Customisation of Client Details Forms

 
The Client Details layout screens can be customised to suit your practice needs. This means that additional data can be collected, or fields can be renamed to something more meaningful. Before tackling this there are several things to understand and consider such as who is going to be entering in the data and what their permissions are as well as the type of data to be collected. If you are planning to heavily customise your Client Layout, we recommend discussing your plans with our Sales or Support teams who can advise you on the best way forward.
 
What fields to use
There are 3 types of fields available for use within the customisation of Bp Allied. These are explained below: 
 
Consultation fields are fields which are tied to each appointment date and need to be used in the Consultation section of the layout. When a new appointment is generated a "fresh" set of Consultation fields are generated which allow you to enter in notes against this appointment date. Consultation fields are prefixed by the letter "C" eg: CText1, CNumeric1 prior to being renamed.
 
 DO NOT USE History (H prefixed fields) or ClientCustom fields within the Consultations section. The consultation fields will become enabled, even though an appointment date has not been selected and this can result in data loss because it is unable to be saved.
 
History fields are static fields that don't change with each appointment. These can be used within the History sections of the layout (i.e. the parts not related to an appointment date). History fields are prefixed by the letter "H" eg: HText1, HNumeric1 prior to being renamed.
 
Client Custom Fields
There are a limited number of ClientCustom fields that can be used for adding custom fields into the Contact Details or Referral tabs. These fields can be updated by any user that can edit a client’s demographic information.
 
In the Psychologist layout, the field ClientCustomCheck1 is used to indicate 'Case Closed'. It changes the background on the Client's name to orange and disables the ability to add a client to an appointment with the following warning “Case Closed – Cannot create appointment”.
 
Invoices Screen
The size of the Notes and Private Notes fields seen on the screen can be customised as fields within the Client Details can be. These are the only fields within the Invoices screen that can be changed.
 
 Who is going to use the new fields added?
Consultation and History fields can only be edited by a role with edit access to these sections of the Client record. For the Reception role, with no access to these fields by default, use the Client Custom Fields.
 
Using the new fields in Letters & Reports
A custom field will be automatically available to be displayed in a letter template. There are some limitations:
 
  • Maximum field name length is 95 characters including spaces. Any more than this will mean that field will not be able to be merged into a letter or other document template.
  • The font size and style can’t be changed however capitals can be used.
 
A custom report needs to be created to output information in a report format, or other bulk format e.g. a CSV file or Excel spreadsheet. Please contact our Sales team for a quote on the cost of these.
 
Adding new fields into Client Details
From time to time additional standard fields are made available for use in Client Details, for example in Version 6 there were new buttons and HealthFund fields added. Existing Bp Allied users need to manually add these to their Client Details files. Please view the video on how to move the new fields available in version 6 into place, or use the drag and drop method shown in add a new field.
 
Details on how to add a new tab, add a new field or change the width for field name and wrap the text can be found by following the links. There is also a video that shows how to drag and drop fields into the layout.
 
Viewing the new or updated fields – Layout Types
Initially, any changes made to it will only be seen by that user. There are two types of layout file, discussed below. The option chosen determines how this changed layout can be made available to other users:
 
A Practice Layout is a layout that has been developed specifically for a Practice and is used by all users of Bp Allied. This file is saved in a central location where all computers can access it. If your Practice has its own layout then any changes to this need to be saved into the master copy of this file. You must be a Bp Allied administrator to do this.
  • Master Practice document location can be found in System > Options > Documents - Server (Shared Documents).
  • The Practice Layout file is called PracticeClientDetailsLayout.xml
  • When it is copied into the User’s numbered folder it is called tmpPracticeLayout.xml
 
A Personal Layout is specific to an individual user and computer. Any changes made to it will only be seen by that user. A copy of this layout can be manually transferred to another user or computer.
  • The personal layout file is called ClientDetailsLayout.xml.
  • These are stored in a User ID numbered folder.
  • The default location is C:\Users\Public\Documents\myPractice\[UserNumberFolder]
 
User ID Folder
This is where the client layout files used by Bp Allied are stored for a specific user. These allow for a user to make personal client details changes. Each user has a numbered folder.
  • The default location is C:\Users\Public\Documents\myPractice
  • Your folder number is the number in the UserID field which can be found in System > Options > User Administration.