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Patients are automatically added to and removed from a patient list, based on the list’s time-based and filter-based criteria. Most of the time, the patient list that is automatically generated based on this criteria is all that you need. However, sometimes a patient that you are treating is not on the patient list that you are currently using, and you will need to add them to it so that you can view their clinical data, enter charges, or otherwise manage their care. You can add patient visits to a patient list if the list’s definition allows manual additions. In addition, if for security reasons your organization wants to track why providers are adding patients to their patient lists, your administrator may require you to specify the reason for adding the patient, any time you add an existing patient to your list, or manually create a patient and/or visit and add it to your list. There are some special considerations to keep in mind when adding patients to an Assignment or View type of list (see Types of Patient Lists for an explanation of the different types of lists):
  • When adding a patient to an Assignment list, the Add Patient function behaves as follows:
    • If you are viewing the master assignment list or the Unassigned sublist when you add the patient, the patient is added to both of these lists.
    • If you are viewing a named sublist when you add the patient (such as the “ER Gold Team”), the patient is added to the master assignment list, and is also automatically assigned to the current sublist (the “ER Gold Team”).
  • When adding a patient to a View, keep in mind that this type of patient list is a view onto other Lists and/or Views. As a result, the patient is actually added to the source List(s), not the View. In addition, the same conditions described above for add/remove permissions must be met for the source List(s). The Add Patient function behaves as follows when using it from a View:
    • If the View is composed of only one source List, or if the View is composed of more than one source List but you have permission to add patients to only one of those Lists, the patient is automatically added to that List.
    • If the View is composed of more than one source List, and you have permission to add to more than one of them, you are prompted to select the source List(s) to which you want to add the patient (you can choose more than one). Each patient can have multiple encounters, or visits, at your organization. When you add a patient to a patient list, you are adding a patient/visit combination. If you add multiple visits for the same patient to a patient list, that patient may end up being listed multiple times on the patient list. If visits have the same account number, only the most recent InFacility visit with that account number is added to the patient list. See the explanation of InFacility visits in Patient List at a Glance for more information.
Prior to version 9.2.0.2.31, the “most recent InFacility visit” logic was used for all patient lists. Starting in version 9.2.0.2.31, the “account-based InFacility” logic became the default logic. For version 9.2.0.2.34.8 or later, both types of logic are available. The most recent InFacility visit logic does not use account numbers in the calculation and displays the most recent InFacility visit that meets the patient list criteria.

Adding a Patient to the Current Patient List

Adding a patient visit to a patient list is a two-step process. First you search the census list to see if the patient and visit are already registered in your system. See Searching for a Patient Visit for instructions on how to search for a patient visit. After you have performed a search, you may or may not find the specific patient visit that you want in the search results. Depending on what you find, you may end up taking one of the actions below: Keep in mind that cancelled visits are never returned in the results, since you would never want to add a cancelled visit to your list. But again, if the create visit option is enabled for you, the patient is returned (even if their only visit was cancelled), so that you can create a new visit for them, if necessary.

Searching for a Patient Visit

The first step when adding a patient visit to a list is to search the census list to see if the patient and visit are already registered in your system. The census list contains all the recent active patient visits that are registered in your healthcare organization. Some organizations are comprised of multiple facilities and therefore have a very large patient census. In this case, your system administrator may restrict the number of patient visits from which you can choose, in order to make it easier to find the patient visits you want. To make searching for patients as flexible as possible, there are two search screens that you can use:
  • Patient Search: You can search for a patient visit across the entire census list using the search field or you can use additional filters to narrow down the results. At the top of the screen you can select the Filter icon to view some additional search criteria fields such as Location, Medical Service, etc. You enter some criteria, execute a search, and then select a patient from the results. See Using the Patient Search Screen.
The specific search criteria fields that are available to you on the Filter screen are determined by your system administrator. See Available Search Criteria Fields for a complete list of fields.
  • Search by Patient List: This screen allows you to select any patient list (to which you have access), and then view the patients on that list. You can then select one or more patients from the list (to add to your current patient list). See Using the Search by Patient List Screen.

