All diet orders in Epic will update Monday, Sept. 25, to improve order clarity, especially for patients with dysphagia and modified diet recommendations.
Currently, the food texture question is pre-selected to “regular” and the fluid consistency question is pre-selected to “thin liquids.” These questions will now default to unanswered.
The first time you place a diet order for each admission, you’ll need to answer these questions. Your answers will carry forward as defaults for new diet orders placed during the same admission.
For example, if a patient with an existing modified texture order is made NPO (“nothing by mouth”) for a procedure, the provider placing a post-procedure diet order will now see that modified texture selected by default.
Need to change the food texture or fluid consistency during the current admission? Simply place a new diet order.
Also, there is now a new question to Special Request a diet type. It includes:
Tracking of previous and current diet orders will remain available in the manage order window, Summary Activity reports (such as MD Summary and Active Orders) and in the Chart Review Activity, in the Other Orders report for prior admission diet orders.