ARTICLE: Medications Module

ARTICLE: Medications Module


Medication and students go hand-in-hand as a normal part of student life establishments. Reach created the Medications Module to facilitate this complex element and to provide an all-encompassing solution to your school's medications requirements. This module, as with Reach, has the ability to bulk upload your current school/student data and can integrate with Student Information Systems throughout the world. 

Medications Extension Module
The Medications Module is an extension to the Reach Student Life software, however, it can also be used as a stand-alone module by schools that do not use the Reach platform. When activated, this Module is a user-friendly, yet extensive system to manage the demands of the student/medication environment. The Module provides features to manage the logging of medical conditions/medications, parental permissions, daily/weekly administering/recording schedules, data collection, and historic reporting. 
Please contact Reach Support for further details and pricing information to add the Medications Module to your school.

If your school has not added the Medications Module to your Reach Portal, all access and features will be turned off.

Workflow and Capabilities Snapshot  





Definitions

PMO
Prescribed-Medications-Only (PMO) are medicines that are prescribed by doctors or nurses for students. You need a doctor's prescription to buy prescription medicines from a pharmacist. Otherwise, only authorised health care professionals can supply them, such as in a hospital setting.

OTC
Over-The-Counter (OTC) medications are medicines that can be purchased over-the-counter from pharmacies, for self-treatment, with selected products also available in supermarkets, health food stores, and other retailers.

Medication Type
Each medicine must belong to a Medication Type. Medication types can be Prescribed-Medications-Only (PMO) or Over-The-Counter (OTC) medication. The Medication Type will determine how the medicine can be assigned or made available to students. It also determines how the medicine can be administered.

Medication Category
Within each Medication Type, are Categories of medicines. Each medicine must belong to a Type and a Category so that staff permissions and parental permits for OTCs can be managed.

Daily Medication Board
The Daily Medications Board is the dashboard where all medications are dispensed, including OTC's. This Dashboard is a split-table, the top section contains a list of Scheduled Medications for the day and their current status and the bottom section contains a list of all PMO & OTC medicines that have been administered for the day. 

Scheduled Medication
Scheduled Medications are medicines that have a designated dosage and delivery time for students. This Dashboard list includes all PMO medications or OTC medications that have been prescribed by a doctor or nurse with required administering for the day.

Administered Medication
Administered Medications is a daily list of medications that have already been administered to students. This includes the scheduled PMO and OTC medications and any ad-hoc OTC medications that have been administered that were not scheduled.


Configuring the Medications Module

Administering medications to students is a critically important activity that exposes the staff, students, and school to risk. For this reason, Reach has developed this platform to increase the safety of processes in student/medication management and enhance data collection for historical reporting. The Medications Module is a system of security requirements, permission settings, approval processes, and confirmations, to provide an efficient, safe platform to manage the requirements of medication and students. Over time, Reach has gathered extensive and critical information from the industry and the Reach users to continue improving the module, and while these protocols may seem a great deal of work, once set up, they remain in place until a change is required.




System Data Setup

Bulk Upload  - Data Setup

The Reach Platform provides many wizards to assist with your portal set up, the Medications Module is also ready for your data.
Go To: Data Management >> Import Medication Data
Once open, Click the Choose File button to connect your data document that is formatted and ready for upload.
If your data is not formatted, simply click on the Template link, this will directly download a spreadsheet.

System Access Setup

Security is critical when it comes to managing medicines, handling private medical information, and administering medications to students. The Reach Student Life Platform has specific control measures in place that allow you to control this, all within the Medications Module.
Staff medical access within Reach is a multi-stage setup process to ensure the safety of the staff and students and to instill greater risk management protocols in the handling of medication within student life environments. 

How to set Access Controls in System Configurations 

Controlling Staff Access is managed via two main areas, Reach System Configuration and individual Staff Profile settings.

Staff by Role - Initial Setup 

Each new account in Reach must have its Role set in its Personal Profile when it is created, this may include students, parents, hosts, and guardians. However, this is more important with Staff in Reach, as each Role determines their access and capabilities within Reach.  
To create a new staff member (account), please view the How-To here; How to Add a New Staff Member 

Administrator Task - update/change staff Role
Go To: People Management >> View Contacts >> Staff Profile >> Security Tab
  1. Once on the Security Tab page, use the Role drop-down menu to select the Role required for that specific staff member
  2. Then click the orange 'Save and Close' button 
NOTE: The updated Role, is the item to search in the Infinity settings in the next step
 

Staff Medical Access  - Infinity Permissions 

In the first step of the security protocols, an Administrator must access System Configurations to set the Medical Permissions per Role.