Using the Patient Search Screen

This is the most common type of patient search. You execute a general search from the main Patient Search screen or add filters to narrow down the search results. In most cases, you will find the patient that you want.
  1. From the Patient List screen, tap Add at the top right of the screen. The Patient Search screen displays. At the top of this screen is a Search field that you can use to search by patient name or medical record number (MRN). Your cursor is in this field by default, and the virtual keyboard is displayed.
You can use this search field to search for a patient. In the Search field, enter all or part of the patient’s name or MRN. You must enter at least two characters for each search criterion and you may use commas, apostrophes, hyphens, or periods as separators. For example, you could enter “DARR MO” or “DARR,MO” to find patients whose first and last names start with DARR and MO, in any order (such as MO LLY DARR or DARR ON MO LINA). Entering an MRN such as “343456” finds any patient whose MRN starts with 343456. If you want to search for the patient based only on their name or MRN, you can select the Search button on the virtual keypad to immediately execute the search now. Skip to step 4.
  1. (Optional) Tap Filter located to the right of the Patient Search heading at the top of the screen to enter data in one or more of the criteria fields that are displayed in the Filter screen. These fields use a variety of different formats, described below. For a complete description of every criteria field, see Available Search Criteria Fields.
    • If a field requires that you to select a value from a pre-defined list, an Expand icon is displayed to the far right. Select Expand to view the values and select one.
    • If a field allows you to enter your own text or numbers, the expected format is shown below the field name in light gray text. Tap into the text area and start typing.
    • Some fields allow you to either select from a list of predefined values, or to enter your own text. Select Expand to choose from a list of predefined values, or tap into the text area and type your own value.
    • If you wish to include prior visits, enable Include Past Visits.
  2. Once you have completed the desired criteria fields, tap Done at the top right of the screen to return to the Patient Search screen. A list of patient visits that match your criteria is now displayed. Review the search results and then do any of the following:
    • Select the empty radio button to the right of any visit from the search results to add that patient visit to the current patient list. See Adding an Existing Patient and Visit to the Current Patient List.
    • Select the Add icon to the right of any patient name in the search results to add a new visit to that patient, and then add the new patient visit to the current patient list. See Manually Creating a New Visit for an Existing Patient.
    • Select Add at the top right of the screen to register a new patient and visit all in one step and add it to the current patient list. See Manually Creating a New Patient and Visit.
    • If there are no patients that match your criteria, a “No patients found” message is shown. You may see any of the following options, depending on whether Photo Registration has been enabled in your user profile:
    • Create new Patient: Select this option to manually register a new patient and visit by typing information into the Create Patient screen. (see Manually Creating a New Patient and Visit).
    • Create new Patient from Photo: Select this option to take a photo of a document, such as a registration form or a face sheet, and create a new patient based on that information (see Manually Creating a New Patient and Visit).
    • Cancel: Select to close the dialog and try a new search (go back to Step 2).
    • If there are too many results to look through, you select Filter to go back to the Filter screen and use additional/different criteria to refine your search (go back to Step 2). If necessary, select the Clear Fields button at the top of the Filter screen to clear all your criteria and start over.
    • Select Done at the top left of the screen to exit and return to the Patient List.

Available Search Criteria Fields

Listed below are all of the possible search criteria fields that you might encounter on the Filter screen, depending on how your administrator has configured it. The fields may have different labels than those listed below, since your administrator may have renamed them to use terminology that is more familiar to personnel at your organization. Once you exit the Patient Search screen and return to the Patient List, all values that you entered in the criteria fields are cleared. The only exception to this rule is the Include Past Visits search criteria field. For this one field, the value you last used (ON or OFF) is retained from one search session to another.
  • Account Number: Enter an account number (also known as a visit number) to find any visits with that number.
  • Appt/Admit Date/Time: Enter a date or a date range to search for a visit that was admitted or occurred on that date, or within that date range. For visit types that have admission and discharge dates (such as inpatient or ER visits), the admission date is used. For visit types that have an appointment date (such as outpatient visits), the appointment date is used. If you are searching for inpatient visits that have been discharged, or outpatient visits in the past, you must also turn on the Include Past Visits option. There are a variety of options for selecting a date or a date range:
    • Last [n] days: Select one of these options to search for visits with and admit/appointment date the last n days.
    • Add Date: Select this option to search for a visit with a specific admit/appointment date.
    • Add Date Range: Select this option to search for a visit within an admit/appointment date within a specific date range. Enter your own date range with a specific beginning and ending date.
  • Birth Date: Enter a date of birth to find only patients who have that date of birth.
  • Days Since Admit: Enter a number of days to find inpatient visits that were admitted or outpatient visits that occurred within that number of days. For visit types that have admission and discharge dates (such as inpatient or ER visits), the admission date is used. For visit types that have an appointment date (such as outpatient visits), the appointment date is considered to be the admission date. If you are searching for inpatient visits that have been discharged, or outpatient visits in the past, you must also turn on the Include Past Visits option. You can enter the number of days using either of these methods:
    • Select the Expand icon to choose from a variety of pre-defined days, such as 0-1 days, 7 days, 14 days, or 30 days.
    • Or, tap into the text field below the label to enter a different number, such as 5.
  • Days Since Discharge: Enter a number of days to find inpatient visits that were discharged or outpatient visits that occurred within that number of days. For visit types that have admission and discharge dates (such as inpatient or ER visits), the discharge date is used. For visit types that have an appointment date (such as outpatient visits), the appointment date is considered to be the discharge date. If you are searching for inpatient visits that have a discharge date in the past, or outpatient visits in the past, you must also turn on the Include Past Visits option.
  • Discharge Date: Enter a specific discharge date to find patients who were discharged on that date. Only visit types that have a discharge date (such as Inpatient or ER) are found. If you are searching for a visit with a discharge date in the past, you must also turn on the Include Past Visits option.
  • Include Past Visits: Leave this option OFF if you do not want to include visits whose end date is earlier than today’s date. If you would like to see past visits, turn this option ON.
A visit’s end date is based on the Current Visit: End Date associated with that type of visit (see the Commure Pro Administrator help system for more information on this field). Typically, the discharge date is considered the end date for visits that have admit and discharge dates (such as inpatient or ER visits), while the appointment date is considered the end date for visits that have only an appointment date (such as outpatient visits).
  • Location: This search criteria shows a list of facilities, with their corresponding units indented underneath. You can select a facility and/or unit in which the visit is located. If you select a facility, all of the units within it are also automatically selected, and so all visits within the entire facility are found. If you select one or more specific units (without also choosing the facility to which they belong), only visits within those specific units are found. Only those facilities that you have permission to view are available.
In a multi-domain environment (i.e., when there is more than one source MEDITECH system), the Location criteria displays both the domain name and facility name together (in the format DomainName:FacilityName), with a list of the corresponding units for that combination of domain and facility indented underneath.
  • Maximum Results: This field is available only in the Advanced Search Options section. Select the maximum number of matches that you want returned in the search results. If more matches than this number are found, a message displaying that fact is shown. You can then either increase the Maximum Results, or make your search criteria more specific to reduce the number of possible matches.
  • Medical Service: Select one or more medical services to find visits that are booked with those services.
  • Commure Pro Visit Type: Select one or more Commure Pro visit types to find only visits of those types. The visit types are set by your organization and might include types such as inpatient, outpatient, emergency room, recurring, and pre-registration.
  • Provider Relationship Types: There may be several criteria fields for the various types of relationships that providers can have to patients. For example, you might see criteria fields for Admitting, Scheduled, or Attending provider relationships. Select one or more providers in any of these fields to find all visits where those providers have the specified relationship to the patient visit. When you tap into one of these fields a search screen is displayed, with two tabs labeled Selected and Search. The Search tab is selected by default and your cursor is in a Search field.
    1. Enter a few letters of the provider’s last or first name in the Search field. As you type, a list of possible matches is shown.- b. Select one or more providers from the results.
    2. (Optional) Search for another provider by clearing the Search field and entering different letters.
    3. (Optional) At any time, you can tap on the Selected tab to view the providers you have select so far.
    4. Select Save when you are finished selecting providers.
  • SSN: Enter a nine digit social security number to find a patient with that SSN. You do not have to enter the dashes, they are automatically inserted for you.

