1. CERNER MILLENNIUM Introduction to Message Center
In this lesson we’ll review receiving, sending, & signing off items in the Message Center. We’ll also look at some of the other things you can do here.
This has been prepared for Millennium code level & mPage Subsequent updates may display cosmetic & functional changes. All patient names displayed are fictitious.
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2. When you first log on, you’ll land on a Home screen that usually includes the Message Center on the left.

3. You can also open the Message Center directly by clicking the Message Center button.

4. There are three tabs in the Message Center
There are three tabs in the Message Center. Inbox is where you’ll spend most of your time.
(The Proxies & Pools tabs may not be used by everyone; we’ll talk a bit about them later.)

5. Within the inbox are a number of folders that help organize your messages, similar to what you might have in an inbox. These folders may appear/hide/expand/contract as they’re populated with contents, so you may not always see them all.

6. When you click on one of these folders, you’ll see a list of messages in that folder to the right. The exact appearance, columns, & organization will change depending upon the type of message it is, e.g. a signoff request vs a test result.
Clicking on a column heading will usually sort that column in ascending order; another click sorts it in descending order.

7. When you click on a message, the contents may preview below, depending upon the nature of the message.

8. When you click on a test result, the results will preview at the bottom.
To sign off, double-click the message.

9. After reviewing the results, click Review, then OK & Close (or OK & Next to move on to the next item on the list).

10. You can also Refuse a result, e. g. , if it was sent to you in error
You can also Refuse a result, e.g., if it was sent to you in error. Select a Reason, add Comments, then click OK & Close / OK & Next.

11. You may receive documents to Sign or Review, e. g
You may receive documents to Sign or Review, e.g., letters, forms, or resident notes to sign off. When you select one, it will preview below.
To sign off, double-click the message.

12. The note opens in a new window
The note opens in a new window. Similar to above, you could Refuse the note, adding a Reason, Comments, etc. But most of the time you’ll sign these off.

13. To begin signoff, click the Modify button.

14. The note opens in a window where the attending can further review, edit, delete, or add parts to the note.
When signing off a resident’s note, the attending will add one of the approved attestation lines via AutoText. Click under the Attending Attestation heading & type +.

15. A list will appear. Double-click the desired option.
The text will be added.

16. When done, click Sign/Submit in the lower right corner.
Then click Sign again in the next window.

17. You may receive orders for cosignature in the Message Center
You may receive orders for cosignature in the Message Center. These will usually be protocol-based standing orders or verbal/telephone orders. To begin, double-click the order.

18. The order opens in a new window where you can review details; the exact appearance will vary with the type of order.
If acceptable, click Approve, then OK & Close (or OK & Next to move on to the next order on the list).
You can also Refuse an order, & add Comments. A notation of your approval or refusal will be added to the chart.

19. Sometimes when you receive a result, document, etc
Sometimes when you receive a result, document, etc., you may not remember the patient well, or you may need some context to know how to respond to the message. One option is to click the Summary View button.

20. This opens the Summary tab for the patient, where you can review various aspects of the chart.

21. If you need to see even more detail, you can open the full chart from your inbox. Right-click the message.
Hover over Open Patient Chart, then select an area of the chart you want to start with. After your review, you can sign off the item within the chart, or return to Message Center to do so.

22. You can also send Messages or Reminders to others or yourself
You can also send Messages or Reminders to others or yourself. To send a message, click the Communicate dropdown arrow, then click Message. This would let you send a communication about any patient.

23. But here’s another nice thing to know
But here’s another nice thing to know. There’s also a Communicate button on the toolbar at the top. With a patient selected, you can send a message about this specific patient, without having to select the patient in the next step.

24. If you didn’t use the trick just mentioned, search for the patient to enter the name here.
To search for the recipient, type at least part of the name, then click the binoculars button.

25. In the results list, double-click the desired recipient, then click OK
In the results list, double-click the desired recipient, then click OK. (You can select more than one recipient.)

26. You can include yourself as a recipient, CC others, change the subject line, & choose to Save to Chart.
Then enter your message.