Go To: System Configurations >> Infinity
  1. The Infinity Permissions will appear showing the 'Base Security Label' list
  2. These items are generally created during your initial Reach setup process, some items are pre-set by Reach to help get you started, however, all items can be modified at any time
    1. Each line item may group particular staff positions together, some may be singular
    2. To see the staff position list, click on the Roles tab to the left of this screen
    3. Here you can see in the second example image below, that the column heading is 'Role Label', this list of Roles is also seen in People Management as a filter and Personal Profiles as a Role to select and this requires selection when creating a new staff member
    4. The second column, titled 'Base Security' is the group to which that Role belongs
    5. When changing the Infinity Permissions of a 'Base Security' item, this will change all the permissions for all Roles in that group



  1. Back to the Base Security Tab
  2. Click the Blue Edit Icon of the line item that contains the required staff
  3. Your 'Base Security' selection will open in a new Reach Tab
  4. To the left of the page, there are two tabs, General and Permissions

  1. Click the Permissions tab on the left, under General 

  1. The Permissions are grouped into long Dark Blue Tiles, each with a group heading and a bracketed number
    1. The bracketed number shows the number of Permissions that are currently switched on, from the number available Eg, (6/9)  
  2. Click on the MEDICAL Permission tile, this will slide down to reveal the list of Permission controls
    1. Currently, nine (9) items, which will change over time as the Dispensary Module develops and evolves
  3. Toggle each item as required to switch OFF/ON that Permission or use the 'Switch All Items' toggle to turn all OFF/ON


There are five primary Base Security settings that control staff access to medications, the most important being the Med_Cat_Administer setting which must be set to Yes, this enables the User to administer medications. 

The following Permissions can be switched OFF/ON dependant on requirements, please read each Permission explanation carefully;
Med_Create

Controls whether the user is able to create medications in your medications register
Med_Edit

Controls whether the user is able to edit medications in your medications register
Med_Assign

Determines whether a user is able to allocate or prescribe PMOs to students
Med_Cat_Assign

Determines whether a user is able to set other users' permissions in regards to administering medications
Med_Cat_Administer

Determines whether a user is able to administer medications to students
 

How to set Access Controls in Staff Profiles

Accessibility Tab - setup

The second step of the security protocol is to set an individual's Medical Accessibility in their Personal Profile.
These settings must be done for each individual staff member. 

Administrator Task
Go To: People Management >> View Contacts >> Staff Profile >> Accessibility Tab >> Medical Section
Currently, there are nine (9) items to manage, which will change over time as the Medications Module develops and evolves. 
  1. Select or Deselect access items as required per individual staff member 
  2. Save your changes  
  3. This individual staff member now has detailed medical access permissions active
Administrator Note: This area allows you to provide greater responsibility to specific staff members/roles, reducing Administrator requirements.
Example;   Full-Time Nursing Staff / Part-Time Medical Officer / Senior Boarding Staff
    1. Responsibility to 'assign medication dispensing access' to other staff members
      1. Eg, Senior Boarding staff can switch on/off the access for other junior staff to administer panadol to students
    2. Access to 'create medications or edit existing medications' in the System Configurator
      1. Eg, The school Nurse can create and update the medication list




Medical Tab / Dispensary Tab - setup

In the third step of the security protocols, the separate Medication Categories within an individual staff member's Personal Profile are switched on/off for them to administer medication groups via the Medications Module Dashboard.
  1. Once the Medical Infinity and Accessibility Permissions have been set for a Role Group and an individual staff member, then specific medication access can be switched on in the Medical Tab of their Personal Profile
  2. With all required permissions switched on, the Dispensing tab will be displayed in the Medical section of their Personal Profile
  3. The medication categories that they are permitted to administer to students must be set individually for each permitted staff member
  4. You cannot bulk allocate dispensing category permissions for staff
    1. This is a security control procedure that can only be managed on an individual basis
Administrator Task
Go To: People Management >> View Contacts >> Staff Profile >> Medical Tab >> Dispensary Tab
  1. Once in the Personal Profile of the required Staff Member
  2. Click on the Medical tab, then click on the Dispensary tab
  3. Listed are the PMO and OTC Medication Categories that have been created and managed by your school
    1. For further assistance, please view the How-to-Create-Medicine-Categories in the next section of this document 
  4. Select the check box for the required items in either list individually, or use the Toggle All check box at the top of each list
  5. Double-check the selected items, these selections can be changed or updated at any time
  6. Save your changes  
  7. This individual staff member now has updated permissions
An image and voice tutorial guide is provided here;  Assign Medication to Student and Staff




Medications - System Setup

How to Create Medicine Categories

To add new medications to the system, first, the Medicine Categories must be created, this is to align with the functions of the Medications Module. 
Categories allow you to maintain collections of similar medicines into a group which can then form part of your permissions structure.