Using the Search by Patient List Screen

You might use this search screen if you know that the patient you want to add to your current patient list is already on a different patient list (whether that list is yours or another user’s). Select the patient list in question, view the patients on that list, and then select the patient(s) that you want to add to your current patient list.
  1. From the Patient List screen, tap Add at the top right of the screen. The Patient Search screen displays. Your cursor is in the search field and the virtual keyboard is open.
  2. Tap Filter located to the right of the Patient Search heading at the top of the screen to open the Filter screen.
  3. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and select Search by Patient List. The Search by Patient List screen is displayed. At the top of the list is a Search field. Below it are two tabs labeled Favorites and All. The Favorites tab is selected by default, and all of the Patient Lists that you have marked as a Favorite are displayed.
Patient List Search All-Favorites button
  1. Locate the patient list that has the patient you want. You can:
    • Leave the Favorites tab selected, and then choose a favorite patient list.
    • Search for the list using the Search field at the top of the screen. Enter the list’s name, your alias for the list (alternate name), or the list’s description and then select the Search button on the virtual keypad. Once you select the Search button, the All tab is selected automatically and all of the patient lists matching your criteria are displayed. Select a patient list from these results. Once you select a patient list, all of the patients who are on that list are displayed.
  2. Review the displayed patients and then do any of the following:
  • Select the empty radio button to the right of any visit from the search results to add that patient visit to the current patient list. See Adding an Existing Patient and Visit to the Current Patient List.
    • Select the Add icon to the right of any patient name in the search results to add a new visit to that patient, and then add the new patient visit to the current patient list. See Manually Creating a New Visit for an Existing Patient.
    • Select Add at the top right of the screen to register a new patient and visit all in one step and add it to the current patient list. See Manually Creating a New Patient and Visit.
    • If you don’t see the patient you need, you can select Filter located to the right of the Patient Search heading at the top of the screen to go back to the Filter screen and select a different patient list (go back to Step 3).
    • Select Done at the top left of the screen to exit and return to the Patient List.

