This article provides a chronological overview of new features, updates, and improvements released in BestNotes throughout 2023.

What's New in 2023

December 13, 2023

Create client update

When creating a client using the calendar appointment, you can now specify an email address and choose which phone field to store the details to. If this is not currently available, you may need to log out and log back in to BestNotes.

Two new fields when creating a client from a calendar appointment.

New user workflow adjustment

We have updated our workflow for creating a new user. When initially creating a new user, there will be no password fields available. The user will create their own password by using the email link and account setup that is sent to them.

No password fields when creating a new user.

Additionally, once the user has been created, if they have not set up their password, an invite can be sent to them again and the password fields will still not be shown.

Ability to resend invite link, still no password fields available.

December 12, 2023

API update

We have created a new method, getPayers, that you can use to pull the payers and authorizations for a client.

November 28, 2023

Help button

In the top right corner of your BestNotes there is a "Help" button. This button provides you with our BestNotes Support phone number and hours of operation in your selected time zone. This will also provide you a link to search our help documentation or submit a support ticket.

Help button in BestNotes.

November 14, 2023

Create Users new workflow

We have updated the process for creating new users! Now when you create a new user, BestNotes will send an "Account Creation" email. When adding a new user (permissions required), enter in the necessary information for the user account, and make sure that you have the correct email address. You will no longer enter in a temporary password.

Enter new user details, verifying that the email is correct, and leaving the password fields blank.

When you select "Save" an email will be sent to the email listed. If you need to update the email, or if you need to resend the email, you can navigate back to that user's details, and select the "Send invite again" checkbox. Once you have selected this checkbox, when you select "Save", the email will be sent again.

To resend the email, open the User Details, and select the 'Send invite again' checkbox, then select 'Save.'

As the user you will follow the instructions below:

  1. You will receive an email with a "One Time Login" link, select the link.

Email with One Time Login link.

  1. This will open a new browser window, and will generate another email with a verification code. Enter the new verification code, and select "Verify Code."

Enter verification code.

Verification code entry screen.

  1. Then you will receive a "Identity verified successfully" message, and will need to select "OK".

Identity verified successfully message.

  1. Now you will see your account information. The first four fields are not editable, and are intended for you to verify the information. The editable fields that need to be filled out are the "Password", "Confirm Password", and "Timezone" fields.

Account information with editable password and timezone fields.

  1. You will then receive an "Account created successfully" message, and will select "OK."

Account created successfully message.

  1. Now you will see your connection details for BestNotes. You will only receive this information this one time, so be sure to store it in a secure location. If you need this information again, you will have to contact your System Administrator. You can select the link at the bottom of the page to download and install BestNotes.

Connection details for BestNotes.

DrFirst update

Clients can now be added to DrFirst from the Medication window. Previously this could only be done from the client's main chart.

Add a client to DrFirst from the main chart, or from the Medications window.

Edit Client required field update

In the "Edit Client" window, you can now make the "Grade" field a required field. This can be activated in the System Customization (permissions required) by navigating to "Contacts" and "Client". In this window, select the "Select Field" drop-down, and select "Grade". Moving forward, this field will be required for all "Client" types.

Navigate to the client System Customization.

Select the 'Grade' option for the required field.

'Grade' will then be required for all 'client' types.

November 6, 2023

Account Details update

When viewing "Account Details" in "Settings", if you have ASAM Continuum or ASAM Triage activated, you will now have a link that will display the number of licenses purchased, and the number of ASAM assessments that have been created.

Navigate to 'Settings' and then 'Account Details.'

'ASAM Continuum: ** Triage: **' will have a clickable link.

Displays number of licenses purchased, and the number of assessments created.

November 2, 2023

Custom Test Special Fields

We have added some new special fields to use with Custom Tests. These special fields will only include tests that are entered as of today. The new special fields will show you Tests based on the Group name.

New Custom Test special fields.

September 21, 2023

DrFirst update

For users that have DrFirst, any time that you select the medications or allergies tab, BestNotes will check for any updates. There is an automatic check that occurs every 30 minutes in addition to navigating to the tab in the Med/Clinical. It is still best practice to continue to use the "Save and close" option within DrFirst to ensure that data is up-to-date.

August 25, 2023

Assessment update

The "Marital Status", "Preferred Language", "Race", and "Ethnicity" fields have been added to the Demographics area of the Assessments, and they will pull from the client's "Edit Contact" window. Your System Administrator can hide these fields by navigating to "Settings", then "System Customization", then "Documents", and "Assessments". Select the checkbox next to the option to hide it.

New fields in the Demographics area.

Fields in Demographics area pulls from 'Edit Contact.'

System Customization to hide the new fields.

Select checkbox to hide fields on assessments.

