click Edit Client, or double-click the client's row. When you choose the Other tab, the cursor lands on the Living Will check box. For a new client, you can fill in the same tab while adding the client. Limited Access users need the Edit Clients permission to open a record this way.

The same tab also holds the User Defined Fields group, where your center can switch on and name its own extra boxes with the Manage Fields button.

Record Allergies in the Allergies Box

Type the client's medication and food allergies into the Allergies box. It takes several lines of text, and while it is empty it reminds you where the entry goes: "Medication and food allergies - shown on every eMAR screen and printed on the MAR."

That reminder is literal. The entry appears in red in the client header on the eMAR and the eTAR, and on the "Allergies:" line of the printed MAR and TAR. When the box is left empty, the screen shows "No allergies on file" and the printed record reads "Allergies: none on file," rather than stating the client has no allergies. Because the entry travels with every printed MAR, keep it current.

Add Alerts Staff Should See at a Glance

Use the Alerts box for medical notes, special notes, safety concerns, behavioral cautions, or anything else staff should notice before working with the client. Its prompt reads "Enter any allergies, medical notes, special notes or any important information that you want users to see easily."

Inside the Alerts box, the Tab key types a tab character instead of moving to the next field.

Alerts are different from client notes. The Notes tab holds dated general notes, while Alerts is the single box meant to be read first.

Check the Advanced Directives That Apply

The Advanced Directives group has check boxes for Living Will, Do Not Resuscitate Order (DNR), Durable Power of Attorney, and Medical Power of Attorney. Check each one that applies; each box records that the client has that directive.

Save the Record and See Where Each Entry Appears

Click Save & Close. ElderSuite updates the other open windows that show client data, so nothing has to be closed and reopened to pick up the change.

• Allergies appear in the eMAR and eTAR client header and print on the MAR and TAR.
• Alerts appear in bold red in the Alerts area of the Client Information panel on the client list whenever the client is selected, and print on the Form ES1000.
• Advanced Directives that are checked print as checked boxes on the Form ES1000.

To see where the client list and these forms fit into the rest of the module, see the Client Center overview.

⚠ Put Allergies in the Allergies Box

The Alerts prompt mentions allergies, but the eMAR and eTAR read only the Allergies box. An allergy typed only into Alerts will show in red on the client list, yet the eMAR and eTAR will still read "No allergies on file." Enter medication and food allergies in the Allergies box so they reach the medication and treatment records.

💡 Need More Help?

For step-by-step instructions, click Ask Eddie from within ElderSuite.