Adding an Existing Patient and Visit to the Current Patient List

If you think the patient and visit that you want to add to the currently selected patient list are already registered in your system, perform a quick search to find them and then add them to the patient list.
  1. From the Patient List screen, tap Add at the top right of the screen. The Patient Search screen displays.
  2. Search for the patient using either the Patient Search screen or the Search by Patient List option. See Using the Patient Search Screen or Using the Search by Patient List Screen for complete instructions. A list of patients who match your criteria is displayed. For each patient, the following information is shown:
    • The patient’s name, MRN, and gender (date of birth and age may also display). An Add icon is displayed to the right of the patient’s name.
    • The patient’s most recent visit (if any) is listed next, labeled “Current/Last.” Results from the Patient Search display the following additional information:
  • If the patient has only one more visit, that visit is listed next, labeled “Prior.”
  • If a visit is already on the current patient list, a purple checkmark is shown to the right of the visit.
  • If the patient has more than two visits, a row labeled “Prior Visits” is displayed next. Select the Expand icon on the right side of this row to see a complete list of the patient’s visits.
  1. If the Reason for Adding Patient(s) field is displayed at the top of the results list, your administrator has configured your user profile to require a reason for manually adding patients to your list. You need to enter a reason before adding any patients. If it is present, a default response may already be selected for you. If the reason is accurate, you can proceed to the next step. Otherwise select the Expand icon on the right of the row to select (change) the reason you are adding the patient(s) to the current list.
  2. Select the patient visit that you want to add to the current patient list.
  • To add a patient visit that is listed on the Patient Search screen, select the empty radio button on the right side of the visit row.
    • To add a patient and a different visit, select the Expand icon on the right side of the “Prior Visits” row, and then select the visit you want from the Visits screen. Depending on the type of list to which you are adding the patient, either of these can now occur:
    • If you are working from a List or Assignment type of list, or if you are working from a View that is composed of only one source List (that you have permission to add patients to), the patient visit is added to the current list or source list immediately.
    • If you are working from a View that is composed of more than one source List (that you have permission to add patients to), the names of those Lists are now displayed. Select the source List to which you want to add this patient (you can choose more than one) and then select the Save button. Once the visit is added to the patient list, a purple checkmark appears next to the patient’s visit to indicate such.
The Patient Search screen remains open so that you can continue to select and add patient visits to the current patient list.
  1. Repeat Step 4 to add more patient visits from the list of matches to the current patient list. Or, to look for different patients, tap into the Search field and perform a new search (see Searching for a Patient Visit).
  2. Tap Done at the top left of the screen in to close this screen and return to the Patient List screen. A sync begins downloading the newly added patients’ information to your device.
If you immediately select the patient (before the sync completes), the module list may display only a partial list of modules, along with the message: “Waiting for data…” You can select a module from the partial list and proceed, or you can wait until the sync completes and select a module from the full list once it is displayed.

Manually Creating a New Visit for an Existing Patient

This feature is typically enabled only for organizations that use the Charges module. When searching for a patient to add to the currently selected patient list, you may find that the patient is already registered, but the particular visit that you want is not yet entered in the system. In this case, you can manually create a new visit for the existing patient, and then add that patient visit to the current patient list. You might need to do this so that you can enter charges for an established patient who has emergency visit or walk-in sick visit, or for a patient seen at a facility that does not send patient visits to the Commure Pro system. This feature must be enabled in your user profile before you can use it. Each organization determines the fields they want to capture for manually created visits, and whether those fields are required. However, the following fields are always required when you manually create a visit:ADT Visit Type, Appt/Admit Date with Time, and Facility. Other commonly used fields are Reason for Adding Patient, Reason for Visit, Unit, Room, and Bed. (See also Special Notes about Facility, Unit, Room, and Bed Fields.) You can create a new visit for any of the patient types listed below. The new visit takes on the same status as the patient (authenticated, verified, or non-verified):
  • An authenticated patient: A patient that was registered in your source ADT/Registration system.
  • A verified patient: A patient that was manually created in the Commure Pro system, and whose information has been confirmed as complete. Verified patient names have an asterisk appended to their name (for example, DARR, MOLLY*).
  • A non-verified patient: A patient that was manually created in the Commure Pro system, and whose information has not yet been confirmed as complete. Non-verified patient names are enclosed in quotation marks (for example “DARR,MOLLY”). When manually creating a new visit, you must perform a quick search to find the patient to whom you want to add the visit (as well as to confirm that the visit is not already registered).
  1. From the Patient List module, tap Add at the top right of the screen. The Patient Search screen displays.
  2. Search for the patient using either the main Patient Search screen or the Search by Patient List option. See Using the Patient Search Screen or Using the Search by Patient List Screen for complete instructions. A list of patients who match your criteria is displayed. For each patient, the following information is shown:
    • The patient’s name, MRN, and gender (date of birth and age may also display). An Add button is displayed to the right of the patient’s name.
    • The patient’s most recent visit (if any) is listed next, labeled “Current/Last.” Results from the Patient Search display the following additional information:
  • If the patient has only one more visit, that visit is listed next, labeled “Prior.”
  • If a visit is already on the current patient list, a purple checkmark is shown to the right of the visit.
  • If the patient has more than two visits, a row labeled “Prior Visits” is displayed next. Select Expand on the right side of this row to see a complete list of the patient’s visits.
  1. If the patient you want is included in the results, but they do not have the specific visit that you want, tap the Add button to the right of their name. The Create Visit screen is displayed.
  2. Complete the required information.
    • Required fields are marked with a red exclamation mark. Each organization determines the fields they want to capture for manually created visits, and whether those fields are required. However, the following fields are always required when you manually create a visit:ADT Visit Type, Appt/Admit Date with Time, and Facility. Other commonly used fields are Reason for Visit, Unit, Room, Bed, and Reason for Adding Patient.
  1. Tap Save at the top right of the screen to create the visit. When you return to the Patient List screen, the manually created patient and visit are sent to the server and the patient then appears on the current patient list.
  2. (Optional) If the Charge Prompt after Create Visit setting on your device is turned on, you are now prompted: “Add charge for new patient?
    • Select Yes to immediately create a new charge transaction for this patient visit in the Charges module. The Charge Transaction screen opens with the current date defaulted as the Service Date. Complete the transaction as described in Basic Steps: Entering a New Charge Transaction.
    • Select No to return to the Patient List screen. If the “Add charge for new patient?” prompt above does not appear after you create the visit, select Settings > Charges and then set Charge Prompt after Create Visit to ON.

