# Remote Data

You can view remote patient data with CPRS if Master Patient Index/Patient Demographics (MPI/PD) and several other patches have been installed at your site. If these patches have been installed and the proper parameters have been set, you can access remot e data generated at other VA and Department of Defense (DOD) facilities.

Text on the Remote Data and VistaWeb buttons

The CPRS user now has two choices for viewing remote data. One is the traditional Remote Data View (which has been str eamlined), the other is VistAWeb. Each system has its advantages.

The rest of this section follows Remote Data Views. If you want to use VistAWeb, documentation is available on the VistAWeb VA intranet page at http://vista.med.DNS /vistaweb

If the pat ient has remote data, the VistaWeb button text changes color to blue. If the user selects the VistaWeb button, the button changes appearance to look as if it is depressed. It will keep that appearance until the user selects a new patient.

When VistaWeb is launched by CPRS Context Management is maintained. This means that VistAWeb will change patients whenever the user selects a new patient in CPRS.

How Do I Know a Patient Has Remote Medical Data?

As part of opening a patient record, CPRS checks in the Treating Specialty file to see if the selected patient visited other facilities. If the patient has remote data, the words on the Remote Data button turn blue. If there is no remote data for the sele c ted patient, the letters are gray and the button unavailable.

If the user selects the Remote Data button with the blue text indicating that there is remote data, CPRS displays a list of sites that tells the user where and when the patient has been seen.

W hat Does the List of Sites Represent?

If you select on the Remote Data button, a drop-down list appears with the name(s) of sites where the patient has been seen. This list is based on either:

· Sites that have been specifically designated for your facility to access. These sites are assigned in a parameter that your Clinical Applications Coordinator (CAC) can set up.

· All VA sites where the patient has been seen and any Department of Defense remote data if it is available.

What Kind of Data Can I View?

C urrently with CPRS, you can view some lab and health summary components. There are limitations to what you can view.

· You can view any lab results that do not require input other than a date range.

· All reports listed on the Reports tab unless they are labeled "local only"

· You can view health summary components that have the same name on both the local and the remote site. You can therefore exchange national Health Summaries, but locally defined components may not be available unless the other site also has a component with the same name.

· If it is available, CPRS can also show some Department of Defense remote data.

How Will the Remote Data Be Viewed?

Viewing remote data is a two-step process. First, you select which remote sites you want to see data from, and then you select the specific information you want to view, such as lab tests or Health Summary components.

On the Reports tab, each site you select will have a separate tab for its data. As an example, you would might see five tabs on the Report s tab: Local, Department of Defense, Devcur, Loma Linda, Ca., and Office of Information.

You would then select the reports you want to view and a date range (if necessary). After this, CPRS will attempt to retrieve those reports if they are available on the remote sites. You would then click on each Treatment Facility's tab to see the report from that site. While CPRS is attempting to retrieve the data, the message "Transmission in Progress:" is displayed until the data is retrieved.

Related topics

Viewing Remote Data

Choosing RDV or VistaWeb to View Remote Data