Published Jul 18, 2014
amandarn10
9 Posts
I am starting my first school nursing job this fall, in 3 weeks. One of my 1st tasks is to decide what software system the school should use for documentation. From what I understand the main options are Teacherease, Nursesaide, SNAP, and health center. Has anybody used any of these systems or have any feedback about this so I can have a heads up? Thanks!
Flare, ASN, BSN
4,431 Posts
I use healthoffice anywhere by healthmaster, which is a web based charting program. I really like it. it's an intuitive and complete program and it being web based means that I can access it wherever I need to. The company tells me it can even be accessed on an iPad which would be nice if i ever left the office haha!
Wave Watcher
751 Posts
We use SNAP. I really like the idea of what Flare is using. Especially, if it can be used anywhere since it's web based! We have had numerous problems when merging information each year....such as with new students and new kindergartners. All I know is there have been more than one occasions where we (nurses) have had to re-enter all our immunizations after a merge of data. I say....stay way from SNAP if possible.
shellfrmmo, ASN, BSN, MSN, CNA, LPN, LVN, RN
62 Posts
Flare- how well does yours merge data? Does it compile non-compliant immunization lists? can it make reports such as how many times a student has been in the nurses office?
we just use that basic component PowerSchool has (its not even the health component). Its very basic and isn't really user friendly on reports at all.
it merges the data pretty well as far as basic data from the other data pool (oncourse). It's really just a matter of pulling the fields you want and importing them in. I keep my students pretty basic - name, grade, id, DOB, gender. But you can import class, race, and a whole slew of fields i didn't think were worth my time.
As far as the immunizations - it will tell you compliances - but of course you have to put the data in! When I have down time (ha ha!), I enter immunizations into the system. You can even print out pretty typed copies of the state's a-45 form.
It will tell you how many times a student's been in the office. They did an update and that feature went away temporarily. I was on the phone with tech that day complaining about it since that's something i look at constantly. There's an Exam history tab that opens during the office visit so you can even see why the student was there in the past.
donnadumont
1 Post
Hi Amanda. I have used SNAP in two different districts. I like the one I am using now. I can compile any report I want. It is handy because the data transfers from powerschool, which keeps my demographic data updated. We are able to quickly check history on students. This is handy because if I recognize a frequent flier, I check to see what time of day they come, and with what complaint, and it sometimes indicates a need to involve guidance. I like that I can watch trends, and bill medicaid directly from the program. This program has saved me time. We are a hosted environment, and I have been able to work remotely as well. As far as IT, I have always gotten a live person on the phone, and have always had any issues resolved within minutes. Their tutorials are helpful, and the support staff have been unbelievable - and friendly as well! Donna
NurseLRW
42 Posts
We have SNAP in our large high school/middle school district (4 individual schools with approximately 6,200 students).
SNAP meets and exceeds all HIPAA and FERPA requirements. HIPAA compliance is achieved by automatically auditing all edits to student medical data thus preventing any unauthorized changes. Also, access to the program is limited by requiring each user to sign in with a unique user name and password. User accounts are maintained by the system administrator and can be assigned a variety of security levels allowing or denying access to each of the 26 functional areas of the program. FERPA compliance is met by automatically tracking all access and edits to student health records.
In addition, SNAP helps us to keep track of immunizations. I truly have absolute confidence in SNAPs immunization audit compliance. SNAP is linked directly to the NYS Department of Health, so when school immunization rules and regulations change SNAP is always up to date.
We have quite a few students with chronic conditions, like asthma or diabetes. We are able to create an individual health care plan for these students. We can track blood pressure and blood sugar readings, make graphs that show changes, and print those out for parents to take to their healthcare provider. The system also helps us with medications. It tracks how many doses have been administered, so we know if the student is forgetting to come in for meds. This is very important. And we can see when we need to contact the parent for more pills etc.
We also utilize SNAP to track concussions. There has been so much interest now in sports-related injuries.
The system also gives us nursing assessment templates. Say a student comes in for a headache, the nurse can click on the headache template and it prompts questions such as Did you have a head injury?â€
The technical support staff is excellent. Many are registered nurses that have been school nurses. Hence, they truly understand what our needs are.