Manually Creating a New Patient and Visit

This feature is typically enabled only for organizations that use the Charges module. If you cannot find the patient you want to add to the current patient list on the census list, you can manually create the patient and their visit and add them to the patient list, all in one step. You might need to do this so that you can enter charges for a new or walk-in patient, or for a patient seen at a facility that does not send registered patients or visits to the Commure Pro system.
Sometimes the patient is registered in your system, but their latest visit information is not. If the visit for which you want to enter charges is not listed for a particular patient, you can manually create a visit for that patient. See Manually Creating a New Visit for an Existing Patient for instructions.
Your administrator must enable this feature in your user profile before you can use it, and also determines whether the new patient is verified or non-verified when you create it:
  • Verified patient: A patient that was manually created in the Commure Pro system, and whose information has been confirmed as complete. Verified patient names have an asterisk appended to their name (for example, DARR, MOLLY*).
  • Non-verified patient: A patient that was manually created in the Commure Pro system, and whose information has not yet been confirmed as complete. Non-verified patient names are enclosed in quotation marks (for example “DARR,MOLLY”). An administrator can later review patient’s information on the Commure Pro web application and change the patient’s status to verified. When creating a new patient and visit, you enter basic demographic and visit information directly in the Commure Pro system on the Create Patient screen. Each organization determines the fields they want to capture for manually created patients and visits, and whether those fields are required. However, the following fields are always required:Last Name, First Name, ADT Visit Type, Appt/Admit Date with Time, and Facility. Other commonly used fields can include:Reason for Adding Patient, Gender, Social Security Number, Date of Birth, Reason for Visit, Unit, Room, and Bed. (See also Special Notes about Facility, Unit, Room, and Bed Fields.)
If your organization has implemented Photo Registration, you may be able to take a photo of a document such as a registration form or a face sheet, and then use that information to perform a quick registration of the patient. In this case, your administrator can configure the application to default information into the required fields on the Create Patient screen so that you can skip it entirely, or only be required to fill in a few additional fields. A registration clerk can then follow up at a later time and complete the registration using information from the photo. Before manually creating a new patient and visit, it is best practice to perform a quick search to make sure the patient is not already registered in your system. However, if you are certain the patient is not yet registered, you can skip the search and go directly to manual registration. Select one of the links below to view instructions on manually creating a new patient, with or without first performing a search. If you have a registration form or face sheet in hand that you can use for Photo Registration (and that option is enabled for you), select one of the Photo Registration links.

Manually Creating a New Patient and Visit (with Searching)