Example:
Antihistamines may be set as a category for OTC medications. Multiple items or medicines can then be added to your Medicines Register and added to the OTC-Antihistamine category. Your school may then enable parents to permit or prohibit their child from receiving medicines in this category. During staff setup, the staff permission to administer medication from a category of medicines can be switched on/off individually.

Go To: System Configurations >> Lookups
  1. Once on the Lookups page, any existing items will be listed here
    1. The Lookup Types are; PMO/OTC Medications, House/Dorm, Year/Grade, Registration Mark
    2. By default, the Reach Dispensary will have a number of preset categories for your PMO and OTC medicine types
  2. Standard page controls; Save/Undo Changes, Add button, Columns, Search Bar, 'Show' filter 
    1. Select an existing item to edit the details or delete it.
  3. Click the Green Add Lookup button
  4. The Lookups Management page appears with sections to enter data regarding your new item, under each section is a prompt to explain its use.
  5. Select  PMO or OTC from the Type selector to create your new Medicine Category
  6. Enter Label, Shortcode, and Ordinal (if required)
  7. Click the orange Save button when complete
Items can be added, edited, or deleted from the list at any time.



How to Create Medications 

The first step in preparing to dispense medication is to build your Medicines Register. Once each item is created in your Medicines Register, they are then available to be assigned to students.
Parental permissions are required for all OTC and PMO medications, the approved list is then available to be administered. Medications that are not approved, will not appear in the Medications Module Dashboard when selecting a specific student.
  1. For further assistance, please view the Parental Medication Approval section of this document 
Every medication that is added to your Medicines Register will have basic metadata that is used to control how it functions in the Medications Module.  These metadata components are; Which type of medicine and which category the medication belongs to.

Go To: System Configurations >> Medications
  1. Once on the Medications page, any existing Medication items will be listed here.
    1. Standard page controls; Save/Undo Changes, Add button, Columns, Search Bar, 'Show' filter, Download Spreadsheet
    2. Use the Columns drop-down menu or the Up/Down arrows  at the top of each column to adjust/view the list 
      1. Adjust the search/filters/columns to arrange a list to Download, this will automatically push the spreadsheet to our computer 
  2. Click the Green Add Medication button
  3. The Medication Details page appears with sections to enter data regarding your new Medication, under each section is a prompt to explain its use.
  4. Follow through each section to enter the required data
    1. Dispensary Type and Unit Type are standard Reach settings
    2. The Category list is created and managed by your school.
      1. For further assistance, please view the How-to-Create-Medicine-Categories in the previous section of this document 
    3. Quantity on Hand and Threshold Minimum are provided to manage your inventory
      1. Quantity on Hand  - set this to the actual stock count
      2. Threshold Minimum - set this to be reminded via email that your stock will soon run-out
        1. Go To: System Configurations >> Dispensary -  Threshold Email Address
    4. Add notes to the medication as required, this may include; 'To be taken with food' or 'check Temperature' 
    5. The Contraindications section at the bottom of the page can only be managed after a new medication has been created and saved.
      1. Once saved, open the medication, then click the Add button in the Contraindications section at the bottom.
      2. This will open a new page with sections to complete the information
      3. Complete your required details and click Save 
  5. Your new medication can now be seen in the Medication listing
    1. Once the access settings are set, the new medication will be useable within the Dispensary
Items can be added, edited, or deleted from the list at any time.

An image and voice tutorial guide is provided here;  Configuring the Medication Dispensary

NOTE: Unlimited Medications, you can have an unlimited number of medicines in your Reach Portal.
Contraindication
  1. Situations where a single medication should be administered with caution
    1. Eg,  'Do not take within 4 hours of the last dosage'
  2. Administering multiple medications should be done with caution or are prohibited
    1. Eg, an alert can be set to prompt staff to check and assess a dispensing action or prohibit  
An alert message is triggered when the Contraindications Rule is triggered, alert options;
-Soft Restriction - Relative contraindications can be set to deliver a caution message
-Hard Restriction - Absolute contraindications can be set to prevent that medication from being administered

Contraindications can also be used to manage minimum time intervals between dosages of a single medication.



