Skip to main content

Enabling PointClickCare (PCC) to Assign Meal Plans to Residents in POS

Kevin U
  • Updated

About Enabling PCC to Assign Meal Plans to Residents in POS

The PointClickCare (PCC) API allows a resident or patient in PCC to be automatically assigned (or unassigned) a meal plan in the POS.

Having PCC automatically assign meal plans to residents in POS is ideal for a PCC Connect interface that is configured to only have a single profile between people groups when a resident moves between PCC facilities for different levels of care (i.e., a people group represents a PCC level of care facility). See Interface to PCC: Configuration Options for Residents Moving Between PCC Facilities for Different Levels of Care for more information. 

When a PCC interface is configured to move a single profile between people groups, the assigned meal plan will be lost. Therefore if the meal plan is to remain active, then the profile must be assigned the meal plan each time that profile is moved to a facility. This can be done manually in Touch Admin (see Assigning a Meal Plan to Diner). However the assignment of meal plans to residents in the POS can also be done automatically via the PCC API. The configuration steps are as follows: 

Creating the Meal Plan Names in PCC

The first steps are to create a custom picklist field in PCC and enter the POS meal plan names in it. This custom picklist is then available on a PCC resident/patient profile to assign or unassign meal plans in the POS. To create the meal plan names in PCC, complete the following steps:

  1. Log into PointClickCare.
  2. From the top menu, select Admin > Other > Setup. The Admin Setup screen appears
  3. In the Organization Setup section, select User Defined Fields. The User Defined Fields screen appears.
  4. Click New. The Edit User Defined Field pop-up appears. 

    edit_user_defined_field.png
     
  5. Enter or select the following:
    • Field Name - enter the text Meal Plan exactly as is.
    • Field Data Type - select Pick List.
    • The remaining fields are specific to how you want to present the field in PCC; if more information is required please refer to the PCC proprietary help.
  6. Click Save to apply your changes and close the pop-up.
  7. The next step is to enter the POS meal plan names that are to go into the Meal Plan picklist field you just created. While still on the User Defined Fields screen, locate the Meal Plan field and click its add items link. The User Defined Picklists pop-up appears. 

    PCC_picklist1.png
     
  8. Click New and the secondary New Picklist Item pop-up appears (screenshot below).

    PCC_picklist2.png
     
  9. Enter a meal plan name that is in the POS.
  10. Click Save & New to save the meal plan name. The field becomes blank for you to add the other POS meal plan names as needed. 
  11. When finished adding the POS meal plan names, click Save to close the secondary pop-up, and then click Close to close the primary pop-up. 

Assign Meal Plans to Resident/Patient Profiles in PCC

With the Meal Plan picklist field now available to a PCC resident profile (as per steps above), a PCC user can now select meal plans for their resident/patient profiles in PCC, which is required for the next and below step of linking existing POS meal plans to PCC. 

Linking Existing POS Meal Plans to PCC

To link an existing POS meal plan to PCC so that the PCC API can assign or unassign that meal plan for residents, complete the following steps: 

  1. In Touch Admin, select People Management > Meals Plans. The Meal Plans screen appears.
  2. For the meal plan you want to edit, click its Edit button. 
  3. In the PointClickCare Auto Assignment section, select the Enable this feature check box. 
  4. From the PCC Values drop-down, select the PCC meal plan name that the POS meal plan is associated with. 

    PCC_auto_assignment.png

    Note: The PCC Values drop-down only shows a meal plan if that meal plan has been assigned to at least one resident in PCC. In other words, if no PCC resident/patient profile is assigned the meal plan, then that meal plan is not available from the PCC Values drop-down.  
     
  5. Click the Update Policy button at the bottom of the screen to apply your changes. 

Synching the Meal Plan Field

Please contact MealSuite Support to enable the PCC API to sync the meal plan field. When doing so, you have the following sync options: 

  • 0 (Disabled) - the meal plan field is only synced when an update occurs to the PCC resident/patient profile (e.g., diet order update, LOA, transfer, etc.),
  • 1 (every 24 hours)
  • 2 (every 12 hours)
  • 3 (every 8 hours)
  • 4 (every 6 hours)

If you are MealSuite Support, see the following article to set up the PCC API to sync the meal plan field: PCC Connect Interface: API Settings (INTERNAL), specifically the Synching PCC User-Defined Fields section. 

Linking a New POS Meal Plan to PCC

When creating a new POS meal plan, the method to link it to a PCC meal plan field so that the PCC API can assign or unassign that meal plan for residents is as follows:

  1. Create the meal plan.
  2. In the PointClickCare Auto Assignment section, select the Enable this feature check box.
  3. For the PCC Values field, leave blank. 

    new_meal_plan_PCC.png
     
  4. Click the Create Policy button. You are returned to the Meal Plans screen.
  5. Click the Edit button of the newly-created meal plan.
  6. You will now notice that the PCC Values field is a drop-down from which you can select the PCC meal plan name that the POS meal plan is associated with. 

    new_meal_plan_PCC2.png

    Note: The PCC Values drop-down only shows a meal plan if that meal plan has been assigned to at least one resident in PCC. In other words, if no PCC resident is assigned the meal plan, then that meal plan is not available from the PCC Values drop-down.  
     
  7. Click the Update Policy button at the bottom of the screen to apply your changes.