August 17, 2023

System Administrator updates

The System Administrator user, that has the System Administrator checkbox, will now have the ability to interact with the "Default Permission Groups" and the "Password Settings". This was previously only accessible by logging in with the "Sysadmin" username.

'Default Permission Groups' and 'Password Settings' available with System Administrator checkbox.

User Permission update

There is now a "Manage Facilities" permission in the "Settings" section of the User Permissions. This was previously only accessible by logging in with the "Sysadmin" username.

New 'Manage Facilities' permission.

August 9, 2023

Medications update

In the "Meds" tab on the "Med/Clinical", we have added a new field. You will now see a "Pharmacy Name", as well as a "Date Filled" field. If you enter a "Date Filled" that is a date in the future, you will receive a warning when you save, but you will be able to accept the warning and entry will save. The "Pharmacy Name" will pull in from DrFirst, but at this time, neither of these fields will display in the eMar.

'Meds' tab in the 'Med/Clinical.'

New fields, 'Pharmacy Name' and 'Date Filled.'

If 'Date Filled' is a future date.

July 20, 2023

Activity Log update

When using the "Print All" functionality of the Activity Log, the Appointments and Admission Applications are not included in that print. To provide transparency regarding this, we have added a note to the confirmation that appears when you print all that states this. To print Admission Applications, you must first open the application, and then you will have a "Print" option. To print Appointments, you will filter by appointments, select the appointments that you would like to "Show", select "Apply", and then select "Print".

Note when using 'Print All' in Activity Log.

How to Print Admissions Applications from the Activity Log.

How to print Appointments from the Activity Log.

Med/Clinical update

You now have an option to display the client's "Preferred Name" in the Med/Clinical. This can only be activated by a System Administrator. To activate this for your company, navigate to "Settings" and "System Customization". To display the "Preferred Name" in the Assessments, navigate to the "Documentation" tab and select the "Assessment" tab, and select the "Show Preferred Name" checkbox. This will display the "Preferred Name" in the Assessments demographics area. To display the "Preferred Name" in Treatment Plans, navigate to the "Documentation" tab and select the "Treatment Plans" tab, and select the "Show Preferred Name" checkbox. This will display the "Preferred Name" in the Treatment Plans demographics area.

Navigate to System Customization.

Navigate to 'Documentation', then 'Assessment', and select 'Show Preferred Name' checkbox.

'Preferred Name' will display in the demographics of Assessments.

Navigate to 'Documentation', then 'Treatment Plans', and select 'Show Preferred Name' checkbox.

'Preferred Name' will display in the demographics of Treatment Plans.

Fee schedule update

If a fee schedule has been inactivated in settings, and it is still assigned to a client, you will still see the fee schedule as long as it is assigned to the client. Previously, this fee schedule would not be visible. Once the inactivated fee schedule is removed from a client, you will not be able to see or select that fee schedule again.

Inactive fee schedule.

Once fee schedule is changed after inactivation.

July 14, 2023

Audit Report update

We have updated the print events that are recorded in the Audit Report. The following print events will now be recorded:

  • Assessments
  • Treatment Plans
  • Templates
  • Text Notes
  • Q-Log Notes
  • Group Notes
  • Consents

Media files are recorded as downloads.

July 13, 2023

In Progress tab update

The "In Progress" tab has been updated to include a default date range. This can be updated per user by navigating to "Settings", then "My User Profile", under the "Preferences" section you will find the "Default date range for In Progress tab" with a drop-down. This option will default to the last "7 days", but the options available are "All", "7 Days", "30 days", "60 days", "90 days", and "365 days".

Default date range for In Progress tab.

Default date range for In Progress tab options.

June 29, 2023

Group Note update

Users that have the "Group Notes Admin" permission will now have the ability to create a predefined "Subject List." When creating or editing a new group from the "Admin tab", you will enter the subject into the "Subject" line and select the "+" symbol to the right. That subject will now appear in the drop-down list. Once you have created all of your subjects, select "Save". When any user creates that Group Note, they will have the ability to enter a custom subject, or to select a predefined subject from the drop-down.

'Group Notes Admin' permission.

Group Note 'Admin' tab.

Create a predefined subject.

Subject drop-down list.

Select 'Save.'

Creating a Group Note and using predefined Subject drop-down.

Special fields update

We have new special fields for Problems, Goals, and Objectives. These special fields will allow you to pull the specified information for each dimension.

Dimension specific special fields.

Special fields sections.

May 10, 2023

Allergy update

All allergies will now be displayed in the eMAR. Previously, only Drug Allergies were displayed in the eMAR.

All allergy types will display in eMAR.

