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Setting up assessments using digital forms
Setting up assessments using digital forms

Steps to setting up forms and preparing your hospital on the change from paper to digital

Ben Rowland avatar
Written by Ben Rowland
Updated over a week ago

Digital forms provide an effective and paper free way of managing assessments in Med App. In this article we will discuss the steps to setting up distributing, tracking and communicating assessments for a workplace based assessment (WBA) as an example.

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Overview: setting up your first digital assessment

Here is an overview of the process we will run through to effectively onboard clinicians to the new workflow. You can also jump into a section by clicking the links below:

Where are forms located?

Before we get started here is a quick summary of where to find your assessment forms.

  1. Log into Med App dash.med.app

  2. Open your communications tab to reveal 'Forms'.

  3. Currently each form is set up by Med App, so if it's blank or forms is missing, don't panic! Speak with us to enable forms at your hospital.

Communicating change and digital assessments

Before we invite clinicians to complete an assessment it's important to consider the context of who is being invited. There will be varying levels of awareness of Med App and comfort with using digital tools to complete an assessment.

Initial communication - Email

Email candidates & assessors that they will be using Med App to complete assessments, for some this will be the first time they have heard about the platform. So make sure to be clear about the process for getting on to the platform and process.

View steps and template

  1. Start by downloading the template

  2. Now add your hospital logo and modify the language as you see fit

  3. Get the approval to co-sign by the coordinator and director of training

  4. Send this to all clinicians who will be using digital assessments

Mobile communication with tracking - Mailouts

Using the feature known as 'Mailouts' will provide tracking on read rates & provide you with an opportunity to provide deeper support material on how to complete a digital assessment within the platform they will be using.

See steps and examples

  1. Open Mailouts under communications

  2. Select your digital assessment template (If you don't see one, ask us about how to get one!)

  3. Edit your Mailout: Adding your hospital logo, links to local guidelines

  4. If you're unfamiliar about how to use Mailouts or link content review this article

In person & face to face training for clinicians

Typically delivered by the WBA coordinator, DCT or educator once they or you have been trained on the process. You can request that your CSM or hospital lead from Med App support your plan for the training program.

Recommended assessor and candidate training

In this session invite clinicians to a new practice assessment to go through the process in a safe context which doesn't count towards their assessment.

This might involve:

  1. Adding yourself to an exsiting cohorts (Assessor or candidate)

  2. Setting up a distribution titled test/practice

  3. Organising a session to demonstrating in person the process of either of these roles end to end

Creating a communication strategy with impact

Finally, here are some things to consider to ensure your new digital program has a high chance of uptake:

View recommendations

  1. Level of urgency: Candidates have a higher level of urgency as they are the most impacted by assessment being complete or not to progress their training. Assessors on the other hand may have a lower degree of impact and therefore lower degree of motivation.

  2. Who is delivering the message: An email or Mailout cosigned from a DCT, DMS will have the highest chance of being received and read.

  3. Method of communication: Generally speaking face to face is the strongest method of communicating but can be labour intense, email is the weakest but it can reach the broadest number of people and act as a reference to support material.

There is no magic formula for new habit formation but the greater the frequency, quality and channels of communication, along with the right motivation will increase the likelihood of change.

Setting up cohorts

Clinicians must be added to the correct cohorts in order to separate candidates & assessors, as each play a different role in the process. We will make the groups now and then us the invite function in the next step to add users to each one.

Creating a cohort or group

  1. Click on Cohorts and select 'create cohort' button in the top right of the screen

  2. Create a cohort for your assessors 'WBA Assessors'

  3. Now create another for your candidates 'WBA Candidates'

  4. You may want to label them with the year and type of assessment

Inviting clinicians to Med App

You are ready to invite clinicians to Med App and to the cohorts you just made. Here are the steps, you'll need to repeat the process once for candidates and another time for assessors to ensure they are put into the corresponding cohorts.

