Synoptec FAQ
Who are you?
Softworks Group Inc. was established in 1990. We are specialists in custom healthcare software development with major implementations across Canada. Over the past 10 years, we have focused increasingly on cancer related applications: cancer registries, cancer screening, and, synoptic reporting for pathology and cancer surgery.
What advantage does synoptic reporting have over traditional narrative and transcribed reporting in pathology and surgery?
Evidence has shown that narrative or transcribed pathology reports occasionally lack important elements critical to the management of cancer patients* and that synoptic reporting increases the likelihood that all elements will be reported and understood. The completeness of the report the first time allows you to not have to worry about multiple iterations of the report based upon feedback from your health records department. The rules in the template ensure that the surgical report is complete the first time.
When you complete a synoptic report, Synoptec stores each answer as a discrete data element. This discrete storage of data allows you to produce statistical reports based on any element that you capture in the report.
* - Kempson RL. - The time is now: checklists for surgical pathology reports.
How does it improve efficiency?
After moving into production, Cancer Surgery Alberta reported that over 65% of surgical reports were completed on the day of the surgery with a mean completion time of just over 3 and ½ days. More than half of the surgeries reported were recorded in less than five minutes.* Surgeons report that they can now record their synoptic reports in the same or less time than it took to dictate.
* - Cancer Surgery Alberta Quarterly, Volume 1, Issue 1.
How do I know that the questions cover every detail of the surgery?
While the synoptic reports may cover the vast majority of the possible details to be added to a surgical report, it’s likely that you will want to add your own flavor to the surgical report. This is why Synoptec does not attempt to abandon narrative or descriptive text altogether. The emphasis in Synoptec is to answer as many questions as possible through synoptic reporting but to provide surgeons the ability to add descriptive text when required. This descriptive text can be reviewed over time to determine if the synoptic report template needs to be updated to capture that information.
Okay, I have the software, how do I get started?
This is one of the biggest problems in the adoption of any clinical system is staring at that big blank screen when you first get started. This is why Synoptec offers the Collaborator module allowing you to review and download synoptic and care pathway templates as starting points for your required templates. Use the whole thing, make a few modifications or rewrite the whole template; you don’t have to start from scratch.
What kind of training do you offer?
We believe that training is the cornerstone to a successful implementation of any healthcare application including Synoptec. Our training philosophy starts with a blank configuration and helping your administrators configure Synoptec to meet the specific needs of your organization. This ensures that before the deployment to production takes place, Synoptec is already set up to meet your needs. It also provides your administrators with hands on training that is specifically tailored to your needs.
The administrators of your program are then able to provide the training that each of the care pathway participants require, making you self-sustaining.