This feature is typically enabled only for organizations that use the Charges module. Before manually creating a new patient and visit, it is best practice to perform a quick search to make sure the patient is not already registered in your system. The instructions below assume that Photo Registration is not enabled in your user profile, or that you do not have a registration form or face sheet in hand that you can use for Photo Registration in this particular case.
  1. In the Patient List screen, tap Add at the top right of the screen. The Patient Search screen displays.
  2. Search for the patient using either the main Patient Search screen or the Search by Patient List option. See Using the Patient Search Screen or Using the Search by Patient List Screen for complete instructions. A list of patients who match your search criteria is displayed. Or, if there are no matches, the following message is displayed: “No patients found.”
  3. Choose an option to create a new patient and visit:
    • If a list of patients is displayed, but the patient you want is not included in the results, tap Add at the top right of the screen.
    • If Photo Registration is not enabled in your user profile, the Create Patient screen is immediately displayed. Proceed to the next step.
    • If Photo Registration is enabled in your user profile, a dialog with the following options is displayed instead:Create new Patient, Create new Patient from Photo, or Cancel. Assuming that you do not have a registration form or face sheet in hand that you can photograph, select the Create new Patient option and proceed to the next step. Otherwise, select the Create new Patient from Photo option to perform a Photo Registration instead (see Using Photo Registration to Create a New Patient and Visit (with Searching) for instructions).
    • If no matches were found, the “No patients found” dialog box is displayed:
    • If Photo Registration is not enabled in your user profile, the “No patients found” dialog contains these options:New and OK. Select New and proceed to the next step.
    • If Photo Registration is enabled in your user profile, the “No patients found” dialog contains these options instead:Create new Patient, Create new Patient from Photo, or Cancel. Assuming that you do not have a registration form or face sheet in hand that you can photograph, select the Create new Patient option and proceed to the next step. Otherwise, select the Create new Patient from Photo option to perform a Photo Registration instead (see Using Photo Registration to Create a New Patient and Visit (with Searching) for instructions). The Create Patient screen is now displayed.
  4. Review the information on the Create Patient screen.
    • Some or all of the information on this screen may already be completed for you, so that you need only confirm that it is accurate, and possibly fill in a few additional fields such as Gender or Date of Birth. In some cases, a dummy name such as “Temporary Patient” or your own username may be defaulted into the First Name and/or Last Name fields. You can accept these defaults, or clear them and retype the patient’s actual name.
    • Some of the information you entered as search criteria on the main Patient Search or Advanced Search screen may be automatically entered for you on the Create Patient screen, so that you do not have to re-type it. However, the information must be singular in order to be defaulted into any given field. For example, if you entered a single Facility and Unit as the Location in your search criteria, that information is defaulted into to the Facility and Unit fields on the manual registration screen. However, if you entered multiple facilities/units, then the Facility and Unit fields are left blank.
    • Required fields are marked with a red exclamation mark
    • The Reason for Adding Patient(s) field may be listed in the Visits section of this screen as a required field if your administrator has configured your user profile to require a reason for manually adding patients to your list. If it is present, a default response may already be selected for you. If the reason is accurate, there is no need to change it. Otherwise select the Expand icon on the right of the row to select (change) the reason you are adding the patient(s) to the current list.
    • See also Special Notes about Facility, Unit, Room, and Bed Fields.
  5. Select Save to manually create the patient and visit.
    • If you are adding the patient to a List or Assignment type of list, or if you are adding them to a View that is composed of only one source List (that you have permission to add patients to), the patient visit is added to the current list or source list immediately.
    • If you are adding the patient to a View that is composed of more than one source List (that you have permission to add patients to), the names of those Lists are now displayed. Select the source List to which you want to add this patient (you can choose more than one) and then select the Save button. When you return to the Patient List screen, the manually created patient and visit are sent to the server and the patient then appears on the current patient list. The patient’s name has either quotes or an asterisk, depending on its status (non-verified or verified).
  6. (Optional) If the Charge Prompt after Create Visit setting on your device is turned on, you are now prompted: “Add charge for new patient?
    • Select Yes to immediately create a new charge transaction for this patient in the Charges module. The Charge Transaction screen opens with the current date defaulted as the Service Date. Complete the transaction as described in Basic Steps: Entering a New Charge Transaction.
    • Select No to return to the Patient List screen. If the “Add charge for new patient?” prompt above does not appear after you create the patient, select Settings > Charges and then set Charge Prompt after Create Visit to ON.

Manually Creating a New Patient and Visit (without Searching)

This feature is typically enabled only for organizations that use the Charges module. If you are certain the patient is not yet registered in your system, you can manually create a new patient and visit without first performing a search. The instructions below assume that Photo Registration is not enabled in your user profile, or that you do not have a registration form or face sheet in hand that you can use for Photo Registration in this particular case.
  1. In the Patient List screen, tap Add at the top right of the screen. The Patient Search screen displays. Your cursor is in the search field by default, and the virtual keyboard is displayed, covering the bottom half of the screen.
  2. Immediately tap Add at the top right of the screen (without entering any search criteria).
    • If Photo Registration is not enabled in your user profile, the Create Patient screen is immediately displayed. Proceed to the next step.
    • If Photo Registration is enabled in your user profile, a dialog box with the following options is displayed instead:Create new Patient, Create new Patient from Photo, or Cancel. Assuming that you do not have a registration form or face sheet in hand that you can photograph, select the Create new Patient option. The Create Patient screen is immediately displayed. Proceed to the next step.
  3. From this point forward, the steps are these same as those used when manually creating a patient after performing a search. Go to Step 4 (under the topic entitled Manually Creating a New Patient and Visit (with Searching)) and proceed from there.

Using Photo Registration to Create a New Patient and Visit (with Searching)

