Working with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Such personal protective equipment (PPE) as gloves, masks, and face shields may be necessary items for protecting your doctors and staff, but they can present new challenges to interacting with equipment in your practice, including tablet computers. For example, Touch ID doesn't work with gloves, and Face ID may struggle with masks. This topic describes how to change some settings that will make working with PPE a bit easier.

For security purposes, you may consider changing these settings back to their original state when the use of PPE is no longer required. For information about managing settings, go to Adjusting Encompass App Settings.

Starting with iPadOS 15.4, Apple supports using Face ID with face masks. Update your FaceID settings to take advantage of this feature.

Gloves, face masks, and face shields may interfere with your iPad's fingerprint identification and facial recognition features. Here's how to disable them in Encompass:

  1. Open the Encompass app and log in.
  2. Tap the Account action bar button.
  3. Tap Settings.
  4. Tap Remove login info tied with Touch ID/Face ID.
  5. Tap Save.
  6. Tap the Account action bar button.
  7. Tap Logout.

    You'll now need to manually enter your username and password until you enable Touch ID or Face ID again.

Enabling the EHR Runs in Background setting allows you to momentarily switch between Encompass and other apps without having to log in again.

  1. Open the Encompass app and log in.
  2. Tap Account.
  3. Tap Settings.

    The Settings window opens.

  4. Ensure the EHR Runs in Background toggle is set to on.

    While your Encompass session is open, the iPad’s Passcode Lock setting is the only security protecting your patient information.

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPad.
  2. Tap Touch ID and Passcode.
  3. Enter your Passcode.
  4. Tap the iPad Unlock toggle to disable Touch ID/Face ID.

    Your iPad will now require your Passcode to unlock.

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPad.
  2. Tap Face ID and Passcode.
  3. Enter your Passcode.
  4. Tap the Face ID with a Mask toggle to enable.
  5. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete set up.

    If you wear glasses, you'll need to set up Face ID with and without your glasses.

Latex gloves should not interfere with your ability to use your iPad's touchscreen. If you are experiencing difficulty, however, you might consider purchasing a stylus and using that to tap the screen while your hands are gloved. Keep in mind that you will need to disinfect the stylus between patients.