Whether you’re a seasoned clinician or just starting to use MEDITECH Expanse, knowing how to navigate the system efficiently can make all the difference - between spending valuable time with patients or getting caught up in clicks and screens.
This guide brings together essential tips, tricks, and workflow shortcuts to help you work smarter and more confidently within MEDITECH Expanse. From personalising your interface to making the most of built-in automation and communication tools, it’s designed to be a practical, time-saving reference you can return to again and again.
Whether you're a nurse, doctor, or supporting clinical staff, these insights will help streamline your day-to-day tasks, improve documentation, and reduce unnecessary steps, so you can stay focused on what matters most: delivering great care.
Learning MEDITECH Expanse’s keyboard shortcuts will save time on repetitive tasks. Clinicians can gain efficiency and accuracy by mastering these commands, which streamline common tasks by reducing clicks and mouse movement.
Learning the function keys in Expanse will help clinicians with day-to-day use of the software. As experience grows you would expect users to have both hands on the keyboard and less reliant on using the mouse for navigation. The table below lists these keys along with some additional shortcuts.
Esc |
Back |
Enter |
Select/OK |
F1 |
Help |
Space + enter |
Scroll menu – Moves the cursor within a list. |
F3 |
Exit screen or cancel action |
Arrows |
Open the MEDITECH main menu. |
F5 |
Recalls the last entry/thing last documented in that section. It saves a ton of time with charting assessments if the patient's status hasn’t changed. |
ALT + M |
Switch between open windows to improve multitasking. |
F6 |
Next Section – Moves cursor to the next section on the page. |
ALT + Tab |
Jump between fields, reducing mouse use. |
F7 |
Next Page – When content being viewed has multiple pages, it allows movement between pages. |
Tab + Shift + Tab |
Today's date. |
F8 |
e.g. Moves cursor to different groupings of buttons on the screen. |
T |
For showing a past date . E.g. ‘T-2’ for the date 2 days ago. |
F9 |
Lookup Menu – Allows access to drop down lists for quick data entry. |
T – x |
For showing a past date . E.g. ‘T-2’ for the date 2 days ago. |
F9 |
Save and Proceed to the next step. |
T + x |
For a date in the future. |
F12 |
Save – Allows saving or filing an entry and the window is closed with an extra click. |
N |
For now time. |
Tab |
Next field – Moves cursor line by line. |
Clinicians can boost efficiency and reduce errors by tailoring their interface. A well-organised dashboard places critical details - like vitals, lab results, and orders - in clear view, while customising colours, font sizes, and layouts improves readability. In Expanse, users can save personal themes and preferences, enhancing visual accessibility and drawing attention to urgent data. Additionally, “Favourites” tabs and quick-launch menus serve as bookmarks for frequently used tools, cutting down on clicks and ensuring everything you need is right at hand.
Automation streamlines routine tasks so clinicians can focus on patient care. By grouping standard lab orders or other routine steps into a single macro or batch command, multiple actions can be completed at once, minimising repetitive entries and reducing the risk of missed steps. MEDITECH-integrated tools further expedite workflows by pre-filling forms and auto-populating fields, allowing clinicians to apply order sets or send updates with a single click. This dramatically cuts administrative overhead and frees up time for direct patient engagement.
Effective notification management prevents workflow disruptions and alert fatigue. Critical alerts (e.g., high-risk medications or unusual lab results) should be clear and prominent, while non-urgent notifications can be consolidated or scheduled based on user-defined thresholds. For instance, a nurse may need immediate lab result alerts, whereas a physician might prefer a single summary each day. Administrators can further standardise facility-wide settings by downgrading or disabling non-critical alerts, ensuring only essential notifications demand immediate attention.
Customisable user profiles in MEDITECH let clinicians tailor default behaviours like standard order sets, preferred printers, and auto-sign-off timers, all of which streamline daily workflows, reduce repetitive steps, and support data security. For instance, default order sets allow quick entry of common labs, medications, or imaging requests for routine protocols across shifts. Likewise, specifying a preferred printer ensures sensitive documents are directed appropriately, and auto-sign-off timers protect confidentiality by logging users out after inactivity. Finally, MEDITECH stores individual settings - such as default workflows, shortcuts, and colour schemes - so these preferences stay consistent across sessions and devices, making transitions between workstations seamless and efficient.