This feature is typically enabled only for organizations that use the Charges module. Before using Photo Registration to create a new patient and visit, it is best practice to perform a quick search to make sure the patient is not already registered in your system. The instructions below assume that you have a registration form or face sheet in hand that you can use for Photo Registration, and that the Photo Registration feature has been enabled in your user profile. At some organizations, Photo Registration may be the only method that is allowed for registering new patients. Please note that patients created through Photo Registration are always non-verified when they are created, regardless of how the user’s Can Add/Edit Commure Pro Patients setting is configured.
  1. In the Patient List screen, tap Add at the top right of the screen. The Patient Search screen displays.
  2. Search for the patient using either the main Patient Search screen or the Search by Patient List option. See Using the Patient Search Screen or Using the Search by Patient List Screen for complete instructions.
  3. After performing a search, choose an option to create a new patient and visit:
    • If a list of patients is displayed, but the patient you want is not included in the results, tap Add at the top right of the screen.
    • If both regular and Photo Registration are allowed, a dialog with the following options is now displayed:Create new Patient, Create new Patient from Photo, or Cancel. If you have a registration form or face sheet in hand that you can photograph, select the Create new Patient from Photo option and proceed to the next step. (If you do not have a form or face sheet in hand, select the Create new Patient option to manually enter the patient’s information. See Manually Creating a New Patient and Visit (without Searching) for instructions).
    • If only Photo Registration is allowed the camera opens immediately.
    • If no matches were found and both regular and Photo Registration are allowed, the “No patients found” dialog box is displayed with the following options:Create new Patient, Create new Patient from Photo, or Cancel. If you have a registration form or face sheet in hand that you can photograph, select the Create new Patient from Photo option and proceed to the next step. (If you do not have a form or face sheet in hand, select the Create new Patient option to manually enter the patient’s information. See Manually Creating a New Patient and Visit (without Searching) for instructions).
    • If no matches were found and only Photo Registration is allowed, the camera opens immediately.
  4. If this is the first time you have attempted to take a photo using the Commure Pro application, the following message is displayed: “Commure Pro would like to access the camera. This application requires access to the camera in order to allow you to take photos to be used when registering patients or sending chat messages.” Select the OK button to allow access to the camera.
  5. Take a photograph of the registration form or face sheet. You can tap the Retake button to re-shoot the photo as many times as necessary until you have the desired image.
  6. Once you have the image you want, select the Use Photo button. A dialog box with a Title field is displayed.
  7. Tap into the Title field and enter a title for the photo, or leave the field blank. If you enter a title, that title will be shown on the Summary screen of the Photos module as the title of the photo. If you leave the field blank, the date/time the photo was taken will be used as the title instead, in the format of YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.
  8. Tap Save to accept the photo. After you finish the registration process, the photo will be submitted to the server so that it can be viewed on the Physician Portal or a mobile device in the Photos module, by any user with permission to view it. Please note that the photo will not be available on the device’s camera roll.
Depending on how your user profile and the system are configured, either the Patient List or the Create Patient screen is now displayed.
  • If the Patient List screen is displayed, you will see the newly created patient added to your list with a “dummy” name that is some combination of text, your own username, and a unique number. For example, you might see “Temporary Patient nnnnnnn” or “CJONES Patient nnnnnnnn” where “nnnnnnnn” is a unique number and “CJONES” is your username. The registration process is now completed and you can skip the rest of the steps below.
  • If the Create Patient screen is displayed, proceed to the next step.
  1. Review the information on the Create Patient screen.
    • Some or all of the information on this screen may already be completed for you, so that you need only confirm that it is accurate, and possibly fill in a few additional fields such as Gender or Date of Birth. In some cases, a dummy name such as “Temporary Patient” or your own username may be defaulted into the First Name and/or Last Name fields. A unique number is also always defaulted into the Last Name field. You can accept these defaults, or clear them and retype the patient’s actual name.
    • Required fields are marked with a red exclamation mark
    • The Reason for Adding Patient(s) field may be listed in the Visits section of this screen as a required field if your administrator has configured your user profile to require a reason for manually adding patients to your list. If it is present, a default response may already be selected for you. If the reason is accurate, there is no need to change it. Otherwise select the Expand icon on the right of the row to select (change) the reason you are adding the patient(s) to the current list.
    • See also Special Notes about Facility, Unit, Room, and Bed Fields.
  2. Tap Save to manually create the patient and visit.
    • If you are adding the patient to a List or Assignment type of list, or if you are adding them to a View that is composed of only one source List (that you have permission to add patients to), the patient visit is added to the current list or source list immediately.
    • If you are adding the patient to a View that is composed of more than one source List (that you have permission to add patients to), the names of those Lists are now displayed. Select the source List to which you want to add this patient (you can choose more than one) and then select the Save button. The manually created patient, visit, and photo are sent to the server and the patient is added to the appropriate patient list. The patient’s name will have quotes around it to indicate its non-verified status.
  3. (Optional) If the Charge Prompt after Create Visit setting on your device is turned on, you are now prompted: “Add charge for new patient?
    • Select Yes to immediately create a new charge transaction for this patient in the Charges module. The Charge Transaction screen opens with the current date defaulted as the Service Date. Complete the transaction as described in Basic Steps: Entering a New Charge Transaction.
    • Select No to return to the Patient List screen.
If the “Add charge for new patient?” prompt above does not appear after you complete a Photo Registration, select Settings > Charges and then set Charge Prompt after Create Visit to ON.

Using Photo Registration to Create a New Patient and Visit (without Searching)

This feature is typically enabled only for organizations that use the Charges module. If you are certain the patient is not yet registered in your system, you can use Photo Registration to create a new patient and visit without first performing a search. The instructions below assume that you have a registration form or face sheet in hand that you can use for Photo Registration, and that the Photo Registration feature has been enabled in your user profile.
  1. In the Patient List screen, tap Add at the top right of the screen. The Patient Search screen displays. Your cursor is in the search field by default, and the virtual keyboard is displayed, covering the bottom half of the screen.
  2. Immediately tap Add at the top right of the screen (without entering any search criteria).
    • If both regular manual registration and Photo Registration are allowed, a dialog with the following options is now displayed:Create new Patient, Create new Patient from Photo, or Cancel. If you have a registration form or face sheet in hand that you can photograph, select the Create new Patient from Photo option. (If you do not have a registration form or face sheet in hand, select the Create new Patient option to manually enter the patient’s information. See Manually Creating a New Patient and Visit (without Searching) for instructions).
    • If only Photo Registration is allowed, the camera opens immediately (skip to next step).
  3. From this point forward, the steps are the same as those used when Photo Registering a patient after performing a search. Go to Step 4 (under the topic entitled Using Photo Registration to Create a New Patient and Visit (with Searching)) and proceed from there.