Process for inviting clinicians

  1. From the Users page click 'invite new users'

  3. Either

    1. Add user details manually

    2. Download and populate the bulk user template (This can also be found under resources)

    3. Once the csv file is populated with user details drag it back into the screen

  4. You must assign the following:

    1. Add clinicians to the corresponding cohort in this case we are using the WBA Assessors as an example

    2. Assign a role

    3. Assign when user access should expire

  5. Select the correct Maiout communications, in this case 'WBA digital assessment'

  6. Finally write a message to your incoming users to Download and setup Med App, this will come through as an SMS. If your the incoming cohort is already on the system you can turn off the message by pressing the switch next to 'send push notification to user.

Using Forms & Sending assessments

In the previous step, both cohorts were populated with the clinicians we invited. We are ready to invite each group to their assessments.

In the below example we will use the Mini-CEX as an example:

How to send an assessment or distribution

When we send an assessment to a group of clinicians we call that a 'distribution'. In the process below, we will locate the Mini-CEX and send our first distribution to a group of candidate & assessors.

  1. Start by locating forms by opening Communication -> Forms and clicking on 'Mini-CEX'

  2. Select the button 'Send New Distribution'

  4. Enter the distribution title, for this example we will use 'Med Mini-CEX 2024' to provide the clinician some guidance on what kind of form and specialty to use this assessment for

  5. Select the assessors & candidates cohorts you'd like to send the assessment to

  6. Configuring automated communications

    1. Toggle notifications off/on by clicking the switch next to 'send notification'.

      1. By default there are 3 notifications sent for each distribution:

        An assessment is available, Due date, Overdue date.

    2. Edit the wording title and content by clicking in each box

    3. Change the timing by clicking the drop down under 'notification will be sent'

  7. Review details and Send.

Tracking assessment progress and reporting

It's important to keep track of how clinicians and candidates are progressing to identify blockers and issues which may prevent the successful completion of assessments.

Review the steps

Open an existing distribution by clicking on the name of that distribution

See the progress of your assessment by reviewing the page

Reporting output & data

Med App provides you with an easy to track overview of each distribution and a way to easily generate reports.

  • The interface provides an overall status of completion for the distribution

  • Export individual reports as a PDF by clicking the icon next to a complete assessment and downloading the report from the print screen (see below examples)

  • Export a CSV of all questions & answers for anyone within that distribution

See reporting examples

Overview Screen

Downloading a PDF

Time stamped assessments

Tips and FAQs

See tips and FAQs

Can I send multiple assessments?

Yes, it's quite common to set up many assessments so they are available for clinicians to commence at the appropriate time throughout their term or run. Consider turning off notifications for all but the last assessment as to not annoy or spam the recipient.

Turn off notifications by following the steps in using forms and sending assessments under the step: 'Configuring automated communications'.

How should I name each distribution?

We recommend picking a consistent naming convention which provides an easy way to find and identify distributions both for you and your clinicians.

In the below is an example it is clear to decipher the specialty, assessment and year.

Can I change the due date of a distribution?

We don't recommend doing this often, but yes you can.

  1. Open any assessment to reveal all distributions

  2. Click the 3 dots on the right of any distribution to open up a dialogue box

  3. Click edit distribution

  4. Modify the due date or closing date

  5. Click Edit the distribution form to save

Can I reset a form if it was incorrectly distributed?

You can reset a form after it's been distributed

  1. Start by opening an assessment by clicking on it's name

  2. Open a distribution by clicking on it's name

  3. Click the reverse arrow to reset and resend the form to the candidate

Forms & assessments we support

Forms is a new and exciting tool to improve hospital efficiency, currently we have mapped the following workflows:

  • Work placebase assessments (WBA)

  • Entrustable Professional activities (EPA)

  • Term Assessments

  • Ad-Hoc forms (new)

Related article and resources

Resources

Attachment icon
WBA email template for clinicians.docx
Attachment icon
Medapps-user-invite-template.csv
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