One of EMIS Web's most sophisticated features is the ability to build custom protocols that assist you in performing certain actions or tasks.

Within the Protocol Builder, you can build your own protocol. Protocols are sequences of:

• Triggers - These prompt decisions that need to be made. The outcome of the decision determines whether the Action is carried out.
• Actions - Actions are activities completed for the selected patient

Triggers can be set to run at various points, including when you load a patient record, add a code, when you add consultation or when you register a new patient.

Triggers allow you to determine whether an action is relevant for a selected user by making a decision. For example, common triggers are:

• Concepts - A concept helps you identify a patient's eligibility based on SNOMED codes. For example, you can create a Concept that checks if a patient has had a 'Blood pressure check in the last 12 months'
• Yes/No questions and Multiple choice questions - These are simple questions raised to the EMIS user that allow the user to determine the decision

Actions follow on from Triggers. Once a patient has been determined as eligible by the triggered decision, you can then initiate actions. Example actions include:

• Adding a consultation
• Creating a letter
• Launching a template

Protocols are built within the EMIS Web protocol builder. Here is an example of a protocol that checks at the point of starting a new consultation (trigger point), whether a patient has had a blood pressure reading in the last 12 months (decision). If the patient has had a blood pressure reading in the last 12 months, no action is taken, if not, a Health check template is launched.

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