Special Notes about Facility, Unit, Room, and Bed Fields

When manually creating a new patient and visit, or when manually creating a new visit for an existing patient, the Facility and Unit fields are always present on the screen, and the Facility field is always required (Unit may or may not be required).
In a multi-domain environment (i.e., when there is more than one source MEDITECH system), the Facility field displays both the domain name and facility name together (in the format DomainName:FacilityName).
If your organization has chosen to also include the Room and Bed fields, then these four fields must be completed in the following order:Facility, Unit, Room, and then Bed. Each field appears after the subsequent field is completed. When completing the Room and Bed fields, you might be restricted to selecting the room and bed values from a list of the rooms and beds that are associated with the facility and nursing unit. Or, you might be allowed to create new rooms or beds on the fly if the ones you want are not included in the lists. This auto-creation functionality can be enabled or disabled by your administrator. The Room and Bed fields behave differently, and have a slightly different appearance, depending on whether auto-creation is enabled or disabled.
  • When auto-creation is enabled, you can either select the room and bed from a list, or type them in yourself:
    • To select a room or bed from a list, select the Information icon to view the list of rooms or beds, and then select a value.
    • If the room or bed you need is not on the list, just tap into the field itself, and then manually type the room or bed number into the field. If you manually type the room and bed numbers yourself, once the registration is submitted to the server, the new room and bed are added to the room/bed lists for that facility and unit, and are available for future registrations from that point forward.
  • When auto-creation is disabled, you can only select a room or bed from a list. Just select the field to view the list of rooms or beds, and then choose one.

Adding a Patient to Another Patient List

Sometimes while you are working from a particular patient list, you may decide that a patient on this list should also be added to another list. For example, you might be maintaining a personal list of the patients that will require follow-up after discharge, called “My Follow-up Patients.” Or, you might be tracking the patients that you consider to be at risk for developing diabetes, which is an area of special interest to you, called “At Risk for Diabetes.” You could add a patient to either of those lists whenever you felt it appropriate. Or in a final example, you might want to consult with another provider about a particular patient; you could add the patient to that provider’s patient list. This last example would require that the receiving provider’s patient list allows manual additions by other users, based the list’s definition. In addition, if for security reasons your organization wants to track why providers are adding patients to patient lists, your administrator may require you to specify a reason, any time you add a patient to another list. Please note that the Add to Another List function takes the selected patient(s) from the current list, and adds them to another list or lists (chosen by you). The patient still remains on the current list as well.
  1. From the Patient List screen, to add a single patient or several patients, swipe right-to-left on the desired patient’s row. When the context buttons appear, tap Add to Another List (if available), or select More and then choose Add to Another List from the menu.
AddToAnother button More button The Add Patients screen is now displayed, showing all of the patients from the current patient list with an empty radio button next to each name except for the selected patient which displays a purple checkmark is shown to the right of the patient name.
  1. Select the radio button to the left of any additional patients that you want to add to the other list. Or, choose the Select All to select all of the patients at once. You can also unselect the patient that was selected by default, if you do not want to add them to the other list. The Add to Another List (n) button at the bottom of the screen keeps a running count of how many patients are selected.
  2. Select Add To Another List (n). The Add Patient to List screen is displayed. If the Reason for Adding Patient(s) field displays, proceed to next step; otherwise go to Step 5 .
  3. In the Reason for Adding Patient(s) field, select the reason you are adding the patient(s) to the other list(s). This field is displayed at the top of the Add Patient to List screen only if your administrator has configured your user profile to require a reason for manually adding patients to a list. If it is present, a default reason may already be selected for you, which you may change if necessary by selecting the Expand icon on the right of the row to select (change) the reason you are adding the patient(s) to the current list.
  4. Use the Favorites or All tab to locate the patient list or lists to which you want to add the patient. You can:
Patient List Search All-Favorites button
  • Select the Favorites tab to view all of the patient lists that you have marked as favorites.
  • Search for the list by entering the list’s name, your alias for the list (alternate name), the list’s description, or the list’s owner in the Search field at the top of the screen and then selecting the Search button on the virtual keypad. Once you select the Search button, the All tab is selected automatically and all of the patient lists matching your criteria are displayed.
  1. On either the Favorites or All tab, select the radio button to the left of each patient list to which you want to add the patient.
  2. Select the Save button.
    • If you selected a patient list of type List or Assignment, or a View that is composed of only one source List, the patient is added to that list immediately.
    • If you selected a View that is composed of more than one source List, the names of those Lists are now displayed. Select the source List to which you want to add this patient (you can choose more than one) and then select the Save button.