27. At the bottom, you have some standard entries you can check
At the bottom, you have some standard entries you can check. You can also set a Due on date if that is pertinent. (Remind On doesn’t really do anything significant.) When done, click Send, & it will go to the recipient’s inbox.

28. Sometimes it’ll be better to send a Reminder instead of a Message
Sometimes it’ll be better to send a Reminder instead of a Message. Unlike messages, which are transmitted immediately, reminders can be set to show up at a specified time in the future when they’ll be most pertinent. You can send reminders to yourself or others.
To begin, with the patient’s chart open, click the Communicate dropdown arrow, then Reminder.

29. As for messages, search for a recipient (potentially just yourself), modify Subject line, then type & format the communication as desired. (As of this writing, there is a flaw with Save to Chart, so don’t select that.)
If you want to send the reminder immediately, leave Show up set to 1 minute, then click Send.

30. But in this example it would be much more useful if the reminder appeared at a future date when it is immediately pertinent. Using any of the tools in the Show up section, adjust the date as desired.
You can also specific the time if necessary. This could be particularly useful if you want the reminder to appear later today.
When done, click Send.

31. When the show up date & time have arrived, the recipient will see the reminder appear in the Inbox.
Double-click the reminder to view it.

32. After reviewing & acting upon the reminder, click Complete to remove it from your inbox.

33. Another thing you can do in Message Center is subscribe to messages like test results. If you order a test in the clinic, the result will come back to you automatically. If you order a test in the hospital, you’ll see the result on rounds. But what if you wanted to know results on a patient regardless of who ordered it? Or see results that come back after a patient is discharged? With Message Center open, click Inbox, then Manage Preferences.

34. Go to the FYI Result Subscriptions tab.
There are several subscriptions that have been created for various specialties & venues. But some that will be of interest to most providers are Adhoc Results FYI(Adhoc), Admitting Physician – Post Disch. Result, Attending Physician-Post Disch. Results, Consulting Physician-Post Disch. Results, & Primary Care-Discharge/Admission Doc. Select these, then click Assign.

35. These subscriptions give you the following:
Results for inpatient tests you order that come back after patient discharged from hospital.
Results that come back after patient discharged from hospital for any patient you consulted on as inpatient.
A copy of H&P, discharge summary, & ED notes any time patient is at the hospital, when you’re the patient’s PCP.

36. Adhoc Results FYI(Adhoc) gives you something else—all results that come back on a selected patient, regardless of who in the system ordered the test. To utilize this, you need to pick the desired patient(s). Go to Inbox, then click Manage Ad Hoc List.

37. Click Add Patient.

38. Search for your patient; double-click your selection.

39. You can choose to have the subscription for a defined period of time, or to run indefinitely. (You can always come back & change it later.) After specifying the time frame, click Apply. You can then select more patients if desired. When done, click OK.

40. Before closing, let’s briefly talk about the Proxies & Pools tabs
Before closing, let’s briefly talk about the Proxies & Pools tabs. Pools allow a group of people to monitor a common message list. Some clinics may have pools of nurses or front office staff who can all work the same list of tasks. Other venues may not utilize this functionality.

41. Proxies allow you to designate people to cover your inbox while you’re away from work for an extended period. To set this up, click Manage.

42. Click Add.

43. Type your colleague’s name; if the match doesn’t immediately display, click the search binoculars.

44. Refine you search if necessary, & double-click the desired match.

45. The name displays. Click the down arrow to move it down into your list of proxies.

46. Repeat the search as needed to add all the desired names.

47. Next set the beginning & ending dates/times for the proxy to be in effect.
You can decide what items you want your proxy to see. Pick & choose as desired, though often you’ll just want to click Grant All.

48. Click Accept & Next.

49. Your proxies are listed
Your proxies are listed. If you click on one you can revise the details, or remove it.
When done click OK.

50. If you’ve been granted someone’s proxy, you view those messages by going to the Proxies tab. You might be the proxy for more than one person. If so, select the one to view from this dropdown list.
Select the proxied message & attend to it as you would your own messages.

51. While there are numerous variations on what you can see & do in Message Center, this should give you a pretty good grasp of general functionality.