Watched folder for automatically suggesting Context document imports | Voters

Watched folder for automatically suggesting Context document imports

Arnaud Zeler

I’m a clinician using Heidi during consultations. A common workflow is that patient documents, such as radiology reports, referral letters or scanned results, are scanned during the consultation and automatically saved into a local folder by the scanner software.
At the moment, I need to manually locate the scanned file and upload it into the current Heidi session’s Context tab.
Feature request: allow Heidi Desktop to watch a user-selected local folder. When a new supported document appears in that folder, Heidi would show a clear confirmation prompt such as: “Add this document to the Context of the current session?”
Important safeguards:
never import silently without user confirmation;
show the filename before import;
import only into the currently open session;
allow the watched folder to be enabled/disabled easily;
optionally move/archive the file after successful import;
support common formats already accepted by Context, such as PDF, JPG, PNG and DOCX.
This would make scanner-based workflows much smoother in medical practices while keeping clinician confirmation before any patient document is added to a session.

Liz from Heidi

Hey Arnaud Zeler -- thanks for sharing this! Just trying to understand your workflow a little better:

Are these documents always getting saved to the same folder on your desktop computer via the scanning flow?
Is there any kind of document routing that is happening with those files on your computer currently? e.g. are they getting sent to unique patient folders, or folders by date?
Are you scanning the documents yourself, or do you have another team member scanning these files, and the files automatically appear on your desktop?
Are you using any special software for scanning or just using a standard scanner for this?

Thanks :)

Arnaud Zeler

Liz from Heidi
Bonjour Liz,
Merci pour votre message.
Les documents arrivent toujours dans un seul dossier local sur mon Mac. Ils arrivent en vrac, souvent sans nom explicite.
Il n’y a pas de routage local automatique à ce stade : les documents ne sont pas déjà classés par patient, par date ou par type de document avant d’être déposés dans Heidi.
Je scanne moi-même les documents avec un scanner ScanSnap.
Parfois, un même fichier contient plusieurs pages correspondant à plusieurs documents différents. En revanche, quand cela arrive, ces documents concernent toujours le même patient.
Ensuite, je glisse simplement ces documents dans l’onglet “contexte” d’une session dans Heidi. Cette étape fonctionne bien.
Après cela, l’import dans mon logiciel métier est déjà géré automatiquement de mon côté. Donc mon besoin principal n’est pas de créer un routage complet après Heidi, mais plutôt de pouvoir déposer facilement dans l’onglet “contexte” d’une session dans Heidi des documents non nommés et non triés, y compris lorsqu’un fichier contient plusieurs documents différents du même patient.
Cordialement,
Arnaud

Liz from Heidi

Arnaud Zeler: thanks for that additional info. I'll share this idea with the team for review!

Arnaud Zeler

If a full watched-folder feature is not planned, an official local API or deep link would also solve this. For example, Heidi Desktop could expose a secure local/import command or URL scheme allowing a trusted local workflow to suggest importing a file into the currently open session’s Context, always with an in-app confirmation prompt before the file is attached.