How to Create Medical Conditions 

When creating or updating the profile of a student, their Medical Conditions can be added to the system, however, the Conditions must first be created in the system.

Go To: System Configurations >> Medical Conditions
  1. Once on the Medical Conditions Management page, any existing items will be listed here
    1. Standard page controls; Save/Undo Changes, Add button, Search Bar, 'Show' filter
  2. Click the Green Add Medical Condition button
  3. The Medication Condition Details page appears 
  4. Enter your required Label name
    1. Eg, Peanut Allergy, Gluten Free, Penicillin Allergy
  5. Select Yes/No if this Condition can affect the Meal Count prepared by the kitchen staff
    1. Eg, A Seafood Allergy will notify the kitchen staff to adjust their planning  
  6. Click the orange Save button when complete
Items can be added, edited, or deleted from the list at any time.

 

Student Medical - System Setup 

How to setup General Medical Information

Go To: People Management >> View Contacts >> Student Profile >> Medical Tab >> General Tab 
  1. The General tab is the default tab when opening the Medical section
  2. The information on this page can be critically important to the emergency care of a student
  3. Enter the known information of the student, this can be updated or edited at any time
  4. Use the Toggles to switch on/off the Medic Alert and Epipen/Allerject features
  5. Enter any notes required to further explain information relevant to that student 
  6. Save your changes
Details in the General Tab can be added, edited, or deleted at any time.




How to Assign Medical Conditions 

Go To: People Management >> View Contacts >> Student Profile >> Medical Tab >> Conditions Tab 
  1. Once on the Conditions page, the current list is presented
    1. These items are created and managed by your school
  2. Select or Deselect items as required
  3. Enter any relevant notes required
  4. Save your changes
Selections and information in the Conditions Tab can be changed or updated at any time.




How to Assign Medication

Go To: People Management >> View Contacts >> Student Profile >> Medical Tab >> Medications Tab
  1. Once in the Medications tab, you will first see the Prescription Medications section and the Green button 'New Prescription Medication'
  2. Here, any current or expired medications assigned to this student will appear
    1. A specific Expired medication listing can be updated and saved if re-prescribed
      1. Click the Expired item that is required to be re-prescribed
      2. If you wish to Delete this Expired item from the list, a red Rubbish Bin icon is available to delete this item and start again
        1. Then, please follow the details in the next section How to Add New Prescription Medication
  3. Column Headings for quick reference; Label, Manufacturer, Dosage, Frequency, Expiry
  4. The next section, Over the Counter Medications, lists the current items as created and managed by your school
    1. Column Headings for quick reference; Medication Label, UnitType and Amount and Allowed to be given
  5. The 'Allowed to be Given' column shows a check box for each listed OTC
    1. A Blue Tick indicates the Parent has Permitted that item to be administered 
      1. For further assistance, please view the Parental Medication Approval section of this document 
    2. Staff can manage this listing, however, please consult your administrator and refer to the operating protocols of your school
      1. Select or Deselect each item as required
  6. Then click the orange Save and Close button, to finish with that profile
Administrator - please refer to the operating protocols of your school regarding OTC Permits



How to Add New Prescription Medication

  1. Click the Green 'New Prescription Medication' button
  2. The Medication Details section will appear in-page 
  3. Click the Medication Name drop-down menu to select a pre-created medication item
    1. These items are created and managed by your school
      1. Please view the How to Create Medications section of this document for further assistance


  1. Once you have selected a Medication item, progress through the page to enter details
  2. Frequency, select Daily or Use pattern, each selection will directly affect the action field to the right
  1. Daily
    1. Click the drop-down menu to reveal the time slots
    2. To select more than one time slot, simply click on all required, they will appear in the menu bar as clicked
    3. Click a time slot again to deselect
    4. Once all required time slots have been selected, move onto the Medication Expiration Date section
 
  1. Use Pattern
    1. Click the Set Frequency drop-down menu to reveal the selector
      1. This will open the Frequency Selector Scheduler
    2. Click the Period selector to choose how many weeks
    3. Select or Deselect each field required 
      1. Each individual Time and Day slot through the 24 hour period over the 7 day week is provided
      2. If multiple weeks are selected, each week will appear separately down the page, for full control
        1. All time slots must be entered individually, in each week
    4. Once complete and checked, click the green Set Frequency button 


