User guide

Sign up with your work email and agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy. Confirm your email address using the link we send you. An administrator then approves your account before you can read or post. Until then you will see a notice, and nothing is lost.

Once you are in, the menu (the left side on a computer; the bottom bar and the menu button on a phone) has these places:

Cases

The feed of cases, with filters, trending topics and themes.

Messages

One-to-one conversations with another member.

Discussions

Group conversations, in your groups or in a private group you start.

Network

Groups, institutions and people.

Saved

Your saved cases and your collections.

Profile

Your public profile, and your account settings.

The grey line at the top of each page (for example Groups › Ontario Clinical Chemistry Forum) shows where you are. Each part of it is a link back.

Never post anything that identifies a patient. That means no names, dates of birth, health card or record numbers, addresses, phone numbers, or pictures that show any of these. Remove identifiers from text, files and images before you upload them. Shift ages and dates to ranges or relative times if they could identify someone (“a man in his 60s”, “three days later”).

CaseChat warns you when text looks like it contains an identifier, and asks you to confirm that you removed them before posting. That check is only a help. It cannot catch everything, and you remain responsible.

If you see something that should not be here, use Report on the case, comment or message. A moderator reviews it, and content that shows patient information is hidden quickly.

The Cases page lists the newest cases you may see. Each row shows the title, status (Open or Resolved), tags, the first lines of the question, who posted it, and how many comments it has. Urgent and Priority cases carry a coloured label.

Filters sit above the list. Open the Filters bar to narrow by what to show (all, open, with no replies yet, resolved, teaching cases), discipline and urgency. The list updates as you choose. Your filters are kept in the page address, so you can bookmark or share a filtered list.

The tabs at the top switch between All cases, My cases (cases you posted; a count shows replies you have not seen) and Following (people and disciplines you follow). The trending cards show the topics people are discussing most this week.

Open a case to see the case sheet (the question, discipline, urgency, status and details), then the discussion below it. Tags are links: choose one to see all cases with that tag.

Choose Post a case on the Cases page. Fill in:

Title and the case

A clear title, then what happened, the results, and the question you want answered. Specific questions get better replies.

Urgency

Routine, Priority, or Urgent (STAT). See STAT alerts below; use Urgent only when a quick opinion really matters.

Discipline

Start typing and choose from the list.

Tags

Optional, separated by commas. They make the case easier to find.

Teaching case

Tick this if the case is useful for teaching. Teaching cases can be browsed and used in the quiz.

Attachments

Optional images or files, such as a smear, a trace or a report with identifiers removed. Images can be zoomed in the viewer.

Who can see it

Everyone on CaseChat, or only specific institutions and groups you belong to. A private case is hidden from everyone else’s feed, search and file links.

Tick the confirmation that identifiers are removed, then choose Post case. You can edit your case afterwards with Edit case. Urgency and discipline cannot be changed once posted, because STAT alerts have already gone out. To remove a case, use Delete on its page.

Add a comment at the bottom of the case. Use Reply to answer a particular comment; replies stay inside it. The small line under each comment shows who wrote it and when.

The person who posted the case can Mark as answer on the comment that solved it. Answers are highlighted, and the case author can unmark them.

You can add a poll to your case (for example, “Would you repeat on a different platform?”). Others choose an option and vote. Results show as bars after a person has voted.

Related material: Add a reference (a DOI or PubMed id; details are looked up for you) and Link a similar case connect your case to the literature and to other cases.

Use Save to bookmark a case, Add to collection to file it in a collection, Message author to write to the poster privately, and Discuss in a group to start a group discussion about it.

When the question is answered, the author chooses Resolve this case and writes the final interpretation and what was learned. The case then shows as Resolved. Some resolutions are revealed on request (“Reveal final interpretation”), so that people who want to try the case first can do so. The author can edit the resolution later.

An Urgent (STAT) case sends an alert to members who have chosen that discipline under Areas of expertise in their profile, so the right people see it quickly. For a private case, only members of the places you picked are alerted.

