A collab is a short team conversation attached to one record, such as a patient's chart or a note. Use it when you need a teammate's help with something about that record: ask a question, bring in the right people, assign follow-up tasks, and close the conversation when the job is done. Members of the collab read and reply to it.
Collabs keep team collaboration tied to a specific record or message. You can use them on:
Patients — at the patient-chart level
Appointments
Invoices
Documents
Notes
SMS messages
Patient portal messages
Look for the Collab button at the top of the patient’s chart or on the specific appointment, invoice, document, note, or message you’re viewing. Click it to start a conversation or view existing conversations. If the button says 3 collabs, there are already three conversations.
Availability depends on your practice’s enabled features and your permissions, so you may not see Collab controls in every location.
Start a collab
Start a collab from the record your question is about, so everyone can see what it's attached to.
Open the record, for example the patient's chart.
Click Collab or the collab count (for example 3 collabs). On a patient's chart, it's at the top next to Action.
If a list opens, click Start a collab. If the record has no collabs yet, a new collab window opens right away.
Type your message in the box at the bottom of the window, for example "Can we move Jane's follow-up to next week?"
Click the send button.
The collab is created when you send the first message. You're the owner, and the window shows Visible to 1 person until you add teammates. If you close the window before sending, no collab is created.
Work in a collab
Hover over a message to react to it, reply to it, or delete your own message. Updates such as renaming, new members and new tasks show in the conversation, so everyone can follow what happened.
Rename the collab and add teammates
A new collab is named after its record. Give it a clearer name so teammates know what it's about at a glance, then add the people who need to help.
Click the pencil icon next to the collab's name.
Type the new name, then click Save.
Click the members' pictures at the top of the window to open Members.
In Search teammates, type part of a teammate's name.
Click Add next to the person.
Close the Members window.
The teammate now appears under Current members, and the window shows Visible to 2 people.
Only the owner sees the pencil icon. Depending on your practice's settings, only the owner may be able to add people directly.
Add a task
Turn the next step into a task so it has an owner and a due date and isn't lost in the conversation.
At the top of the collab, click No tasks yet (or the task count, such as 0/1).
Click Add task.
Under Description, type what needs to be done, for example "Call Jane to offer two new times."
Under Owner, search for and select the person who will do it. Members of the collab are marked (in this collab).
Check the Due date and time. It's set to tomorrow at the current time; click it to change it.
Click Create task.
The task count at the top of the collab shows how many tasks are done, for example 0/1. Click it to see the list, and tick the box next to a task to complete it.
The task is also added to the patient's Tasks tab and to the owner's task lists, with an Open collab link back to the conversation.
When every task is done, the collab asks whether to resolve it.
Find a collab later
Collab windows stay open while you move around Prospyr. When you minimize one, it waits as a tab in the dock along the bottom of the screen. All your open collabs are also listed in Team Chat.
Click the – (Minimize) button at the top of the collab window.
Click Team Chat in the left menu.
Under Collabs, click the collab to open it.
Other ways to get back to a collab:
Dock: click the collab's tab at the bottom of the screen.
The record: click the collab count at the top of the record, then click the collab.
Tasks: click Open collab under a task that belongs to a collab.
In Team Chat, click Open patient at the top of the conversation to go to the record the collab is attached to.
Leave or join a collab
Leave a collab when you no longer need to follow it. You can join a collab you're not part of from the record it's attached to.
Leave a collab
In the collab window, click ⋯ (Collab options).
Click Leave.
In Leave this collab?, click Leave.
Join a collab
Close the collab window, then click the collab count at the top of the record.
Under Other collabs, click the collab.
Click Join.
After you leave, you stop getting its messages. The owner can add you back.
The owner doesn't have a Leave option. To step away from a collab you own, first click ⋯ → Transfer ownership and click Make owner next to a teammate, then confirm.
Depending on your practice's settings, you're added as soon as you click Join, or the owner must approve your request first.
Resolve or reopen a collab
Resolve a collab when the question is answered and the work is done. It moves out of your open collabs but keeps its history.
Open the collab, for example by clicking its tab in the dock.
Click ⋯ (Collab options).
Click Resolve.
To pick the conversation back up, click Reopen at the bottom of the window.
A resolved collab is marked Resolved and is read-only: no one can send messages until it's reopened.
Resolved collabs are listed under Resolved when you click the collab count on the record.
Good to know
If you don't see the Collab button or Start a collab, ask your practice admin. Starting collabs is a role permission (Start Collabs), and you also need access to Tasks.
Your practice's rules decide who can add people, who approves join requests, who can resolve and reopen, and what non-members see. Admins set these in Settings → Configuration → Collabs. If an option in this article is missing, it's likely turned off for your role.
Depending on your practice's settings, you may not be able to leave a collab while you still have an open task in it. Complete or reassign the task first.
If your practice allows only one collab per record and the record already has one, your message isn't sent. Click Open it in the message that appears to go to the existing collab.
For more on team communication, see How to Use Team Chat and for assigning and completing tasks, see How to Use Tasks.