  1. Medication Expiration Date  - enter the date as detailed on the packet
  2. Dosage Qty & Type - enter the information as detailed on the Prescription Packet
  3. Notes - Add any notes that are required to be displayed each time the medication is administered
  4. Once all is complete, click the green Save Medication button at the top
    1. A red Rubbish Bin icon is available to delete this item and start again
  5. Then click the orange Save and Close button, to finish with that profile 
An image and voice tutorial guide is provided here;  Assigning Medications to Student and Staff


Parental Medication Approvals  

Parents are required to set the Medication Permits and Prohibitions as part of the Parent Permits structure in Reach.
Staff who have med_assign switched on in Infinity Permissions are also able to set Permits for students for OTC medications
  1. Please consult your administrator and refer to the operating protocols of your school    
  2. For further assistance, please view the Staff Medical Access  - Infinity Permissions section of this document 
Parents and Students
Once logged into their individual Profiles, the medication list is available in the 'My Account' section
 - Login - Click the name/logo >> My Account >> Parent Permissions Tab
Staff 
Once logged in, Medication Permits per student are viewed in the Personal Profile of that student 
- People Management >> View Contacts >> Specific Student Profile >> Medical Tab >> Medications Tab

Parent Profile - Reach Web Portal 


Parent Profile
Go To: Login - Click the name/logo >> My Account >> Parent Permissions Tab
Parents Permissions Tab
Once open, this section, by default, will display the Medications available to Permit permissions
Click the Red and Green toggles to adjust the settings per Medication. Give or Do Not Give Permission
When complete, click the Save button



Dispensing Medications 

Administering both Prescription Medications (PMO) and Over-the-Counter (OTC) medications to students is done via the Medications Module Dashboard.  This is designed to display the daily list of 'Scheduled Medications' and 'Administered Medications' for all students, in one convenient location, to manage the administering, recording, and reporting of medication as required.
The students listed are Scheduled to be administered medication today, as dictated by the requirements of their Prescription Medication. This schedule is automatically populated by Reach, based on the frequency and dosage of any Prescribed Medications entered into student profiles. 

An image and voice tutorial guide is provided here;  Administering Medication
Capturing Administering Staff Identity
AdministeringMedication is a critically important procedure that requires accurate information of the actions and identification of the staff.  
Using generic staff login profiles (eg: Supervisor on Duty) is not adequate record-keeping and will expose your school to the risk of not maintaining adequate records.  It is vital that staff Administering medications are logged into REACH with their own profile.






Go To: (Dispensary) Heart Icon - top menu bar 
Once the Dispensary is open, you can see the two main sections of Scheduled and Administered Medications are clearly separated as top/bottom.

Dispensary Dashboard Basics;
Scheduled 
  1. Standard Search features include; Student Search Bar (top left), General Search Bar (top right), drop-down filters - Houses/Dorms, Years/Grades, Locations, Groups, Column Headers/Filter control arrows and at the bottom of the Scheduled section are the 'Show' filter on the left and the 'Page' control buttons on the right. 
  2. Additional Dispensary controls; Add OTC, Bulk Actions
  3. Download Scheduled Report - Filter your requirements to appear on screen, then click the download button 
Administered 
  1. Standard Search features continue here with drop-down filters and the General Search Bar
  2. The Download button now reflects the Administered section - Filter your requirements to Download the 'Dispensed Already' Report 
  3. NOTE: The Notifications Column now shows O and P icons to indicate OTC and PMO medications have been dispensed


PMO Medication

These are medical products that are prescribed by doctors or nurses. A prescription is required to buy these medicines from a pharmacist. Otherwise, only authorised health care professionals can supply them, such as in a hospital setting.

How to Administer PMO Medicines

Only staff who have med_administer switched on in Infinity Permissions and the Accessibility tab of their Personal Profile have permission to administer medications.
  1. Click on the Heart Icon and the Medication Module Dashboard will open in a new tab
  2. Click on the student requiring medication from the Scheduled table
    1. If required, use the search features to select a specific student
      1. or scroll down the listing
    2. Once selected, click on that line item, this will open the PMO Administering dialogue
    3. Check you have the correct student - if not, click the X to close the window
  3. All important information and notes are provided in the PMO Administering dialogue window
    1. A brief Medication History is also provided under the profile photo
      1. This remains blank if there is not administering history to display
  4. Follow the information provided in this window to administer the medication
  5. Check you have the correct student, their name and profile photo are provided
  6. Check you have the correct medication and dosage
  7. Check the scheduled time 
  8. Follow the Notes section as required
  9. The staff name is automatically listed, this is acquired from your login and is historically reported
  10. Enter the Dosage amount and Type as detailed in the medication window
  11. Enter any Notes that may detail this action for the record
    1. In the example below, you can see Notes have been entered to reflect this staff member has ensured the directional notes have been followed, Miss Biggs consumed her medication capsules with food, and her temperature was checked, as was her general wellbeing and overall health
  12. Once all is checked and complete, click the Green Dispense button 

When a PMO medication is administered, it will move from the Scheduled table, down to the Administered table, on the Dashboard. Under the Notifications column header, a blue P icon will appear to reflect this line item is a PMO medication.