To receive STAT alerts, open Profile, choose Edit profile, and turn on STAT alerts for the areas you can help with. Alerts are an email link only; the email never contains case details. CaseChat is not an emergency service. Never rely on it for decisions about a patient who needs care now.

A theme is a curated topic, such as “Analytical interference”, with a short background, why it matters, examples and the cases that illustrate it. Choose Themes on the Cases page to browse them; the current theme is featured at the top of the feed. Administrators write and publish themes.

Cases marked as teaching can be found with the Teaching filter. Quiz lets you practice on a resolved teaching case: read the case, give your answer, then compare with the resolution.

Saved has two tabs. Saved cases is your private bookmark list. Collections are named sets of cases, such as “Interference cases to remember”.

Create one with New collection, giving a name and optional description. A collection is either private (only you, and anyone you share it with) or visible to everyone on CaseChat. Add cases from the case page with Add to collection. Inside a collection, tick cases and choose Remove selected from collection to take several out at once.

You can share a collection with people or groups. A collection never gives anyone access to a case: people see a case in it only if they could already read it. If someone shares a collection with you, Save a copy makes your own private version, and Leave removes it from your list.

Messages holds one-to-one conversations. You cannot start one from this page on purpose: to message someone, open a case they posted and choose Message author. This keeps messages tied to a reason to talk, and stops unsolicited contact.

You can block a person from their profile or from a conversation. They are not told, and neither of you can message the other. You can unblock anyone under Account settings. The same privacy rule applies in messages: no patient identifiers.

A discussion is a conversation among several people about a topic or a case, held inside a group you belong to, or in a private group made for that discussion. Each discussion in the list shows which group it belongs to, and a New label when there is something you have not read.

Choose New discussion to start one. Pick a group, or pick 2 to 11 other people to form a private group that exists only for this discussion. Write the first message, and optionally name the discussion and link related cases. Only the people in the group can read it.

Groups are private spaces for a team, journal club or study. Anyone can create one and becomes its owner. Open a group to see its description, then the sections for members, discussions, shared collections and shared cases. The links under the description depend on what you may do: request to join, leave, edit (owner), suspend or delete (site administrators). Owners can invite people and approve requests to join.

Institutions are workplaces. Belonging to one lets you read and post that institution’s private cases. A moderator approves every request to join, so that membership means something. On an institution page, moderators have Manage members and requests.

People lists approved members. Filter by discipline, institution or group. A profile shows the person’s bio, credentials, tags, institutions, collections and publications, and links to Follow or Block. Follow puts their new cases in your Following feed. Following is private: people see how many followers they have, never who, and nobody is notified.

Profile shows your public page. Edit profile covers your name, country, discipline and institution, title, bio and credentials (one per line), privacy controls for phone and email, whether you appear in People, email notifications, and your areas of expertise for STAT alerts. Changing institution resets the verified mark until a moderator of the new institution approves you.

Add publications by pasting a DOI or PubMed id; the details are looked up for you (only the identifier is sent). They appear on your profile with links.

Account settings is where you change your email (a confirmation link is sent to the new address), change your password (other devices are signed out), see the people you have blocked, and delete your account. Deleting removes your personal details and memberships; cases you posted remain, shown as “Former member”, because other people’s discussions depend on them. To remove a case, delete it from its page first.

Forgotten your password? Use Forgot password on the log-in page.

The search box at the top searches cases, people and groups. Press Enter to search. Results are grouped by type, and you only ever see cases you are allowed to read. Do not type patient identifiers into the search box.

Moderators of an institution approve or decline requests to join and manage its members. Administrators have an Admin area to approve new accounts, review reports (cases, comments, images and messages), verify institutions, write themes and read the audit log. Every action is recorded. Reports that show patient information are marked and should be handled first.

Questions, problems or privacy concerns: locco.el@gmail.com. See also the Terms of use and the Privacy policy.