You can assign problems (medical conditions) to patients.
Note: Assigning problems requires the "Medical Alerts, Edit" security right.
To assign a problem
In the Medical Alerts dialog box, click the New Medical Alert button 
, and then click Problem on the menu.
If applicable, do one of the following:
If the Password - Medical Alerts, Edit dialog box appears, user verification has been assigned to the "Medical Alerts, Edit" task. Do one of the following:
If your user account has been granted the "Medical Alerts, Edit" security right, enter your credentials in the User ID and Password boxes, and then click OK.
If your user account has not been granted the "Medical Alerts, Edit" security right, have a user with permission temporarily override this restriction so you can assign a medical alert this one time. The overriding user enters his or her credentials in the User ID and Password boxes and then clicks OK.
If a message appears, informing you that you do not have rights to this operation, your user account has not been granted the "Medical Alerts, Edit" security right. To have a user with permission temporarily override this restriction so you can assign a medical alert this one time, do the following:
On the message, click Yes.
In the Password - Medical Alerts, Edit dialog box, the overriding user enters his or her credentials in the User ID and Password boxes and then clicks OK.
The Problem Selection dialog box appears.
If the list is long, to search for a problem, do the following:
Click Search.
The options for searching become available in the upper list.
Enter your search criteria in one or more of the following boxes: Problem, SNOMED, ICD9, ICD10, and MediSpan.
Click Show Results.
The upper list displays the matching problems.
Note: To return to viewing the list of all problems, click Search, Clear Search, and then Show Results.
In the upper list, select the correct problem.
Click Add.
The problem now appears in the lower list.
Notes:
To add other problems, repeat steps 3-5 as needed.
To remove a problem from the lower list, select that problem, and then click Remove.
Click OK.
The New Patient Medical Alert(s) dialog box appears and displays the selected problems in the Selected Alerts list.
Notes:
To add other problems, click the applicable option on the Add button menu, and then repeat steps 2-6. Similarly, in addition to problems, you can add other types of medical alerts (medications, allergies, and implantable devices) by selecting the corresponding option on the Add menu.
To remove a problem or another type of medical alert, select it in the Selected Alerts list, and then click Remove.
For each problem in the Selected Alerts list, select the problem (if it is not already selected), and then set up the following options:
Discovery Date - The date that you found out about the problem. By default, the current date is entered. To change the date, do any of the following:
To enter a date, do any of the following:
To change the month, click the month portion of the date and then enter a month as a 1-digit or 2-digit number.
To change the day, click the day portion of the date and then enter a day as a 1-digit or 2-digit number.
To change the year, click the year portion of the date and then enter a year as a 2-digit or 4-digit number.
To select a date, do the following:
Click the calendar icon to view a month calendar.
Navigate to the correct month using the left and right arrows.
Note: To quickly change the year and month, click the month-year at the top of the calendar, navigate to the correct year using the left and right arrows, and then click the correct month.
Click the correct day.
End Date - Do one of the following:
If the patient no longer experiences the problem and knows when that occurred, clear the No End Date or End Date Unknown checkbox, and then specify the date when the patient no longer experienced the problem by doing any of the following:
To enter a date, do any of the following:
To change the month, click the month portion of the date and then enter a month as a 1-digit or 2-digit number.
To change the day, click the day portion of the date and then enter a day as a 1-digit or 2-digit number.
To change the year, click the year portion of the date and then enter a year as a 2-digit or 4-digit number.
To select a date, do the following:
Click the calendar icon to view a month calendar.
Navigate to the correct month using the left and right arrows.
Note: To quickly change the year and month, click the month-year at the top of the calendar, navigate to the correct year using the left and right arrows, and then click the correct month.
Click the correct day.
If the patient still experiences the problem or cannot provide the date when he or she stopped experiencing it, leave the No End Date or End Date Unknown checkbox selected.
Encounter # - An encounter number to associate with all medical alerts in the Selected Alerts list. Enter the correct encounter number, or click the search button 
to select one.
Confirmation Status - The confirmation status of the problem. Select one of the following options: Confirmed, Unconfirmed, or Unknown.
Select Alert - If you need to change the problem, click the search button to select a different problem.
Note: The SNOMED, ICD-9, ICD-10, Medispan, and First DataBank codes that are associated with the selected problem appear for your reference.
Severity - The severity to associate with this problem. To select a severity, do the following:
Click the search button .
The Select Severity dialog box appears.
If the severity that you want to add is not in the list, to add that severity, click New.
Note: Adding a severity definition requires the "Practice Definitions Setup" security right.
In the list, select the correct severity.
Click Ok.
Notes - Any notes regarding the problem. To check the spelling of the note text, click the Check Spelling button 
(this button is available only if a certain preference setting has been enabled).
Generate Public Health Surveillance Message - If you have selected an alert, and the patient has any lab test results attached to his or her patient record, to create a public health surveillance record, click this button 
.
Note: The message is stored as a file that is formatted for HL7 and includes information relating to diagnoses. Eventually these messages will be sent to and received by the CDC to help catch disease outbreaks. Currently, you can only upload a file manually.
Click OK.