An image and voice tutorial guide is provided here;  Administering Medication to a Student




OTC Medication

These are medical products that can be purchased over-the-counter (OTC) for self-treatment from pharmacies, with selected products also being available in supermarkets, health food stores, and other retailers.
Within the Reach Medications Module, OTC Medications are, in most cases, administered in an ad-hoc manner as required by students, this is carried out via the Module Dashboard. 
In some instances, OTC medications may be prescribed for a student by a doctor or nurse when treating illness or injury.  In these instances, the OTC medication must be set as a prescribed medication in the Profile of that specific Student.

For further assistance in this process, please view the Scheduling OTC Medicines details in the following section of this document 

Students require OTC permits
OTC medications can only be administered to a student that is permitted to take that specific medication or category (eg: Paracetamol).
Permits are set for the student, by parents in the Parent Permissions section of the parent's Reach account.
Approved staff can also set student permits for OTC medications. 

How to Administer OTC Medicines

Only staff who have med_administer switched on in Infinity Permissions and the Accessibility tab of their Personal Profile have permission to administer medications.
  1. Click on the Heart Icon and the Medications Module Dashboard will open in a new tab
  2. Click on the Add OTC button
  3. The Dispense OTC Medication window will appear.
  4. Click the Student search field and select the required student
    1. Check you have the correct student, their name and profile photo are provided
    2. If not, search again or click the X to close the window
    3. If a student has not been given the Approval to be administered any OTC medications, a Pop-up will appear to advise you
    4. When this occurs, there are two options, depending on the operating protocols of your school
      1. Contact the parent to have them approve the OTC medication permissions via their Reach Login
      2. Authorised staff can switch-on the required OTC medication in the Student Profile >> Medical Tab 
  5. Once you have the required student and their Permits and Permissions are switched on
  6. The OTC Medication can be administered
  7. Check you have the correct student and their OTC medication requirement is clear
    1. Check recent administering activity for this student
    2. A brief Medical History can be seen under their Profile Photo - if any
  8. Click the Medication field to search for the item you require
    1. Only the Permitted medication for this student will appear 
    2. In the example image below, Miss Beatson is approved to receive Panadol
  9. Enter details for medication Dosage amount and Type.
    1. The Medication selected will show the specific details of that medication entered in the system, that is in stock
    2.  In the example image below, this is 'Panadol 500mg Capsule'
  10. Enter any Notes that may detail this action for the record
    1. In the example below, you can see Notes have been entered to show the staff member has checked the student's wellbeing and noted the issue and reason for the OTC to be administered
  11. Once all is checked and complete, click the Green Dispense button 
When an OTC medication is provided to the student, it will appear in the Administered table, on the Dashboard. Under the Notifications column header, an orange O icon will appear to reflect this line item is an OTC medication.

To search the recent Administered Medications history of a specific student, the search features can be used to list the transactions for that student or a group depending on your chosen filter settings.

An image and voice tutorial guide is provided here;  Administering Medication to a Student



Scheduling OTC Medicines

OTC medications may, at some time, be prescribed for a student by a doctor or nurse to treat an illness or injury.  In these instances, the OTC medication must be set as a prescribed medication with the required data, in the Student's Profile. This will enable the item to appear in the Dashboard as a Scheduled item to be administered.

Listed as PMO
Firstly, ensure the medication item, while an OTC item, is also listed as a PMO item. 
If your required medication is listed as a PMO, then add the medication to be scheduled
Go To: People Management >> View Contacts >> Student Profile >> Medical Tab >> Medications Tab 
Then, follow the steps provided in the How to Add Prescription Medication as detailed in the Student Medical System Setup section of this document 
 
NOT Listed as PMO
If the required OTC medication is only listed as OTC, then it must be set as a PMO before it can be added and scheduled for the student.