By leveraging the right tools - built-in forms, standardised templates, and free-text fields - clinicians can capture patient information quickly, accurately, and in a way that fits each clinical scenario.
Built-in forms and standardised templates guide users through essential data points - such as vitals, medications, and procedures - ensuring consistency and compliance. They’re particularly useful for routine tasks like admissions, discharges, and care plans, reducing errors and speeding up workflow. Quick text allows clinicians to store frequently entered paragraphs of text. These can be quickly inserted into a report or document by entering the relevant trigger, and tailoring the defaulted text as required. However, when cases are more complex or require deeper explanation, free-text fields allow for greater detail. The downside is that free-text entries can become lengthy or skip important checkpoints if not used carefully.
Clear, integrated communication helps teams coordinate patient care without delays or confusion. When staff can share updates directly within MEDITECH, vital details stay centralised, preventing overlooked tasks and duplicated efforts.
Real-time digital messages cut down on phone calls, paperwork and off system internal emails. A nurse can quickly alert the pharmacy about a medication change, or a provider can notify the lab about urgent tests. Staff can also assign tasks to themselves or colleagues, helping everyone track follow-ups. In-system messages are secure and come in various forms like direct messages or “Virtual Sticky Notes” that can be used to insert short reminders or updates in a chart that colleagues see immediately.
A shared status board or patient list highlights pending labs, requests, and care updates in one place. This unified view helps prevent duplicate work, ensures timely actions, and promotes smooth transitions between team members.
Smooth shift handoffs rely on sharing vital details. MEDITECH’s built-in shift handoff features display recent events, new orders, and outstanding concerns, so incoming teams can pick up tasks without delay.
There are several key areas to care coordination that can bring efficiencies:
Case Management supports tasks such as discharge planning and follow-up appointments. Users can view patient progress and upcoming needs in one place. This visibility helps prevent bottlenecks and speeds up transitions from one level of care to another.
MEDITECH regularly updates the discharge processes which improves care plans and reduces the chance of missing crucial steps. Teams can assign and track tasks, such as scheduling outpatient visits or arranging home health services, without leaving the system.
Configurable care plans let clinicians mark progress on each patient goal. Alerts can signal when a new milestone is reached, ensuring the entire care team stays up to date.
Nurses benefit from workflows that bundle tasks like vital sign checks, medication administration, and patient education. Some care units incorporate official guidelines into charts, so staff can follow step-by-step instructions without switching screens. Tools like shift reporting modules and built-in reminders help keep notes consistent, making it easier for nurses to share important details with the next shift.
Different areas, such as pharmacy, laboratory, or surgery, can tap into dedicated modules for their daily tasks. For instance, the pharmacy module can track medication orders and verify dosages, while laboratory staff use features that coordinate sample collection and result reporting. With each specialty aligned in a single system, staff have the data they need to act quickly and accurately.
By tracking key performance indicator (KPIs), clinicians and administrators can spot bottlenecks before they cause significant delays. MEDITECH includes built-in analytics features that gather key metrics on system usage and clinical workflows. Some sites also use third-party dashboards to create visual summaries of data, such as chart completion rates, wait times, and staff activity. KPIs might include chart completion rates, patient length of stay, or overall system uptime. When these metrics stay within an acceptable range, it signals that operations flow smoothly. If they slip, the data points to issues that require attention. Using these insights, managers can adjust staffing, improve training, or reconfigure processes to keep workflows efficient and boost the overall ROI of staff resources and technology systems.
Systems can slow down, freeze, or generate errors during peak usage or due to local settings. It is generally best practice to work in order of the following remedies when troubleshooting:
Safeguarding patient data is critical to ensure your organisation and system stay compliant with GDPR, make sure you follow these security best practices:
By knowing when to attempt a user-level fix and when to escalate, staff can keep MEDITECH running at full speed while protecting patient privacy. These measures help ensure a reliable, compliant environment that supports daily clinical work.
Getting the most out of your MEDITECH Expanse system isn’t just about knowing where to click - it’s about working smarter, reducing friction in your workflows, and giving clinicians more time to focus on patient care. This guide is designed to be a living resource that supports your team as your use of the system evolves.
If you have any tips of your own or questions about how to get even more from MEDITECH, we’d love to hear from you. Whether you're just getting started or looking to optimise what’s already in place, our team is here to help.
Reach out to us to explore how we can support your team in working more efficiently with MEDITECH.