You can use patient and care flow data points as inputs to you care flow, to
personalize your messages - e.g. address the patient with first name
build your clinical reports - e.g. list a patient's response or score calculation
fine-tune your API calls - e.g. pass ID's and reference dates
You can access and create variables by typing the slash command / in input fields of care flow actions, like messages, clinical reports, API calls ... You can either create and insert a new data variable or re-use existing variables in your care flow.
How to create a new data variable
To create a new data variable, you either navigate to the dedicated data variables section in your care flow, or use the / command available within your care flow actions.
A quick word about dynamic vs. constant variables:
Dynamic variable: dynamic data inputs, which you insert or gather throughout the lifespan of a care flow, e.g. baseline data, form answers, API response ...
Constant variable: static data inputs, which you define upfront (i.e. at design time) and stay identical through the lifespan of a care flow, e.g. task ID, tag ID, API URL endpoint
Option #1 - Data variables section
Go to the Elements tab of your care flow
Select Variables or Constants in the right-hand menu
Click the "Create variable" button or "Create constant" button respectively
Option #2 - Within care flow actions
Type / within your message, clinical note, API call ...
Start typing your new variable name
Click the " + Create Data variable option"
How to configure your data variable
Dynamic variables
Give your data variable a comprehensive name
Select the data point you wish to use as a variable in your message
Select the correct attribute for this variable. The attributes are specific for the type of data point collected.
Attribute types:
Print answer value: displays the numeric value that corresponds with the answer option (in case of Single Select or Multiple Select question types)
Print answer label: displays the textual answer that corresponds with the answer option
Print calculation value: displays the numeric value of the calculation
Print collection/calculation date: displays the date on which the data point or calculation was captured
Concrete examples
The form 'Treatment decision' captures two variables:
Treatment: single select question type to identify the choice of treatment
Treatment_start_date: start date of the treatment
A message is configured using the above two variables:
Treatment: attribute selected is 'Print answer label'
Treatment_start_date: attribute selected is 'Print date'
Using the Preview, the message will be dynamically filled out using the configured variables:
Optional dynamic variable settings
Specify a fall back option for your variable
If your question is not mandatory to fill out, you can still make your messages readable by providing a textual fall back option e.g. "Patient did not answer this question"
Add a transformation to your variable
Allows you to transform the data to a specific format - e.g. specify the date-format you which to use (DD/MM/YYYY or MM/DD/YYYY or YYYY/MM/DD)
Add a suffix or prefix to your value for interpretation reasons - e.g. the patient's weight value is {weight} "Kg"
(+) Add or (-) Subtract units of time (Years, Months, Weeks, Days, Hours, Minutes) against the selected data point - e.g. calculate the due date of a task
Constants
Give your constant a comprehensive name
Enter a value for the constant
Define if you want to conceal your value. Note: this action is irreversible. Once a value is concealed it will not be shown through the UI and will stay encrypted. When used in API calls, the receiving end will of course receive the decrypted value.
How to use dynamic variables in an integration context
Add a Baseline data point to your care flow: e.g. "Patient Chart Creation" - resembling the date a patient got registered at a clinical office (and into your EMR)
Supply this baseline data point when starting a pathway using the Awell Orchestration API
Add a Variable using this baseline data point as a source, by then applying a transformation to calculate the due date for "Review of the Patient Chart" (aka a task you can push to your EMR) as Patient Chart Creation + {1 day}
Add an API call action (REST or GraphQL) to insert the new Variable