Firstly, if a PMO Medication Category has not been setup for OTC items to be listed as PMO's, this must also be done.
Go To: System Configurations >> Lookups
Then, follow the steps provided in the How to Create Medication Categories as detailed in the Medications System Setup section of this document 

Secondly, if the OTC item has not been listed as a PMO item, this must also be done.
Go To: System Configurations >> Medications
Then, follow the steps provided in the How to Create Medications as detailed in the Medications System Setup section of this document 

Thirdly, 
Go To: People Management >> View Contacts >> Student Profile >> Medical Tab >> Medications Tab 
Then, follow the steps provided in the How to Add Prescription Medication as detailed in the Student Medical System Setup section of this document 


Medication Alerts

Alert Profiles can be created for Medication items as required. An unlimited number of alert profiles can be created, for example; Multiple profiles can be created for different types of medication depending on the significance.
A two-step process is required to setup initial Alert Profiles 

How to Create Alert profiles

Go To: System Configurations >> Alert Profiles



Step 1. Add Alert Profile
  1. Click the green Add Alert Profile button 
  2. The Profile Details page will appear, as seen in the example image below
  3. Enter the Label details
  4. Click the Add Profile Item button to create the required parameters
    1. The window that appears allows you to create the specific details for this Alert
    2. Select the required Minutes
    3. Select the required Roles, these are your grouped contacts within the Reach Platform
      1. This setting will notify the entire group with this Alert
      2. Select or Deselect all required, those selected are indicated by a Tick and added to the list in the top bar
    4. Select a Specific Contact/s to notify  
      1. Select or Deselect all required, those selected are indicated by a Tick and added to the list in the top bar
    5. Add the Message you wish to notify your select group
    6. Once complete, check your details and click the green Save button to close the window
  5. Your newly created notification can now be seen in the table of details
  6. To add more notifications to this Alert, follow the same process
  7. Once complete, check your details and click the green Save button to close the window
  8. Your new item will be listed in the System Alert table of details 
  9. Click the Save Changes button on the System Alert page to complete the process

In the example below;
An Alert has been set for the Boarder/Student at 15 minutes "before" the scheduled medication time (-15)
An Alert has been set for the Boarder/Student and Nursing staff at 15 minutes "after" the scheduled medication time
 - This second item will only trigger if the medication has not been processed as Administered within the Dashboard


     
Step 2.  Apply the Alert Profile to a student's scheduled medication
Go To: People Management >> Student Profile >> Medical Tab >> Medications Tab

To Apply an Alert to prescription medication for a specific student, the medication must first be created in their profile.
For further assistance, follow the details in the How to Add New Prescription Medication in the Student Medical Setup section of this document 
  1. Once in the Medications Tab of the required Student Profile, select the Medications from the list to add an Alert
  2.  Click the green Set Up Reminders button in the Notification Management section
  3. The Reminder Settings window will appear
    1. The scheduled times set with this medication will automatically appear in this window
    2. Check the Box of the time slot you require, a blue tick will appear
    3. Select the Alert Profile you wish to use
  4. When ready, click the green Set button, to save and close this window
  5. Your new Alerts will be added to the Status: Task Count.
  6. Click the green Save Medication button to complete setting the Alert Profiles for this medication
  7. Click the orange Save and Close button on the Student profile


How to alter a Dispensing Record

Medication actions, once submitted, can not be altered, they remain a historical record of that action.
There may be an occasion within the dispensing area, that a staff member feels it is easier to just update the medical record already submitted, however, medication being so vital, and so important to keep correct at all times for student safety,  records can not be altered.

There are two options;
  1. Administrator - Your schools Reach administrator, or trusted staff with the EDIT_PASTORAL permission enabled within their profile, can adjust submitted records
    1. However, this "does not" alter the database and if a medication report is generated, the original record will be reported
      1. The 'adjusted' pastoral note, will not display, therefore the 'adjusted' note and the database will have conflicting data
  2. Reach Customer Service - The only way to change the database is for your school to submit a ticket and request a medical record to be altered
    1. In which case the Reach policy dictates that 2 staff (one a senior admin) must be conscious of the change request
    2. Reach, by default maintains a record of the original database record and the altered record 


Reporting 

The Reach Platform generates data from every action within the platform for your historical reporting requirements.
The Medications Module data can be reported in two simple ways

1. Reports within the Medications Module Dashboard
Go To: Heart Icon - top menu bar 

The Scheduled and Administered sections each provide a button to download the current data to a spreadsheet.
  1. Download Scheduled Report
    1. When the Dashboard is first opened, the current Scheduled list runs in time order, the next medication to administer is first
    2.  If you wish to Report a specific list, use the search filters to identify a specific student or group
    3. Click the Download button, this will directly push the spreadsheet to your computer 
  1. Download Dispensed Already Report
    1. When the Dashboard is first opened, the current Administered Medications list also runs in time order, the first is the most recent transaction 
    2.  If you wish to Report a specific list, use the search filters to identify a specific student or group
    3. Click the Download button, this will directly push the spreadsheet to your computer 
2. Instant Reports 
Go To:  Reporting >> Instant Reports >> Dispensary History

