OK button on Invoicing
Hi,
I'm just wondering if there is a way to remove the OK button on the invoice screen.
I think I would like to force staff to either press In Progress or Completed, but they keep reverting to OK.
Or is there a reason for the OK button that I don't know about?
Greta
Re: OK button on Invoicing
The OK button is there for consistency with the rest of the user interface.
The In Progress and Completed buttons are just shortcuts to set the invoice status and then click OK.
There is no support to disable OK. What's the reasoning for wanting staff to click In Progress/Completed? If you go through the workflows, the status will be updated for you.
Re: OK button on Invoicing
Hi,
I guess we have this issue as well on occasion.
Our workflow requires the "consult" button to be pressed multiple times during a visit. A patient might be in hospital for days or weeks. We want to keep adding everything to the same visit. However at the end of the visit we want to "Complete" the invoice to signal to reception it has been checked and is ready for payment.
The "OK" button on the invoice screen as far as I can see is analogous to the "In Progress" button in most real life cases. When we press "Ok" what we mean is -> Leave Invoice in progress and get me out of this screen. What it means in practice is that no-one ever presses the "In Progress" button and it makes it harder to force users to make an actual choice between - Do I want to leave this invoice in progress or complete it. I.e. OK is an way to escape the workflow without thinking about it.
This draws in issues raised in https://openvpms.atlassian.net/browse/OVPMS-1428
My 2c is that:
1) Buttons should be more explicit and fit the context.
2) They should force the workflow. In this case I agree with Greta in that if you are in an invoice to get out of it the choices should be "In Progress" - I.e. I want to keep working on this invoice and get out of this screen OR "Completed" - I.e. this invoice is done and I want to get out of this screen.
Re: OK button on Invoicing
Adrian/Greta - this post started out to be an 'I think Tim A is wrong and the OK should be removed'. However we need to remember that there are circumstances in which you NEED an OK button.
Consider the case where you have an invoice with status On Hold or you want to put the invoice on Hold. Since the In Progress and Completed buttons force the status to change before exiting, you MUST have an OK button to allow exit leaving the status as set.
In fact looking at the Status Updates table in http://www.openvpms.org/documentation/csh/1.8/concepts/schedulesWorklists one could argue that the button to be removed is the In Progress button. It should never be needed because the Consult button sets the invoice status to In Progress - ie in the vast majority of cases the effect of the OK and In Progress buttons will be identical because the invoice will already have status In Progress.
Regards, Tim G
Re: OK button on Invoicing
Hi,
I guess I would as what the difference between "On Hold" and "In Progress" actually is? When is "On Hold" used?
If the "On Hold" is something is that is manually set and has no practical difference for workflow should this not be removed?
Then the only options should be "In Progress" or "Completed" and these should be the only way to exit an invoice screen.
"Ok" to a user just means "I am done with this". It doesn't force choosing between "Keep this invoice active" vs "Invoice is completed and ready for payment".
Re: OK button on Invoicing
Adrian - 'On Hold' is a manually settable status. It provides the ability for management to indicate that there is some problem with the invoice. It is supported on the Reporting|Work In Progress screen where one can select just On Hold invoices.
Note that the concept of 'holding' and invoice is not an OpenVPMS invention - as googling 'invoice status on hold' will reveal.
Regards, Tim G
Re: OK button on Invoicing
hmmmm... I am really not going to let this one go, am I....
Question - Why is the status changeable in the Customer -> Charges -> Invoice Edit screen via a dropdown and not in the "Visit Editor"?
My issue with this is that some buttons force an action (change status) and others don't. Users don't appreciate this. So when they click OK they are not thinking about if they want to change a status or not. It gives them an "out" from the workflow. If you use invoice statuses (as we do) this is not desirable.
Removing the the "In Progress" button has issues because on the "Edit Visit" screen at least you can't otherwise change the status from Completed back to "In Progress" if you make an error.
So my thoughts are for consistency and adherance to workflow either:
1) Any invoice screen should have the OK button removed (and if we really want to present people with all the options then a "On Hold" button added so you can action the Status appropriately). I.e. each time you exit the invoice you have to choose your status.
2) The status become a dropdown in the "Edit Visit" screen and the "In Progress" and "Completed" button is removed. I.e. Editing the the status must be done manually. However it reduces confusion/inconsistency.
3) We leave the system as it is. I don't believe this is ideal for the reasons listed above.
My preference is for 1)
Question - What practical effect other than filtering does "On Hold" achieve? If it stopped people with lower permissions editing an invoice I would have more love for the status but otherwise I imagine it is something that is ignored by most staff.