April 26, 2023

DrFirst and Medications update

If a prescription is added into DrFirst, and then imported to the medications list in BestNotes, the schedule of that medication will be listed in BestNotes. This only works when you are using DrFirst, and the medication is added into DrFirst and imported into BestNotes.

Medication schedule from DrFirst to display in BestNotes.

April 20, 2023

Activity Log update

When you link a lab PDF to a client, there will now be an entry in the Activity Log. You will also have the ability to filter for these documents by selecting the "Media/Lab PDFs". This allows you to send these results to the portal.

Filter for Lab PDF in Activity Log.

Send Lab results to the portal.

April 17, 2023

Activity Log search update

We have made some adjustments to our Activity Log. Instead of listing "Comprehensive Assessment" and "Treatment Plans", we have updated this to display a header of "Assessments and Tx Plans". This header will list the documents that you have viewing permissions for if there is a corresponding document in the database. This can include more than what is listed in the Med/Clinical tab to display any historical data of documents that may not longer be used.

Old search view.

New search view.

April 6, 2023

Appointment Reminders update

When using Telehealth and Appointment reminders together, when an appointment reminder is sent to a customer via text message, that message will now include the practice name.

Practice name that will be included in a telehealth appointment reminder.

An example of the text message client receive for a telehealth appointment reminder.

Allergy update

We have added new functionality to the allergies tab. When a new client is created, or if the allergies are removed from the client's chart, the allergies listed will show "Not yet specified". When you navigate to the Med/Clinical, and then the "Allergies" tab, if there are not allergies entered, you will have a "Mark Client NKA" button. If you select this button, it will appear on the client's chart as "NKA", and it will be listed in the Allergy list as "NKA". You can remove the "No Known Allergy" entry at any time by selecting the trash can icon next to the entry. This entry will also be removed when a new allergy is entered.

With no allergy entries, 'Not yet Specified' will appear on client's chart.

New 'Mark Client NKA' button on Allergies tab.

Client marked as NKA will appear on the client's chart.

Client marked as NKA will show entry on Allergies tab.

Selecting trash can icon on NKA entry will remove that entry.

Adding a new allergy will remove the NKA entry and list the new allergy.

March 27, 2023

Portal update

In November of 2023 we gave you a portal update that allowed you to send all available documents to the portal with one click. We have now updated that button to also allow you to remove all available documents from the portal of the client and any related contacts. This "Remove All" button will work whether you have shared one document, or all documents to the portal.

'Remove All' button to remove all documents from the portal.

Special Field update

The XAPPTPROVIDER special field will pull the name of the provider of an appointment into a template when the template is opened from a calendar appointment. Now, if a template is not part of the calendar appointment, this special field will pull the logged in user's name into the template.

February 13, 2023

Login screen update

When logging into BestNotes, you will now have the ability to select the show/hide icon in the password field to view the password that was entered.

Show/hide icon in password field.

Vitals update

The color chart in vitals has been updated to the latest American Heart Association levels and ranges.

Updated color chart, levels and ranges.

January 27, 2023

System Customization update

There is a new section in "System Customization. Navigate to "Contacts", then to "Client", and find the section titled, "Required Fields". This new section will allow System Administrators to search existing fields from the "Edit Client" screen and set those fields as required when creating a new client.

New 'Required Fields' section.

Select field to set as 'Required.'

When creating a new contact, those fields will be required.

January 26, 2023

Calendar appointment update

When viewing the hover details for an appointment, you will now see a section that displays the Provider of the appointment.

Provider displayed in appointment hover details.

Group Note Admin tab update

When viewing the "Admin" tab in "Group Notes", there are two new columns. The first new column shows the template that is assigned to that group, and the second column shows if the Group is restricted to certain User Groups.

Navigate to Group Notes Admin tab.

Two new columns in Admin tab.

January 19, 2023

Med/Clinical update

When you filter by dimension in the Master Problem List, Problem Details, or the Summary of Progress sections, the other sections visible on the same document will automatically have the same filter applied. This will only update the filter for the document that you are one, and will need to be applied for each document. Stay tuned, as our team is working on creating more functionality regarding this feature!

Selecting a filter option in the Master Problem List.

Problem Details is assigned the same filter automatically.

January 5, 2023

Med/Clinical update

If your assessment or treatment plan document includes the Problem Details, Summary of Progress, or the Problem List sections, there will now be a filter on the top right side of reach section with the list of dimensions. You will be able to select which dimension you would like to see in that filtered section. If you save snapshot with the filters selected, the snapshot will only include the items within that filter. These sections can only be independently updated for now, but further updates to this functionality will be coming in the near future. Stay tuned for more updates!

Sections that include this feature.

Filter location.

Filtering options.

Saving snapshot.

Next Steps

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