How to Add, Edit and Close a Patients Case
Any Patient that needs to be seen for treatment or would like to purchase anything in the office must have a case.
If the patient does not have a case you will not be able to schedule the patient, take payments from the patient, upload documents into their file or add any insurance info. All data entered is tied to that patients case.
There are two ways to create a New Case for a Patient.
- Within their patient file
- When scheduling the patient for an appointment
In this article, we will explain the way you create a case within the patients file as well as the second way when scheduling patients.
Creating a New Case within the Patients File
Go to Patients Rolodex
Double click the appropriate patient and select the Case Tab
Select New to the bottom Right
This is an image of the Patients Case Info.
If you would have selected Edit instead, it would show all information that was entered in a previous case.
In this article, all areas will be broken down for further explanation.
Case Specific Fields
- Case Description- This area allows you to place in a description of your patients care. You can be as general or as specific as you would like to be.
For example: You can enter Cash if this is a self pay patient or if you have an insurance patient, you can indicate info from their insurance benefits. 24v 12M Authorization required.
- Case Type- You will select a Case Grouping from the drop-down. This will allow you to generate a Case Classification Report for your patients. This area has been provided with options such as Cash, Medicare, Personal Injury, General Insurance etc. You can add additional Case Types if you would like to break down your patients even further by adding things like Insurance-BCBS, Barter, etc. by selecting the
to the left of the drop-down and and select ADD. - Case Status- Options include Active, Pending Settlement or Closed.
- Price List- Every case will need to display your clinic Price List.
Please keep in mind that your Price List is what your office charges for services and each clinic should only have one active price list.
Patient Signatures
This area indicates signatures you should have on file for the patient. When those signatures are obtained, you will click on the date box and select the date in which those were received.
- Release of Medical info- This area has a
this indicates this is the location this info will print on a HCFA form for insurance. - Hippa Privacy statement
- Treatment Authorized
- Lien Signed
Messaging
If you would like to send appointment reminders to your patients, you can indicate if they would like to Opt out of receiving reminders. This area works in conjunction with the Appointment Reminder Setup area of Admin. To use the opt out feature, it must be selected within the setup area that you only want to send Text/Email reminders to the patients you select.
To Opt them in, simply select the appropriate box. If the box(s) is/are not checked, they have denied reminders to be sent.
Additional Fields
- Attorney- This is where you would select the patients attorney from the drop-down, if one is representing their case. If their attorney is not present, you can select the paper icon to add them in or add them within Admin>Attorneys
- Referring Provider- If a Referring Provider is required, this is where you would tie them to the patients case. If the specific referring provider needed is not available in the drop-down, you can select the paper icon to add them in or add them within Admin>Referring Provider
- Designated Provider- Selecting a designated provider will allow you to have a provider linked to this specific case. For example, you can have Dr. A as the Assigned Provider but, that patient may have 2 cases, one for chiropractic and one for a massage therapist. The case for chiropractic can have the designated provider be the same as the assigned provider but, in the massage case the designated provider can be the massage therapist.
If you select the Day Sheet and Collections Income report to be run based off Designated provider, then you MUST select a designated provider for each patient’s case or else the data in those cases will NOT be included in the reports.
- Billing provider- The Billing Provider is the doctor for whom you would want that patient’s services billed under. If a Billing Provider is NOT selected for that patient’s case, the charge will get billed under whomever the Treating Provider is. You should use the Billing Provider if you want ALL charges for a specific case to be billed under a specific provider.
The Billing Provider can be changed on a specific charge by going into the visit and selecting Edit Charge. You will see a drop down menu next to Billing Provider. You can also go into the patient’s file, click Ledger and Charges. If you double click on the charge and click on the Billing Information Tab, you will see the drop down menu for Billing Provider.
Patient Condition related to/Misc 1500 Fields
All selections in this field are related to the HCFA form and will only be filled out when when required. Every Selection is defaulted to No unless changed.
- 10a Employment- Is this an employment related injury? Yes, No or Leave blank.
- 10b Auto Accident- Is this an auto accident injury? Yes, No or Leave Blank. If Yes, you must select the state in which the accident took place.
- 10c Other Accident- Yes, No or Leave Blank
- 10d 08/05 Reserved for local use/02/12 Claim Codes- The “Claim Codes” identify additional information about the patient’s condition or the claim if needed.
Box 22 Medicaid Code/Original Reference Number
This area allows you to list the original reference number for resubmitted claims.
This area is not intended for use for original claim submissions.
Editing an Existing Patients Case
Go to Patients Rolodex
Double click the appropriate patient and select the Case Tab
Select Case Tab
Select Edit to the bottom Right
To Close an Existing Case
Any active cases for the patient will display to the left within the patients file
To Close a case, click on the appropriate case and select Edit to the bottom right
Go to Case Status and Select Pending Settlement or Closed from the drop-down
- Pending Settlement means that the patient is no longer seeking care within this case but, you are waiting on payment from an auto accident, attorney etc.
- Closed is when a patient is no longer seeking care within this case.
Please keep in mind:
Case data does not transfer to another case. Case data is meant to be kept separate. If you would need soap notes to carry into another case, you would need to go to the closed case, copy and paste the notes in the most recent appointment and then copy and paste them inside the new appointment within the new Active Case.
To View A Case that was changed to Pending Settlement or Closed
Once a case status has been changed, they will no longer display. To see a case where the status was changed to Pending Settlement or Closed
You will select the case drop-down and change it to:
- ALL to see all cases for the patient
- Pending Settlement to see all cases that have the pending settlement status
- Closed to see all cases for the patient that were closed.
Training Video Reference
Please keep in mind, this is an old training video and may not provide a full explanation but, is provided for a visual walk through.
This video demonstrates the two ways to create a case in a patient's file. A case must be created in order to schedule an appointment, post a charge or post a payment.
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