Distribution Lists - Part 4 - Searching and Managing Dist. Lists

Searching and Managing Distribution Lists

Searching Distribution Lists

The ‘Distribution Lists’ tab (Laboratory Management > Distribution Lists) has the following search tools to locate existing distribution lists:

• Search - a free text field to enter the name of a distribution list; the number of results below narrows down as text is entered
• Private/Public - private distribution lists are only visible to the owner in this tab, except that users with admin or site admin access can see all private distribution lists
• State - the default value is, active; inactive distribution lists can be listed by toggling this field
• Facility - on enterprise accounts only; this defaults to the user's own facility and only offers facilities where the user has the permission, “Distribution Lists:View Distribution Lists”. It can be cleared to list distribution lists from all of those facilities
• Order By - the lists can be ordered in ascending (Name (A-Z)) or descending order (Name (Z-A))
  
  

The search results show the Name, Status and number of Contacts (members) for each distribution list.

Deleting Distribution Lists

The Actions dropdown menu in distribution list records allows deleting, printing and inactivating them. Each option is only shown to users with the relevant permission: “Distribution Lists:Enable/Disable” to set a list as inactive or active, “Distribution Lists:Print Distribution Lists” to print it, and “Distribution Lists:View Print History” to view its print history.

The permission, “Records:Delete Records” is required to delete a distribution list. This will permanently remove it from the account but the iPassport support team can retrieve it with the details of who, when and why it was deleted. Deleting a distribution list also deletes its tasks and removes all links to and from it.

These are the simple steps to follow:

1. Open the distribution list record
2. Click the Actions field and select the option, Delete this Distribution List
3. Click Go to open the deletion pop-up window
4. Enter a Reason For Deletion in the field provided
5. Click Delete Permanently

Printing Distribution Lists

The Print action produces a report with a Details section (the list’s name, type and visibility) followed by the information from the Members tab. A location and an optional reason can be specified for the print. A token is also generated for the print to track whether the printed list is in circulation.

The print is normally produced in PDF format but a CSV copy can be requested by ticking the ‘Create CSV Print?’ checkbox in the print pop-up window. The CSV copy contains the members’ details only.

If a list is updated, existing prints can be tracked in the Print History pop-up window, which can be filtered by status, user and date. A print can be marked as destroyed by clicking its bin icon; a reason must be entered in the Destroy Confirmation field before it can be confirmed. Paper copies and reference digital copies of the distribution list will have to be destroyed/deleted and replaced with new prints.

Inactivating Distribution Lists

When a distribution list is Set as Inactive, it no longer appears in the search filters where it would normally be available. It can later be Set as Active if required.

If the verification step is enabled in an OU and a distribution list used in its Review Feedback settings section is inactivated, no change request verification tasks will be generated for the members of the list.

Next Step:

The next article covers Using Distribution Lists

Previous Step:

The previous article covers Creating Distribution Lists