The Dispensary History: Instant Reporting system in Reach displays the full Dispensary History for selected Student/s within a specified date range.
Instant Reporting generates reports that encompass specified parameters throughout a chosen Date Range. 
  1. Use the drop-down filters to reduce the search parameters and select a Start/End Date to search
  2. Click the green Generate Report button 


The Report Output section will appear in the table directly below 
  1. Each column header has a set of up/down arrows adjust your listing
  2. The Column Selector is provided for you to switch on/off the columns you wish to view 
    1. The Column Selector window will open to show the list of the column headers, select/deselect as required 
    2. Click the green Done button we complete
  3. Adjust the table of contents as required
  4. When ready, click the Download Spreadsheet button, this will directly push the spreadsheet to your computer 



End of Day Procedure for Medications

In May 2023, an End of Day (EOD) procedure was introduced to the Reach Medications module. There are two functions and purposes for the EOD procedure;
  1. To ensure that every student with a scheduled medication each day has a record in Reach for whether that medication was administered or not, and
  2. To generate a list of “missed medications” for each calendar day in Reach. A “missed” medication is a medication that was not recorded as administered in Reach at the end of each calendar day.

1. End of Day processing

When activated, at the end of each calendar day the Reach Assist scheduler will run a procedure that will perform the following functions;
  1. Identify any scheduled medications that have not been administered on that day. This is defined by items that are remaining in the “Scheduled” table of the daily dispensary at midnight. These medications will be referred to as “Missed Medications”
  2. Process any Missed Medications as a zero amount administered with a dispensary note of “Zero recorded by Reach”.
Medication Report - Missed Medications


Important Information About Missed Medication Records
  1. Missed Medication records will not create a medication pastoral record in the student’s historic profile for pastoral (Medical) records.
  2. Missed Medications will be visible in historic reports for administered medications as a zero amount (Reporting > Instant Reports > Dispensary report)
  3. A new dynamic table has been created called the “Medication Report” which will display a list of all missed medications for each day in addition to all administered medications. Users can select a specific date range for this table view.
  4. Visibility of the Medication Report is controlled by an access permission in each user’s profile or Base Security Setting for user Roles. This permission is “Can user access the Medication Report” in the Medical Permissions settings.

How to activate EOD Medication processing
  1. EOD Mediation processing is controlled by the Reach Assist scheduler and it needs to be activated to function.
  2. To activate the EOD procedure you need to assign an Alert profile to the EOD Nurse Report setting in System Configuration > Communications setting.
  3. Results of the EOD processing for medications will be visible in the Medication Report table (Reporting > Medication Report) and will be actively circulated to relevant staff via the EOD Nurse Report.

2. End of Day Nurse Report

The EOD Nurse Report will produce a list of medications that Reach has actioned each day as part of the EOD Medication processing function.  That is, a list of all items that have been processed as “Zero administered by Reach” can be circulated as a daily report to relevant staff.  In this report, Reach identifies the Student Name, Year/Grade and House/Dorm, the Missed Medication name and the Time Slot that was scheduled for the missed medication.




How to Activate EOD Nurse Report

The EOD Nurse Report is controlled by the Reach Assist scheduler. To activate the EOD Nurse Report you need to assign an Alert Template to the EOD Nurse Report setting in System Configuration > Communications.



  1. If there is no alert profile set for the EOD Nurse Report then the report will not be circulated
  2. The EOD Nurse Report will be circulated to staff identified in the Alert Profile at the time setting after the EOD processing function
  3. When a Role is selected for notification Reach will send student data to each contact in the Role based upon the Groups Managed settings of the staff contacts in the Role
  4. Example: If Head of House is a selected role in the Alert Profile then Head of House will receive the EOD Nurse Report for students that match their Groups Managed setting.
  5. The EOD Nurse report will only be circulated as an email report so ensure that you set Email as the Communications Method in the Alert Profile used for the EOD Nurse report.

Software Updates

Go To: Other >> Change Log 
The Change Log is an additional resource to highlight the progression of the Medications Module and the Reach Student Life Platform as a whole, listing changes, bug fixes, and updates that have occurred chronologically. This is not an explanation of how things operate, only a record of changes that have been made to the Platform, a View-Only area.

                                



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