Investigation work

The Clinical Coordinator creates an investigation for a case, names the investigator and sets its schedule. Arrival, work in progress, review and completion are visible as distinct states. Start and end dates provide a timeline for the episode. One case may have several investigations, so the investigation record is the place to attach evidence from a particular round of work.

The Licensed Clinician documents that work with attributed notes. A draft note can be signed and later amended while retaining its author and the date of signature. Measured observations keep a metric, value, unit, observation date and the person who recorded it. Those details allow a Clinical Reviewer to read the narrative alongside measured evidence without guessing which investigation produced either record.

• Schedule. The coordinator records the case, investigator and planned date before the episode begins.
• Documentation. The clinician attaches each note and observation to the active investigation.
• Review point. The investigation moves to awaiting review when its evidence is ready for the reviewer.

A second investigation for the same case gets a separate record. It may have different dates and a different investigator. Keeping the notes under their actual investigation prevents a later observation from being mistaken for evidence from the earlier episode.

Agree when Scheduled becomes Arrived and who records the actual start and end dates. Set a convention for investigation type so comparable work can be reviewed together. Decide what a signed note means in your operation and how amendments are written. The note status is the record’s own state; it should be read alongside the investigation status during review.

The Clinical Reviewer should have a clear intake rule for investigations awaiting review. Define which evidence must be present before the coordinator changes the investigation status. That local operating rule helps the reviewer focus on the evidence itself, including specimens and follow-up actions linked to the same case and episode.

Schedule an investigation, record arrival, and add a draft note and a measured observation. Verify the investigator can find both records through the investigation. Sign the note, add the actual start and end dates, and move the investigation into review. Have the Clinical Reviewer inspect the note author, observation unit and dates before telling the Clinical Coordinator whether the episode can be completed. Repeat with another investigation on the same case to check that the records are not mixed.

• Investigation schedule — Planned and active investigations with their assigned person and episode dates.
• Investigation review inbox — Investigations whose evidence is waiting for clinical review.
• Draft investigation notes — Notes still being prepared before signature.

Use investigation review for the complete handoff and specimen processing for related laboratory evidence.